Daniel Farke is obviously a courageous man. The Borussia Mönchengladbach coach was sitting in the FC Bayern arena when he made a statement that could be construed as blasphemy by his hosts, if not worse. Farke said: “I never made a secret of the fact that Yann Sommer is the best goalkeeper in the league together with Manuel Neuer.” With News? Not Behind the Munich captain?
On the other hand: Farke would have had arguments to classify Sommer even before the world champion and record world goalkeeper that evening. Not just because of the 19 saves in Gladbach’s 1-1 draw at FC Bayern, which have never been made by a Bundesliga goalkeeper since such data was collected, i.e. since 1992. But also because he looked better in a duel with one of the most capable strikers in Europe. As is well known, Neuer was dribbled out by Sadio Mané when FC Bayern lost to Liverpool in the Champions League in 2019. When Mané appeared alone as a Bayern striker before summer, the keeper not only stopped the first attempt with what was probably his most spectacular save, but also the follow-up shot.
Yann Sommer, 33, is not suddenly one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga, he was before. That is of course what Farke meant. The Swiss national goalkeeper was already the keeper with the most saved shots in the previous season: 131.
This season, at 1.83 meters, he is the smallest regular goalkeeper in the league, second in the statistics behind Bochum’s Manuel Riemann, which may also be due to the fact that the bottom of the table got a lot of shots on goal. Just like Sommer’s strong performance in Munich also had a lot to do with Bayern. “They also make extreme demands on the goalkeeper,” said the keeper, referring to luck and Gladbach’s defensive work. But that didn’t change the fact that his coach was right when he spoke of a “world-class performance”.
Summer is celebrated by the Gladbach fans after the game.
(Foto: Imago/ActionPictures)
Sommer made his first save in the first minute, deflecting a Dayot Upamecano header over the bar, and he just kept saving. “At some point you get into a flow when you have a lot of work to do,” he said. He was often good, came out of his goal at the right time against Leroy Sané, held his feet, dived, punched. He caught balls he had to catch and rarely gave the Munich attackers opportunities for follow-up shots. He only had no chance against Leroy Sané’s equalizing goal in the 83rd minute.
Sommer’s skills, which he is now showing in his ninth season for Gladbach, have not gone unnoticed by managers in other countries and leagues. Similar to striker Marcus Thuram, the scorer of the opening goal in Munich, there were and are various rumors of transfers during this transfer period. Sommer’s contract only runs until 2023. However, it sounded very much like an approaching agreement when talking about talks with the club on Saturday. “I’ve been here at Gladbach for eight years. If it didn’t go well together, I wouldn’t be here for a long time,” he said.
Should he stay, however, he would rather not deliver such outstanding games on a regular basis. “I hope I don’t get so busy in every game,” he said.
