Max Kruse Returns: Assessing His Potential Impact at SC Paderborn

What else does Kruse have in the tank?

So strange Kruse announces his change!

Dominik Schätzle

11 hrs ago

Max Kruse is back: The 35-year-old is playing for SC Paderborn in the second division in the new season. What else can you expect from him at his age and after a seven-month break? The fans are divided.

The ex-national player wants to do it again at the age of 35 and will leave next season at the second division SC Paderborn at the start. The offensive player announced this on Friday in an unconventional but not untypical way. In an Instagram live, he presented himself with his new employer’s jersey.

The echo is huge! Football fans and observers are “on fire” on social media.

Paderborn: Does Kruse still have a sporting added value?

The reactions range from congratulations to Paderborn, to jokes based on Kruse’s past, to incredulous comments that doubt that Kruse could actually still have any sporting added value.

“I think you can congratulate SC Paderborn 07 on this move. Kruse still has a lot of kilometers in the tank,” wrote the Twitter user “Leim Niesen”.

“Tucker Case” was delighted about the successful coup for the second division club, who obviously cannot pay high salaries in the millions: “Haha! What the Saudis can do, the glorious SC Paderborn 07 has been able to do for a long time!” “Micha” believes the club is capable of promotion under these conditions. He tweeted: “Paderborn 2024/25 in the Bundesliga, not in the mood.”

Dirk Benninghoff commented on the change more critically, but with a wink. “Difficult change! Max Kruse will hardly find much more in Paderborn,” he wrote and posted the logo of an arcade based on Max Kruse’s passion for poker and gamblers.

“Kruse does in the second division at least 15 booths (rather more). So Paderborn placed in the top five”, “Sven” was sure.

Kruse in a one-two: “Don’t have to see it as utopian”

Opinions differ. But the question remains: is Max Kruse – in addition to the possible marketing effect – also a sporting gain for Paderborn? What qualities does he bring with him?

One thing is clear: Kruse is no longer the youngest. The flexible attacking player is 35 years old and has not played a professional football game since leaving VfL Wolfsburg at the end of November. In terms of match practice, he should have a lot of catching up to do during the summer break.

Already in February said Kruse on SPORT1 in the STAHLWERK double pass: “We don’t have to see it as utopian that I could play 90 minutes in the Bundesliga tomorrow. I’ve been out of team training for five months. You just can’t simulate that, no matter how good you keep fit with a fitness trainer.”

But even then he thought a comeback was possible. “In terms of my footballing ability, I would say yes.” Ex-professional and expert Stefan Effenberg also believed in it. He said: “Everywhere Max had a sporting value, that’s why he changed. I am of the opinion that you have done the Bundesliga good. You performed everywhere you played. The numbers show that you can be happy to have someone like that on the team.”

Kruse and Union Berlin: It matched right away

“Effe” is absolutely right with this statement. This is shown by Kruse’s last stations in the Bundesliga. In 2020, the professional from Fenerbahce Istanbul, who was born in Reinbek (Schleswig-Holstein), returned to the league. At Union Berlin it should fit right away.

In the 2020/21 season, Kruse played 22 games in all competitions, scoring eleven goals and preparing five more. He confirmed these achievements in the following season 2021/22. The oldie became an absolute top performer, contributed eight goals and seven assists in 23 competitive games before moving to VfL Wolfsburg in the second half of the season.

Impressive performances here too: 14 games, seven goals, one assist. According to the statistics portal Ligainsider, he created 0.29 big chances per game and was thus in the list of the best players in 25th place out of around 230 Bundesliga players. He had a shooting accuracy of 70 percent (31st place) and provided 1.39 assists in each game (45th place). He finished ninth in the top scorer list at the end of the season.

Experience speaks for Kruse

In the 2022/23 season, however, Kruse only played five more games for Wolfsburg before tearing a muscle fiber and finally was sorted out by coach Niko Kovac.

If he manages to bring his qualities back onto the pitch, then Kruse should be a real reinforcement in Paderborn’s offensive. The 14-time national player is not only a goal threat, he is also an excellent assist provider as a hanging striker or central midfielder.

What also speaks for Kruse is his enormous experience. The 35-year-old has 307 Bundesliga and 63 second division games under his belt, scoring 97 goals and contributing 79 assists. He can continue to make the difference in crucial moments.

Kruse holds penalty record in the Bundesliga

A very special statistic also speaks for this: Kruse holds the all-time penalty record in the Bundesliga together with the former Schalke and Bochumer Jochen Abel.

Over the years he has sunk all of his 16 penalties. This series only broke with a missed penalty in 2020.

However, Kruse’s accuracy from the point could also serve SC Paderborn well.

2023-06-30 21:23:05
#tank #fans #divided