“We have open eyes” – Kovac on the reasons for Kruse’s elimination at VfL Wolfsburg

“We have open eyes” – Kovac on the reasons for Kruse’s elimination at VfL Wolfsburg

Max Kruse completed his first training session after his retirement from VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday – mostly away from his teammates. VfL coach Niko Kovac has now commented again on the unwanted striker.

VfL Wolfsburg should probably still have a little to do with the situation surrounding the retired Max Kruse. On Tuesday, the 34-year-old formed his own “training group two” and had to warm up the goalkeeper.

Wolves coach Niko Kovac, who announced Kruse’s retirement live on TV last Saturday after the victory in Frankfurt, now spoke to him table football about the situation with the unwanted attacker.

The separation from the group during training is not a permanent condition, explained Kovac. “That wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Today we had 21 outfield players, then one got hit. That was Max, unfortunately that’s the way it is. If we had had a different form of practice today, he would have been there,” said the Croatian.

In the future, however, it could be the case that Kruse will not train with the team more often. “I have to make sure that we get the content in from those with whom we are planning,” Kovac continued. Kruse is definitely not one of them (anymore).

Kovac: Kruse decommissioning “carefully considered”

Kovac then went into the reasons that led to the retirement in consultation with Managing Director Jörg Schmadtke and Sports Director Marcel Schäfer. “We have to make decisions that we think will help us. It wasn’t a decision that was made overnight, we thought it through carefully. We have open eyes, look at everything, observe well… “Said Kovac meaningfully.

After Kruse’s reserve role at the beginning of the season, he played twice over 90 minutes in the Bundesliga. The veteran was not particularly convincing and remained without any goal involvement. To be fair, the former also applied to the rest of his teammates.

But even before that, it became obvious that Kovac was reluctant to rely on Kruse. In his opinion, the physical deficits of the 34-year-old are too great and the work against the ball too bad. Kruse’s off-pitch appearances on his social channels certainly didn’t help improve his situation.

In the end, VfL drew a temporary line last weekend. Which, however, will still drag. Kruse doesn’t seem interested in terminating the contract. A change would be possible in winter at the earliest.

“It would certainly help, but if it’s not like that, then it’s not like that,” said Kovac regarding a contract termination. And pushed afterwards: “We are obliged to give him the opportunity to train. We do that – but I have to work primarily with those we need at the weekend.” Like this Tuesday…

Everything about Wolfsburg in 90 minutes:

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as “We have open eyes” – Kovac on the reasons for Kruse’s elimination at VfL Wolfsburg released.

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