Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking says that he expects to see more from forward Andre Schurrle.
Schurrle, 24, joined Wolfsburg from Chelsea in a deal worth around €32 million in early February 2015. However, the Germany international has so far failed to leave his mark at the club and Hecking is slowly running out of patience.
"Andre has been here for nine months now," Hecking told Sport1 on Sunday. "We have expectations, which are higher than what has so far shown here.
"He maybe broods too much. We've addressed this. He currently does not have the feeling for the situation in which he can be successful. That's why we can't spare him criticism. It's partially justified, and he knows that."
Wolfsburg impressed in the Bundesliga last season and claimed a place in the Champions League. However, they sold Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester City this summer, suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat at Bayern Munich last Tuesday and were held to a 1-1 draw by strugglers Hannover 96 at the Volkswagen Arena this weekend.
And, ahead of the midweek game against Manchester United, Schurrle told kicker that the Germans "are a bit of an outsider" in their meeting with the Premier League giants.
"We have to give it our all, and we'll have a chance," Schurrle said, adding that he is looking forward to his meeting with Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger: "It's always great to see each other. But on the pitch we are enemies."
Schurrle netted eight goals in 30 Premier League appearances under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea but opted to move back to Germany halfway through his second year. And the forward admits he is baffled as to why it didn't work out.
"I had a good time at Chelsea and was accepted in the team, so it's difficult to explain why I left," Schurrle told The Times. "My performances were good as well, but there was a time in my second season when I felt I didn't have the manager's trust anymore and I didn't play many matches from the start.
"I don't know why Mourinho didn't trust me. It all felt a bit weird to me. I started a few games, was on the bench for a few, then started some more.
"It was up and down the whole time. I had a lot of good talks with the manager and respect him a lot, as he told me to my face what he wanted me to do. I had some very good games, but there was often an ordinary game soon afterwards as well.
"I didn't get any consistency from the manager so found it hard to produce my best. That's probably the biggest reason I wanted to leave.
"It was difficult to leave, but when I had the chance to come back to Germany to join an awesome club like Wolfsburg I felt it was a good decision."
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg striker Bas Dost and coach Hecking have settled their dispute ahead of the Champions League clash.
Last week, following Dost's brace in the 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin, Hecking had hit out at the attacker and accused him of not being a team player for his behaviour following his half-time substitution in the first Champions League match against CSKA Moscow.
"I also sometimes say things in an interview, and later question my statements. It happens," Dost told kicker. "We've talked about it, that's not a problem, we are grown-ups. Nothing will stick."