Lacroix issues apology for tunnel meltdown
VfL Wolfsburg center-half Maxence Lacroix has issued an apology for emotion-fueled scene that took place during the Bayern fixture on Sunday.
For a player once considered one of German football's hottest transfer commodities, the current Bundesliga campaign has been an exercise in humility. French center halve Maxence Lacroix - a €20 million valued defender - has found himself unexpectedly relegated to the bench. Since VfL Wolfsburg trainer Niko Kovac switched to the central defensive tandem of Micky van de Ven and Sebastiaan Bornauw, Lacroix has received just two starts since matchday 11.
One such deployment - in the most recent league encounter with Bayern - absolutely did not go as planned. Lacroix started the match as part of a back-three with van de Ven and Bornauw. When Bayern rushed out to a 3-0 lead early lead, Kovac broke the back-three up. Lacroix was sacrificed for Jakub Kaminski.
Broadcast cameras caught Lacroix undergoing a meltdown of epic proportions in the tunnel. The 22-year-old skipped a handshake with Kovac, assaulted the tunnel wall, and brushed aside the VfL kit man attempting to calm him down. It was ultimately Lacroix's countryman Joshua Guilavogui who had to grab Lacroix and bring him under control.
Lacoix has apologized on his instagram feed.
"I'm sorry for what I did," Lacroix wrote on Tuesday, "I behaved inappropriately towards the team and the club. As a professional who loves his job and his club, I have to be impeccable on and off the pitch with my attitude. Once again, I apologize to anyone who is offended by my behavior: teammates, staff, supporters and VfL fans."
The youngster took time to thank Guilavogui for his intervention.
"I want to thank Josuha Guilavogui for everything he has done for me since I arrived," Lacroix continued, "I will keep working hard and focus on the season, on the next game."
In his own post-match comments after the game, Kovac revealed that he had given Lacroix a hug during the halftime break, explaining that the substitution had nothing to do with Lacroix's performance on the pitch and was not meant personally.
Kovac did also emphasize that van de Ven and Bornauw remained his preferred central defensive pairing.