For the time being, it remains conjecture as to the exact reason for the quick dismissal of Mark van Bommel at VfL Wolfsburg. Remarkably enough, Ibrahim Afellay, who played under Van Bommel at PSV, gave in on Sunday Studio Football indicated that the ejected coach was having trouble communicating with his players. “That didn’t go smoothly,” Afellay said at the NOS.
Afellay played in the 2019/20 season, his last as a professional football player, for almost six months under Van Bommel, who was fired from PSV on 16 December 2019. Afellay had only made nine minutes under Van Bommel at that time and would also come in only three more times under his successor Ernest Faber. “Whether I thought it was a good trainer? I thought it was difficult to convey,” Afellay said on Sunday evening. “You will always have people who say, ‘He says that because he didn’t play then.’ Anyway, I think: you are here and I was able to experience him.”
“You have a certain philosophy, but you also have to be able to convey it,” the former international continued. “Your players have to understand what you want. I think things didn’t go well with that. In the early days, he did well at PSV. That’s how it went at Wolfsburg, considering the moment they are kicking him out now. “I don’t think it’s just based on results. Normally you’d say pull it through to the winter break. They didn’t do that. So that means it’s not just based on the results.”
Jörg Schmadtke, the general manager of Wolfsburg, gave a statement on Monday about the resignation of Van Bommel. This did not remove all ambiguity surrounding the decision. “I believe that Van Bommel had a clear game idea and that he tried to convey that in every training,” said Schmadtke in kicker. “But, without going into the details, we have not been able to get that into the team.”
Last Saturday’s defeat against SC Freiburg (0-2) was fatal to Van Bommel. “The squad looked insecure,” said Schmadtke, who argues that the dismissal is the sum of “a perception acquired over the course of days and weeks.” “Ultimately there was no belief that we would succeed in turning the tide. You can say it went fast, but on the other hand you can assume that this is not only based on the last days. It is a development which has been going on for some time. Based on evaluation, we broke up.”