At the restart in Augsburg, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso is faced with a tricky question: Will he rest defense chief Jonathan Tah, who is threatened with a yellow card suspension, for the following game in Leipzig? The evidence speaks for it.
Will Robert Andrich replace Jonathan Tah against Augsburg? IMAGO/Beautiful Sports
He doesn’t say it, but it’s still clear what Xabi Alonso means. “We have a big goal ahead of us. We want to be successful, but the best formula is: game by game.” The title is the goal. And the Leverkusen coach is aware of the importance of the restart in the duel with Bayern Munich. “We need a good performance and a good result in Augsburg in order to feel again that we are on the right path,” explains the Basque and adds with conviction: “We are convinced that we are ready for what lies ahead lying year.”
Ready in the sense of being in top shape and well-rehearsed? In any case! But also ready when it comes to the breadth of the squad? Given the fact that center forward Victor Boniface (adductor operation, will be out until April), right-back Arthur (hamstring operation in the thigh, will return in March) as well as Amine Adli, Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou, all of whom will be at the Africa Cup of Nations (13.1. until 11.2.) will be missing for now?
Four players for three positions
Xabi Alonso sums it up with his assessment. “Without three players,” he says, referring to the Africa Cup participants, we don’t have as many options to decide. But we have enough good players to have a good line-up.” However, the Basque is aware that not much can happen when he adds: “If players are injured or suspended, we may have a problem.”
This is obviously the case in the center forward position if Boniface competitor and replacement Patrik Schick is unavailable. And the supply of players for the three-man defense chain is also tight without Tapsoba and Kossounou.
The coach currently has four realistic candidates for the three positions: left-footer Piero Hincapie, Josip Stanisic for the right position, and six-man Robert Andrich, who has often played centrally in the back three and was convincing. And defense chief Jonathan Tah, who last played in the test against Venice (4-1) not in the middle, but on the right in the row of three.
“He’s a top player for us”
Four good options that are sufficient at first glance, but at least with regard to the start of the second half of the season in Leipzig in a week, they pose a problem. Tah has collected four yellow cards so far and will have to sit out a game the next time he is warned. In the top game in Leipzig, this would be doubly disadvantageous against the fast RB offense. On the one hand, because Tah would be an important factor there with his speed. On the other hand, because Xabi Alonso would then have no real alternative on the bench if a Bayer defender were booked and at risk of being yellow-red against the offensively strong and extremely dynamic Leipzig team.
So is Leverkusen’s coach in Augsburg voluntarily giving up his defense chief? “The players don’t know the lineup yet, so I can’t say that yet,” Xabi Alonso evaded the question on Friday, “he’s in the squad. He’s a top player for us. We’ll see.”
The Spaniard was absolutely specific when it came to assessing Tah’s development over the past year. “I think the second half of last season was very important for everyone, but especially for Jona. He played very well, with a great personality. He feels like a leader in the back three. He communicates a lot with the central defenders and the midfielders “He’s always focused, makes almost no mistakes. And this season he’s also been very courageous with the ball,” he rightly attests to the 27-year-old’s fantastic rise.
It could backfire
Tah has now become a permanent starting eleven in the DFB team. “We have to push him to continue like this. If he plays like this with us, he has a good chance of playing an important role in the national team,” says his club coach, who emphasizes: “But the most important thing is his work, his ambition, himself “To want to improve. He knows that he can play so well at his high level.”
Xabi Alonso leaves no doubt about the importance of Tah in the Werkself, who continually works individually on his strengths and weaknesses. “I know that all the players in a squad are different,” says the World and European Champion, “but you need some players like Jonathan Tah – that’s for sure.”
Much more appreciation is hardly possible. And because Xabi Alonso is so aware of Tah’s purely sporting importance, he has to carefully consider how he decides in Augsburg: Does he take the risk and does he really leave Tah out? He also knows how important a good restart in the title fight would be. And that he would have to accept criticism if this move went wrong.
Already played against Bochum
But his statements on Friday point to the variant without Tah. In addition, Xabi Alonso’s words that all players in his squad are important are anything but an empty phrase. In fact, he has already proven repeatedly that despite the policy of small steps (“We have our plan, with small goals, we have our big goal to achieve”) very well looks beyond the horizon of the next game.
In the last league game before Christmas against Bochum (4-0), he left all five Africans who were eligible for nomination for the Africa Cup on the bench and trusted an eleven that was at his disposal during the tournament could import these.
The fact that Tah was also in this formation does not contradict the assumption that Xabi Alonso could rest him in Augsburg. The fifth yellow card for Tah, if he had seen it against Bochum, would also have averted the risk of a suspension for the defense chief in Leipzig.
2024-01-12 17:18:21
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