After a very difficult preparation, Mark van Bommel has made an excellent start to the season with VfL Wolfsburg. The trainer has not lost a single official game and is equal in points with leader Bayern Munich in the competition. “I have become calm. Extremely calm,” says Van Bommel, who was fired from PSV in December 2019, opposite De Volkskrant.
“Well, quieter than before”, Van Bommel nuances his own statement. Nevertheless, the coach received a yellow card from Danny Makkelie last Tuesday during the away match in the Champions League against Lille OSC. “Yes, then I had to take the rhythm out of the game,” says Van Bommel with a smile. Wolfsburg was on the field with one man less at that time, because John Brooks received his second yellow card after an hour of play. Van Bommel’s team managed to draw a 0-0 draw.
Van Bommel started his second coaching job a year and a half after his forced departure from PSV. “I’m not a control freak,” says the former midfielder now. Yet Van Bommel got that stamp in Eindhoven: he was involved in all kinds of peripheral matters and that eventually started to work against him, he analyzed himself. “My conclusion is: on the field, with the players, I also did well at PSV. The work as a trainer on the field, in the dressing room, you either have that or you don’t. For all those other things in the life, everything around football, you have people who can help you.”
“That is wonderfully arranged at Wolfsburg, with all professionals,” says Van Bommel, without making a clear reference to PSV. The coach explains what is expected of him in Germany. “We are now participating in the Champions League, but that is not normal for Wolfsburg at all. Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig are the three big clubs. After that, at least five or six clubs will qualify for fourth place in the Champions League. thereby.”
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 13 |
| 2 | VfL Wolfsburg | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 |
| 4 | Bayer Leverkusen | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 10 |
| 5 | FSV Mainz 05 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 6 | SC Freiburg | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 7 | 1. FC Cologne | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 8 | 1. FC Union Berlin | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -1 | 6 |
| 9 | Hertha BSC | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | -5 | 6 |
| 10 | TSG Hoffenheim | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 | FC Augsburg | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -6 | 5 |
| 12 | RB Leipzig | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| 13 | Arminia Bielefeld | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
| 14 | VfB Stuttgart | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 4 |
| 15 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | -3 | 4 |
| 16 | Borussia Monchengladbach | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -4 | 4 |
| 17 | VfL Bochum | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -9 | 3 |
| 18 | SpVgg Greuther Furth | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -10 | 1 |