On Wednesday, Maximilian Arnold had still clearly criticised the refereeing team. On Saturday, he again found clear words – but for the performance of his own team.
“You can’t start the third game of the English week like that,” Arnold said on Sky. After seven minutes, his VfL was already 2-0 down against Borussia Mönchengladbach in their own stadium. “We were completely asleep, we had planned for much more. There is no explanation for it,” he said in consternation. “We should so slowly start not defending so carelessly.”
At 1-0 through Breel Embolo, Wolfsburg had first forgotten preparer Denis Zakaria in the back and then the scorer in the five-metre area after a Gladbach free-kick, before 2-0 two VfL defenders failed to separate preparer Embolo from the ball on the touchline. “It is important to be ready – and we were not ready in the first seven minutes,” Arnold said.
A consequence of the additional Champions League burden? An excuse that the midfielder refused to accept. Quite the opposite. “Bullshit,” he answered the reporter’s question. “We want to play internationally, we laid the foundations for it last season. That can’t be an excuse, we rather have to fight the inner bastard.” And then, after the international break, 1. FC Union Berlin.