Wolfsburg coach Tommy Stroot
Triple possible, but not even on Wikipedia
April 20, 2022, 7:00 p.m
The women of VfL Wolfsburg are on the verge of becoming German champions. In addition, they can win the eighth DFB Cup. They are in the semi-finals of the Champions League. They are considered outsiders against Barcelona. But coach Tommy Stroot has achieved remarkable things.
The only football coach in Germany who can still manage to win the treble of championship, cup and Champions League this season does not even have his own Wikipedia entry. Tommy Stroot has so far not publicly uttered the popular term for the triple triumph. For the women of VfL Wolfsburg, however, everything is possible in the final spurt of the season with their youthful-looking coach. Now the team around goalkeeper Almuth Schult and captain Alexandra Popp is playing against FC Barcelona in front of more than 90,000 spectators at the Camp Nou.
“We are in a phase where we are completely in the flow and exude maximum conviction,” said Stroot after last Sunday’s semi-final success in the DFB Cup at FC Bayern. On May 28 in Cologne, Wolfsburg can now win the cup for the eighth time in a row. In the Bundesliga, VfL is already on course for the title with a four-point lead over Munich. For the first time, the semi-final cracker in the premier class at defending champion FC Barcelona on Friday outshines (6.45 p.m./DAZN) everything.
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg recently praised Stroot’s “mentality players”. The 33-year-old started under difficult conditions in Wolfsburg last summer: the team was in a state of upheaval, important players like Popp, Schult, Ewa Pajor and Pia-Sophie Wolter were missing, some with long-term injuries. The new coach came from the Dutch champions Twente Enschede, previously looked after the soccer players of SV Meppen. “It’s wonderful to see what came of it,” Schult said of the development under the new coach.
Compare with Nagelsmann
Because of his age, Stroot is often compared to Bayern men’s coach Julian Nagelsmann. But the native of Nordhorn said in an interview with the “Elfen” magazine when asked whether that honored him: “No, that’s a bit of pigeonhole thinking. I’m also following his path and find it exciting, but it’s nothing I would underline.”
Stroot, who was never a professional, started as a kind of football teacher when he was 14. “My younger brother’s team at SV Grenzland Twist hadn’t found a coach – and then a friend and I said we’d do it,” he said now married father of two children in the “Sportbuzzer” interview. “We approached it quite naively, and when the referee’s bill came after the first game, we were quite surprised – we didn’t even know at the time that such a thing even existed and only stood on the sports field with pocket money.”
He said to his parents back then: “I want to wear my jogging suit to work!” Stroot first completed training as a physiotherapist and worked with the severely disabled. He then found his calling in women’s football. At his station in the Netherlands, he did exactly what his credo is: always learning.
“Will only be more dangerous for the future”
Stroot also draws his strength from his coaching team. These include two graduates of the DFB soccer teacher course: Ex-European champion Kim Kulig (“As a former top player, she brings in a different and important perspective”) and Sabrina Eckhoff (“An absolute worker and planner”). In Ralf Kellermann, who was once a coach for the VfL women, he also has an experienced and successful sports director at his side.
Crucial games like the 4-0 win in the decisive group game against Chelsea and intensive preparations at the beginning of the year brought VfL decisively forward. “We have done a good job and the most difficult period is already behind us. We will only become more dangerous for the future,” said Stroot.
The perspective beyond the summer break is also promising: Wolfsburg has already announced two top arrivals in DFB goalkeeper Merle Frohms from Eintracht Frankfurt and top talent Jule Brand (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim).