VfL Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath has expressed his regrets at having named Christian Trasch as captain in his first season at the club.
The 24-year-old midfielder, bought for €9 million from VfB Stuttgart last season, was in a patchy form throughout a year which saw Die Wölfe end at an underwhelming eighth place in the Bundesliga. His coach Felix Magath took full responsibility for having given him the captain's armband so soon after his arrival at the club.
"The armband clearly proved a burden for Christian throughout the season. He has not lived up to my expectations as well as his own. All things considered, the decision to name him club captain was altogether ill-fated," Magath said in an interview for Wolfsburger Allgemeine.
The VfL Wolfsburg captain armband has been waltzing in the past few seasons as Trasch's predecessor, Marcel Schafer, was merely in charge from January to August 2011 taking over from Edin Dzeko, transferred to Manchester City a year after being heir to the armband.
Now Magath is said to be considering appointing vice-captain Diego Benaglio as full-time captain, despite him being a goalkeeper - an idea Magath refused to consider in his time at the helm of Bayern from 2004 to 2007, but accepted during his Schalke tenure, when he appointed Manuel Neuer in that role.
"The problem with goalkeepers is that they are far away from the action. But in some cases we need to think this through and make changes regardless," Magath suggested.
Benaglio has recently signed a contract extension which will see him stay at Wolfsburg until 2017.
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