Christoph Kramer criticizes Michael Cuisance’s conduct at Borussia Mönchengladbach

Michael Cuisance made his Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich when he came on late in the second half during the 6-1 win over Mainz at the Allianz Arena. The former Borussia Mönchengladbach man completed his move to Bayern just a few weeks ago for a fee of around €12.5 million. He was announced on the same day as Philippe Coutinho, who joined on a one year loan from Barcelona.

Soon after the transfer Mönchengladbach manager Marco Rose said he could tell Cuisance felt he was “bigger than the club” and showed disrespectful behavior. To add to this, current ‘Gladbach midfielder Christoph Kramer recently described Cuisance as an incredibly ambitious player, but he also criticized his slightly selfish attitude when he wanted to leave ‘Gladbach because he wasn’t getting enough regular minutes (via Az):

Positiv kann man sagen: Er ist unheimlich ehrgeizig, möchte unbedingt Stammspieler werden, Verantwortung übernehmen und der Mannschaft helfen. Das sind erstmal gute Eigenschaften. Aber auf der anderen Seite geht es darum, wie man das umsetzt.

One can say positively: he is extremely ambitious and absolutely wants to be a starter, take on responsibility, and help the team. Those are good qualities for one. On the other hand, however, there is the way one goes about utilizing.

Cuisance expressed his dissatisfaction over a lack of playing time through negative behavior, which Kramer feels was simply disrespectful:

Man setzt es nicht mit Forderungen um oder trainiert mit offenen Schuhen, um seine Unzufriedenheit zu zeigen. Das gehört sich einfach nicht. Das ist ja genauso: Wenn ich letzte Saison nicht gespielt habe und dann hätte ich mir die Schuhe nicht mehr zugebunden oder hätte jeden Ball einfach nur noch weggeschossen. Das ist einfach eine Sache des Respekts vor der Gruppe. Ganz einfach!

You shouldn’t utilize [those qualities] with demands or train with your shoes untied to show your dissatisfaction. That’s simply inappropriate. It would be the same as if I didn’t play last season and then didn’t tie my shoes anymore or simply shot every ball away. It’s simply a matter of respect for the group. Very simple!

Cuisance’s negative attitude was clearly a problem in the squad, especially in light of ‘Gladbach’s struggle to get results in the Rückrunde. Sporting director Max Eberl, who has been with ‘Gladbach for over ten years, said that in all of his time with the club, he’s never seen a player so determined to leave, especially without even speaking with new manager Marco Rose:

Es war überraschend, dass er diesen Wunsch geäußert hat, bevor er nur einmal mit dem neuen Trainer gesprochen hat. Wir haben alles versucht und ihm alle Möglichkeiten aufgezeigt. Wenn einer nicht mehr will, muss er einen anderen Weg gehen. Ich bin jetzt zehn, elf Jahre Sportdirektor. Es ist das erste Mal, dass es so war.

It was surprising that he expressed this wish before he had spoken even once with the new coach. We tried everything and showed him all the possibilities. When someone doesn’t want to anymore, they have to go a different way. I have been a general manager for ten or eleven years. This is the first time that it was like this.

Photo by Joshua Sammer/Bongarts/Getty Images

In light of his complaints at ‘Gladbach over a lack of regular playing minutes, Cuisance’s decision to move to Bayern seems a little off, given how much depth Bayern have in midfield. Cuisance will compete for time with Thiago Alcantara, Leon Goretzka, Corentin Tolisso, Javi Martinez, Thomas Muller, Philippe Coutinho, and even Joshua Kimmich since Niko Kovac has already deputized him at the number 6 spot twice already this season.

It’s hard to see Cuisance high up in the pecking order on the midfield depth chart, so he’ll absolutely have to make the most of the opportunities he gets. From Bayern’s perspective, they’ll be hoping he doesn’t create a negative aura in the dressing room if he grows frustrated with a lack of playing time.