Line Up Notes:

Starting Eleven: We have Merle Frohms in the goal. For defenders Kathy Hendrich, Dominique Janssen, Nuria Rábano, and Joelle Wedermeyer. In the midfield and attack, Kristin Demann, Lena Lattwein, Chantal Hagel, Svenja Huth, Jule Brand, and Fenna Kalma.

I like this line up. Great to see Nuria, Kalma, and Hagel in the starting eleven. I’m interested to see what they can create in the attack. No Lena Oberdorf for this match. She was experiencing some knee pain after the match against Eintracht Frankfurt. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and she makes a quick recovery. On the upside Wolfsburg still has Demann, Hagel, Lattwein, and Brand, and they should be able to keep control of midfield in this match. Endemann is also available off the bench. Most likely we could see her come on in the second half, either for Huth or Brand. Overall, this is a good lineup. Wolfsburg should do well, provided that the team can connect in the attack and in the box.

First Half Notes:

Wolfsburg 1-0.

It’s not a bad first half, but I was kind of expecting more presence in the attack, more crosses and services, and more attempts on goal from Wolfsburg. There have been some good services and crosses from Huth, but that connection in the box is slightly off at times. Going into the second half I would like to see Wolfsburg be more aggressive and direct with their attack, creating more chances, being quicker with their touches, crosses, and services, and connecting better in the box.

At the same time, I was very surprised by the turnovers and giveaways in the midfield from Wolfsburg in this first half. Therefore, going into the second half, I want to see better control in the midfield. Wolfsburg’s overall possession and control in this game so far are pretty good, but it needs to be better and cleaner. I was pretty impressed with Kalma in this half. She’s getting in the box, is on the attack, and scored a great goal. She just needs more service from the wingers. Besides that, Wolfsburg isn’t looking too bad at the moment, but they can and should do better.

Second Half/Closing Notes:

Wolfsburg wins 1-0.

Not the best performance from Wolfsburg, granted Wolfsburg were playing some players who were new to the team. The thing I found surprising about this match was the lack of control in the midfield. I said it in my podcast: If Wolfsburg can’t maintain control of the midfield with the players on the field, if the team in general can’t keep control against a team ranked last in the standings, they’re going to get run through by heavy attack-focused teams.

I wanted to see more press and urgency from the Wolfsburg attack, and while there were great services and crosses from Huth, Hagel, and Pajor, there just wasn’t enough for attacking players like Kalma, Xhemaili, and Brand to capitalize on. At the same time, the connection in the box wasn’t all there; at times, it appeared a bit off, with players either not being there at all, arriving late, or simply not being on the same page communication-wise. It’s good that we got to see more of Kalma, Xhemaili, Hagel, and Rábano, but it’s evident that more work is needed to improve the chemistry and communication within the team as a whole.

Wolfsburg still came away with a win, but I found it a bit underwhelming that Wolfsburg couldn’t score more goals in this match. I have to agree with the English announcer: With the quality of these players on the Wolfsburg team, you would expect more, and I don’t think we saw that in tonight’s performance.