The Monday Bulletin: Tella exclusive, the thin line between Guirassy and Kane & a new attacking duo for Germany
Hello and welcome to the seventh edition of the Gegenpressing Monday Bulletin. This newsletter will hopefully prove to be a vital source of information for any serious Bundesliga fan, as we look to round up some of the most intriguing aspects of the matchday thanks to snippets of insight from our writers. Let us know what you think of the format and the talking points in the comments section below.
This weekend’s results
Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-0 Wolfsburg
Darmstadt 0-0 Mainz
Stuttgart 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Augsburg 1-1 Hoffenheim
Bayern Munich 4-2 Heidenheim
Bochum 1-1 Köln
Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Union Berlin
Welder Bremen 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
RB Leipzig 3-1 Freiburg
Exclusive: Tella on his first Bundesliga goal and working with Alonso
On the wall of a corridor deep inside the BayArena is mural featuring Kai Havertz, Benjamin Henrichs and Dominik Kohr, and the message: “Create your future. Don’t expect someone else to do it for you.” One of the latest young players taking that advice at Bayer Leverkusen this season is Nathan Tella, who scored his first Bundesliga goal on Sunday, capping off a comfortable 4-0 win over Union Berlin to keep the Werkself top of the table.
Picking up the ball from Florian Wirtz deep inside his own half following a Union free-kick, Tella, who’d only been on the pitch a matter of moments, led the counterattack, exchanging passes with fellow substitute Amine Adli at blistering pace before finishing emphatically.
“We spoke during the week about how Union keep a high line when they have offensive set pieces, so we knew that we’d have opportunities to counterattack,” he explained to Gegenpressing post-match. “Admittedly, we didn’t expect that to still be the case at 3-0, but it suited us. And with Amine, I’ve got someone who can keep up with me! We have a good understanding and he knew which run I was going to make.”
It's an instinctive understanding which is being further nurtured by head coach Xabi Alonso, who Tella says is meticulous in his planning and preparation.
“He has a brilliant understanding of the game, he knows what each game requires, how he wants us to position ourselves for different patterns of play against different opposition, with lots of attention to detail,” he said. “He gets his point across really well every time you come onto the pitch, whether starting or coming on as a sub, so there are no misunderstandings, everyone knows their job. He often joins in training himself and some of the passes he plays to us are just total quality!”
Having now added a Bundesliga strike to his goal against Molde in the Europa League last month, Tella, who scored 19 goals on loan at Burnley from Southampton in the Championship last season, is now aiming for a first league start. But, speaking just one day after being called up to the Nigerian national team, the 24-year-old insists patience is important.
“At Burnley, I was able to come straight into the team and play, but here I’m in an extremely talented group,” he said. “The standard is so high, so I still need to get to grips with it. But the lads are all supportive; they help me a lot and give me positive feedback, but also constructive criticism. That’s the honesty I need from teammates.
“When I started playing football, I never thought I’d have the chance to play abroad for such a big club. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I’m really thankful for it and I’m working hard. Today was a little glimpse of what I can do.”
The figures on the wall at the BayArena are testament to the springboard that Leverkusen and the Bundesliga can be. There’s a long way to go, but by stepping out of his comfort zone into a foreign league – and indeed into the Nigerian national team – Tella is doing all he can to create his own future. [Matt Ford at the BayArena]
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Bundesliga Match Facts underline Serhou Guirassy impact on Stuttgart
Serhou Guirassy was on the pitch for just 15 minutes when he decided the top game between Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund. With the score tied at 1-1, the striker broke into the box and tried to round Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who instead brought down the goalscorer. Guirassy then stepped up to score from the spot to score the winner. It was the player’s 15th goal of the season, and it would probably have been more had the 27-year-old not missed two games with a muscle injury. As a result, Guirassy is now two goals behind Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, whose sensational goal-scoring pace has him currently on 17 goals after 11 games. But while Kane has scored every 57 minutes in the Bundesliga this season, Guirassy is even more effective by scoring every 45 minutes. In fact, Bundesliga Match Facts highlight Guirassy’s importance for Stuttgart. According to the BMF database, Guirassy is the most efficient striker in the league with a +6.1 shot efficiency rating, slightly ahead of Kane (+5.9). Shot efficiency compares the cumulative xGoal values of all shots on goal with the actual goals scored. Guirassy’s efficiency in front of goal, in particular, stands out compared to Stuttgart’s overall rating, which stands at just +0.1 and ranks them just 10th in the league. In other words, the Swabians are a bit toothless without their star striker. (Manuel Veth)
Germany: Werder Bremen forward Marvin Ducksch re-united with Niclas Füllkrug
Julian Nagelsmann continues to experiment in attack. After calling up Kevin Behrens ahead of the national team games against the United States (3-1) and Mexico (2-2), Nagelsmann has called up Werder forward Marvin Ducksch. The 29-year-old centre forward has scored three goals and one assist in his last three Bundesliga games and, on form alone, deserves the nomination. "He can be very valuable, especially coming off the bench,” Nagelsmann said when asked about calling up Ducksch. “His set pieces are very good, and he's a good finisher. He also knows Niclas Füllkrug very, very well. That's certainly another factor that can help us. We want to have two to three real strikers on the way to the Euros, and we have three, four, five candidates for that.” Indeed, Füllkrug and Ducksch formed a dangerous partnership during Werder’s promotion campaign to the Bundesliga when they scored 19 and 20 goals, respectively, in the 2. Bundesliga. That partnership continued last season when Füllkrug scored 16 goals and five assists, and Ducksch managed 12 goals and seven assists. Although both are typical no.9s, they do have different attributes. While Füllkrug is a more typical physical box player, Ducksch is more of a street footballer who can also operate well outside the box, with an impressive shot that is a weapon outside the 18-yard box. As a result, the two formed a unique chemistry at Werder that Nagelsmann now hopes to rekindle for the German national team. [Manuel Veth]