EActually, Bayer Leverkusen’s game at FC Bayern is charged enough without political involvement. The two clubs that met almost a year ago in the big game between the first (Leverkusen) and the second (Munich) are now fifteenth and fifth. Headlines about a “crisis duel” appear in the tabloids, and now another dimension has also been added. Since Leverkusen attacker Sardar Azmoun positioned himself as a supporter of the protests against the oppression of women in Iran and the brutal regime there, questions about the world situation have been raised in Leverkusen.
“I have to say that Sardar is a role model for everyone in terms of his behavior and commitment,” said Leverkusen coach Gerardo Seoane before leaving for the game with the record champions (Friday, 8:30 p.m., live on DAZN). He tries to “show empathy” and “to have a certain amount of hearing” in order to “support” Azmoun, says the Swiss, for whom the case shows how small his own crisis problem is compared to the really serious things in life.
Seoane himself is ailing and urgently needs success in order to be able to stay as a coach in the Bundesliga. After the 1-1 draw against Bremen in the last game before the international break that ended this Friday, the club management had a detailed meeting and probably also considered the possibility of a change of coach.
Simon Rolfes, the managing director of sport, had initially only stated that he had “the intention” to continue working with Seoane, but at the end of the debate club boss Fernando Carro said, as usual, pithy about the coach: “He’s firmly in the saddle.”
Permanent cooperation?
The Leverkusen team would like to work permanently with the 43-year-old Swiss, who appears very level-headed and approachable, speaks six languages and has little to complain about in terms of football. He can obviously also count on the support of the team. So far, however, Seoane has not been able to pull his team out of the swamp of failure.
There were “two or three games” in which his team “really underperformed”, he says, but in most games the Werkself played decently or even quite well. On the better days, however, “above all, there was a lack of effectiveness,” explains the trainer. Patrik Schick’s personal form crisis is causing problems for the team, Moussa Diaby also misses too many great chances and so far no one has jumped in.
That is one explanation for the fact that the most expensive Leverkusen squad in history, which devours around 100 million euros in salary alone, started the season so poorly. On the other hand, the fact that the team has not been able to free itself is also a sign of real weakness.
antidote success
And now the atmosphere is also a problem, Seoane admits: “If you have a number of results together that are negative, then that does something to the team. Individually, in the mood in the dressing room, but also with the coach and the whole environment.” The only antidote to such a climate is success, although nobody expects Bayer Leverkusen to win in Munich. After that, however, there are two Champions League duels, first in Porto and then at home against the Portuguese, in between Schalke is a guest on the Rhine. At this stage, there should be an urgent signal of recovery from the team.
Seoane already finds “that a certain solidarity is noticeable”. But as is so often the case in crises of this kind, a wide variety of theories are thrown into the pot with the possible causes that make the recovery process difficult. There are bubbles in the squad based on language skills, it is said, which could also be helped by the fact that Seoane can talk to almost every player in their native language.
On the other hand, communication between the team is more difficult, but does this result in small groups, as observers suspect? Or do some players suffer from the poisonous thought that with so much footballing quality, 90 percent of the energy expenditure could be enough?
Sports director Rolfes seems to think this thesis is possible, referring to the 2-0 win against Atlético Madrid, the best game of the season. “We can not only show this bite in the Champions League.” After all, in Munich the danger of becoming arrogant is rather low.
