It is difficult not to get along well with Florian Kohfeldt.

It's also not that easy not to talk to him - in detail.

Communication is clearly a strength of the 39 year old soccer teacher.

Anyone who asked him a question after playing games got an answer.

Usually not one that he was hiding behind, but one that was honest within the scope of the possibilities of professional football.

In Bremen, at the end of his work at SV Werder, some companions found that fewer words would have been good or that others would have been better - once something has slipped, strengths suddenly become weaknesses: “He shouldn't tell so much, but rather do it “- that was not just the charmless verdict of some fans about the coach, who was so valued in the past.

It is to be expected that Kohfeldt's communicative abilities will immediately blossom again in a different environment, in a different location, and that he will succeed in taking people close to him with him.

According to Mark van Bommel's rather simple statements about the how and why of Wolfsburg football, the wholly-owned Volkswagen subsidiary can now look forward to a coach who enjoys formulating, who wants to reach his fellow men and who has not built a protective wall around himself.

Kohfeldt on Schmadtke's list

"Talking will be the most important thing," said Kohfeldt in an interview published on Wednesday on the club website about his tasks in the coming days. On Tuesday Kohfeldt signed a contract with VfL dated up to and including June 30, 2023. It will be presented there this Thursday. At Werder, Kohfeldt was dismissed on May 16 of the year after relegation to the Bundesliga. He had signed working papers there until mid-2023.

The fact that Kohfeldt exchanges ideas with his environment, that he seeks input, listens, and eagerly absorbs foreign opinions can only help under Jörg Schmadtke. The Wolfsburg boss is looking for a trainer who will take him along, who will explain himself, who will also remain accessible when things don't go well. Kohfeldt is said to have been on Schmadtke's list for a long time, like Edin Terzic. A sociable German coach who has proven to be able to train a team for spectacular offensive football: There aren't too many of them, especially since Kohfeldt had a long reputation for bringing something special with him, seemed chosen for bigger things.

However, on closer inspection, the brilliant reputation in the Bundesliga scene referred to this one second half of 2018/2019, when Werder excited with Kohfeldt on the bench and Max Kruse on the pitch and narrowly missed the European business. Enthusiastic cup appearances are remembered. What came after that is known: The descent in installments in the form of staying in class via relegation against 1. FC Heidenheim, then the crash, which the previously fired Kohfeldt no longer experienced.

Van Bommel's brief stint in Wolfsburg ended sports director Schmadtke on Sunday. Van Bommel's predecessors Bruno Labbadia (2019) and Oliver Glasner (2021) had experienced how uncomfortable it can be to work under the 57-year-old: conversations are not wanted. Ice Age on the Mittelland Canal. Both coaches literally fled from Schmadtke. With van Bommel, 44 years old, it was more likely the unnecessary change in the style of play away from switching football to ball possession football that made him fail. In addition, there was apparently the fact that he was not trusted to make harsh announcements in the direction of the stars.

In general, Kohfeldt is more of a player-understanding type than the strict disgust that is not afraid of any arguments.

In Bremen he hardly had to deal with spoiled high earners either.

There, almost everyone pulled together.

Kohfeldt conquered the team through emotional speeches and tactical guidelines after a long opponent analysis, which bore fruit.

Everyone felt comfortable in his system for a long time, and with his long Werder past he was a perfect fit for this club, which is afraid of big changes.

When the loyal man had to take more rigorous action in the absence of success and also had to convert the whole system from offensive exciting to defensive stable, he began to fail.

"Dominant, fast-paced and with a very good mentality," he wanted to see VfL, said Kohfeldt on Wednesday.

If you consider that his vita is tainted with the stain of relegation, the new contract amounts to a surprising promotion. Champions League with last year's fourth: Kohfeldt is still a coach who inspires fantasies, whom the decision-makers trust to make more out of better opportunities than was possible in Bremen. The fact that he can get the office and fans behind him quickly with his approachable nature is certainly not a disadvantage after the emotionally frugal Glasner and van Bommel.

It will have been important to the family man Kohfeldt that it is only a two-hour drive from his residence in Bremen to Wolfsburg.

It is rather questionable whether he can warm up to the fact that VfL does not arouse any emotions apart from a regional crowd of fans.

After all, Kohfeldt always drew part of his energy from the enthusiasm of the ranks and was thus made for a traditional club.