Hoffenheim’s “man of the match” Christoph Baumgartner holds a laudatory speech for the long-injured colleague after his start-up comeback.
Shared joy: Grischa Prömel congratulates Christoph Baumgartner (left).
picture alliance / Eibner-Pressefoto
Almost exactly six months to the day after breaking his ankle, Grischa Prömel was back in the TSG starting eleven for the first time on Saturday. When the returnee was substituted well into injury time, much later than planned and to a standing ovation from the crowd, it became clear to everyone how much this player had been missed by the team. “Maybe it’s me because of my scorer points, but for me Grischa Prömel is clearly the man of the match,” clarified Christoph Baumgartner, “which Grischa did today after a five-month break, half a game each in the U23s and in Leipzig “What he did is sensational. The energy and motivation he gives us is something we very rarely have in the squad. He’s an incredibly important player for us.”
Possibly a touch of bad conscience or a kind of reparation played a role in this demonstrative and hymn-like commendation, after all it was Baumgartner and not an opponent who had so fatally collided with Prömel in the heat of the moment. Which does not detract from the objective correctness of his assessment. Prömel’s presence immediately gave the Hoffenheim game more security and self-image. Playful and motivational. “He is a player who radiates a lot, who communicates loudly and convincingly,” said coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, “he is clever in his actions, brings robustness, secures the ball well and is tactically clever. He brings extreme a lot for this team.”
“Actually, Grischa was only supposed to play 60 minutes today”
Its advantages should actually only be claimed for a good hour, in order to gently bring the long-term injured person back to full exertion. But the game required more. “Actually, Grischa was only supposed to play 60 minutes today, I was almost sorry that he had to go more than 90 minutes, but he was too important to be substituted today,” said Matarazzo, “that should describe his importance for this team.”
The highly praised also lived up to his leadership role after the game. “It got tough in the end, but I had the feeling that I could help the team, even if the coach let me play longer than originally planned,” explained Prömel, “in the second half we worked with man and mouse defended the goal, I remember that from Union Berlin. It’s fun to see how everyone fights for the other.” An attitude that not insignificantly kindled Prömel’s rousing nature. And which he raised to the future standard. “This game is the benchmark, it has to be in people’s minds. It’s all about winning the games, no matter how – even if that may not always be handsome. We’re professionals and we’re paid to win games. That includes , to defend completely as one, even if not everyone likes it, but successful football is sexy,” said Prömel, especially in the relegation battle, “it’s only over when it’s over. We have to keep working.”
Silver winner from Rio
If TSG succeeds in this way, staying up in the league is only a matter of time. And if Prömel “continues like this, I hope that he will also get an invitation for the DFB”, Austria’s national player Baumgartner made a recommendation to Hansi Flick. At least the national coach had experienced Prömel’s convincing performance on Saturday in the stands in Sinsheim, and he also knows the Hoffenheim player as a national player. In 2016, Prömel won the silver medal with the German Olympic team in Rio and Flick accompanied the company up close as DFB sports director.
2023-05-07 11:22:05
#Baumgartners #recommendation #Flick #table #football
