Coach Steffen Baumgart from 1. FC Köln has put his statements, which he understood as a dig at the goalscorer Anthony Modeste, who migrated to BVB, into perspective.
“I didn’t mean it that way. If statements are interpreted, it becomes difficult,” said the 50-year-old in the “Bild am Sonntag”. Baumgart said a week ago that “what distinguished Tony last year was the team in the background”.
You can see right now, “if a team doesn’t act like that, then maybe you don’t score as many goals as before”.
Modeste scored 20 Bundesliga goals for Cologne last season. At the beginning of August, the 34-year-old switched to league rivals Borussia Dortmund. He finally scored his first goal for his new club in the third game in the 1-0 draw at Hertha BSC in Berlin.
“I just wanted to say that the football we played made us successful,” Baumgart said. “We created a lot of scoring chances – that’s why someone like Tony was worth his weight in gold.”
He called Modeste after the change, the coach said. “From my point of view, he didn’t do anything wrong.” As a coach, he is happy “that I was able to work with him. Tony is a fine guy who I don’t let anything come to me.”