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Max Kruse
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Catherine Mueller/Getty Images
According to the coach, Max Kruse will no longer play for VfL Wolfsburg under Niko Kovac.
“We demand 100% identification and concentration from every player with a focus on VfL.
We didn't have that feeling with Max. That's why he wasn't there and won't be there in the future," said Kovač after the 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on the Sky TV channel.
Kruse was not in the VfL squad in Frankfurt.
When asked by the reporter whether this was the end of a great Bundesliga career, Kovac replied briefly: "Yes." Will Kruse really not play anymore?
“No.” As a coach, he has a responsibility to help the team, said Kovač.
"We didn't see any impulses from Max that he could help the team." The club is above everything, and that's why he made this decision.
Kruse switched from Union Berlin to Wolfsburg last winter – as the dream player of the then coach Florian Kohfeldt.
In the second half of the season, the attacking midfielder had scored seven goals in 14 Bundesliga games and played a major role in VfL being able to keep their class early on.
Kohfeldt still had to give way and was replaced by Kovač.
Transfer window closed for ten days
In the first three games of this season, Kovač did without Kruse in the starting XI, he is considered a coach who attaches great importance to fitness and the willingness to run.
On the fourth matchday in Leipzig (0:2) and on the fifth matchday against Cologne (2:4), Kruse was then allowed to play 90 minutes each, but he was not able to put much emphasis on the offensive.
The veteran had repeatedly criticized his role at VfL under Kovač in recent weeks.
Sports director Marcel Schäfer argued similarly to his coach.
“In football things can go fast here and there.
Max helped us in the last second half of the season.
We had a change of coach, where we changed our motto a bit.« Now you see »work and passion as priorities« in the club.
Kruse can continue to participate in training.
The decision should have a bitter aftertaste for 34-year-old Kruse, as the transfer market has been closed for ten days and he now has no opportunity to move to a bigger league.
A change before the end of the transfer window could not be realized, as a sorted out player Kruse might have looked around more intensively.
Club changes are possible again in January 2023 – unless he is considering a transfer to Greece or Qatar, for example (transfer windows open until September 15).
krä/dpa/sid