Maximilian Arnold is Wolfsburg’s record player after his 259th Bundesliga game together with Diego Benaglio. However, the midfielder was in no mood to celebrate after the 2-0 defeat at Union Berlin.
Maxilian Arnold has been under contract with VfL Wolfsburg since 2009. 15 years and 259 Bundesliga games later, the now 27-year-old is the Wolves’ record player, together with Diego Benaglio. However, there will not be a big party after the 0:2 at Union Berlin. In any case, Arnold is focusing on other things than personal records, as he explained at the Sky microphone: “I’m a footballer, I’m not so interested in these individual titles at this moment. Of course I’m happy about it. I would rather have won here today and done my no idea what game. “
Chain of errors leads to game-deciding 0:2
Arnold was very annoyed about the goals his team conceded: “You have to be honest, we defended very badly in those moments.” While Max Kruse and Genki Haraguchi put the Eisern in the lead, Arnold’s statement was completely true for the game-deciding 0:2. First Dodi Lukebakio was too easily separated from the ball by Taiwo Awoniyi next to his own penalty area, then Kevin Mbabu lacked the final determination against Andreas Voglsammer. The fact that Ridle Baku also stood poorly against goalscorer Sheraldo Becker at the second post completed the chain of errors.
The third Bundesliga defeat in a row – VfL have been waiting six games for a win in the competition – did not alarm Arnold in view of the number of points scored so far, although he also knew: “When you lose the last three games and concede eight goals, that’s a lot. In total, ten goals have been conceded after eight matchdays, so there is a clear trend. “That’s why we need to do everything we can to defend the goal. “
Weghorst: “It’s not my place to talk about it “
However, defending was not Wolves’ only problem on Saturday afternoon, with very little going forward apart from Lukebakio’s goal against the post. Even the substitution of Wolfsburg’s top scorer Wout Weghorst (three goals this season) only briefly brought danger to the Berlin goal. The striker himself had little to say about his 67 minutes on the bench: “The coach told me this week that I would not play from the start. That he thought it was better for the team with those three up front and that’s what it’s all about. It’s not for me to talk about it. I think everyone up front is doing their best.”
Nevertheless, Weghorst could have equalised seconds after his substitution to draw level with third-placed Diego Klimowicz in the all-time VfL goalscoring charts, but he failed to beat the well-responding Andreas Luthe. So it was left to Becker to decide the match, spoiling Arnold’s record-breaking game: “I definitely won’t open anything today, I’m very disappointed today. “
