Union coach Urs Fischer has shown understanding for the surprising move from striker Max Kruse to league rivals VfL Wolfsburg. But he also admits it won’t be easy to replace the striker.
“You don’t play until 40. There’s a age limit somewhere. He got another great offer. You can then understand that a little bit somewhere. That’s my opinion,” Fischer said at a press conference on Thursday, two days before the away game at FC Augsburg (3:30 p.m./ in the BZ live ticker). “I was surprised too. That’s football. It goes on.”
Fischer is as usual pragmatic: “Why should I bother with things that I can no longer influence. Max has decided to leave us. He was a leader, a personality and ultimately a difference player. But he’s gone now.”
Nevertheless, Fischer is concerned about how successful his team’s offensive game will be in the future: “We’ll see whether our game will be more predictable without him. I do not hope so.”
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The Union coach felt it was important that Sven Michel could still be signed by the second division club SC Paderborn – even if the striker with 14 goals this season and seven assists in 20 games is not a one-to-one replacement for Kruse. “We’ll get a player who knows where the goal is,” Fischer is certain.