Florian Neuhaus entered his tenth year at Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he already played over 200 Bundesliga games. However, it wasn't always smooth sailing for the 29-year-old, who represented the senior Germany national team ten times.
"I know his abilities. But, of course, he has to prove himself," Gladbach's new coach Alexander Blessin said about Neuhaus ahead of his first game in charge in the Revierderby clash with 1. FC Köln.
Especially after an incident in Mallorca where Neuhaus mocked the then-sporting director Roland Virkus, the central midfielder struggled to feature regularly for the Foals. Under the previous coach Eugen Polanski, Neuhaus nearly spent more Bundesliga games as an unused substitute (14) than he played (15).
"The door is also open for Flo," Blessin vowed as he plans for a fresh start. "It looked good so far, but there is still no guarantee. But the potential is there," Blessin concluded as he pointed to the good signs in the training pitch.
With the interim coach Jan-Moritz Lichte in charge, Neuhaus scored on his first appearance of the season when Gladbach lost 4-3 to Mainz 05 just before the international break.
