Wolfsburg appoint Kohfeldt as Van Bommel's successor as coach

Wolfsburg had been top of the Bundesliga after four games played this season - which included a 1-0 victory over last season's runners-up, RB Leipzig - but Saturday's 2-0 loss to Freiburg was their fourth consecutive league defeat, leaving them in ninth.

"In the past few hours we have had many discussions and made a selection of possible candidates," said sporting director Marcel Schäfer. "We're happy that we were able to reach an agreement with Florian Kohfeldt and are convinced that we can get back on the road to success together with him."

Watch: The Wolves initially bared their teeth under Van Bommel

The 39-year-old Kohfeldt ended his 20-year association with Bremen in May of this year, his 35 percent win record with the relegated Grün-Weißen not enough to save him despite the high regard he was held in by the club.

"I didn't have to think twice about accepting this challenge," said Kohfeldt. "It's an exciting job that I'm really looking forward to. I'm going to use the short time until the next game to have a lot of conversations and get an initial overview. Ther's a lot of quality and dynamism in this team and we'll now work together to show that on the pitch."

Kohfeldt - who already has a reputation for giving youth a chance - will take charge for Wolfsburg's trip to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.