The Monday Bulletin: Toothless Wolves and lightweight Foals, outstanding Führich and Kaiserslautern

and

Oct 09, 2023

Hello and welcome to the second 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 Bundesliga results

Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-2 Mainz
Stuttgart 3-1 Wolfsburg
Augsburg 1-2 Darmstadt
RB Leipzig 0-0 Bochum
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Union Berlin
Werder Bremen 2-3 Hoffenheim
Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 FC Köln
Bayern Munich 3-0 Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Heidenheim

Wolfsburg can’t see out games and it’s costing them points

It was certainly up for debate whether Wolfsburg were capable of going to Stuttgart and picking up all three points on Saturday, but few would have doubted that Niko Kovac’s side had put themselves in a fantastic position to do just that when Yannick Gerhardt put his side ahead after 34 minutes. However, what followed was something that is becoming a bit of a habit for this side and severely limiting their ability to climb up the Bundesliga table. In the second half Stuttgart punched back - hard - thanks to no less than three goals from Serhou Guirassy. That remarkable comeback not only means that Wolfsburg have lost three of their opening four away games of the season, but also the second time that this team have taken the lead only to end up losing the match. When we couple that with the fact that seven of the nine goals they’ve conceded this season have come in the second half of games, it points to a serious issue with the Wolves. They may have plenty of firepower to initially startle teams, but they don’t seem to have the composure or mental fortitude to see out the entire 90 minutes. (Stefan Bienkowski)

Don’t sleep on Christian Führich

As mentioned above, there is no doubt that there’s a certain Stuttgart striker who just can’t stop scoring. Indeed, his 13 goals in just seven Bundesliga games are not only impressive, but they also represent a new record. But in his shadow, Christian Führich is quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting attacking players in Germany. Signed for just €2.5 million from Paderborn in 2021, the 25-year-old has scored two goals and five assists this Bundesliga season. Together with Guirassy, Führich makes up one of the best-attacking duos in the German top flights. It is, therefore, not surprising that Julian Nagelsmann has called up Führich for his first ever national team squad that will face the US men’s national team (Oct. 14) and Mexico (Oct.17) in the United States during this upcoming international break. "He has very, very good momentum right now,” Nagelsmann said when asked about calling up Führich. “He's an excellent one-v-one player and has scored many goals for Stuttgart. Momentum is an important point for the national team. You have to call up the players who are currently at a performance peak and give them the chance.” Führich is one to watch and an almost overlooked factor in the Guirassy show. (Manuel Veth)

The Foals are far too lightweight in defence

Complaining about Borussia Mönchengladbach’s leaky defence may be slightly unfair. Especially after Friday’s match, where their opponents scored their opening goal through a truly spectacular and somewhat speculative long-range shot from Brajan Gruda 24 minutes into the game. However, Mainz’s second - in which Aymen Barkok effectively ran through on goal largely unopposed to score - certainly points to the single most important problem with Gerardo Seoane‘s team this season. After seven games, Gladbach actually have the fifth best record in the division when it comes to accumulative expected goals (i.e chances created). The problem is that when we look at which teams have the highest expected goals against (i.e chances created by their opponents) the Foals also rank fourth in the division. That explains why they’ve scored 13 goals but also conceded 16 in just seven games. So why are they conceding so many goals? Perhaps the most obvious answer is through the manner in which they struggle to defend set pieces. So far no less than 37% of their conceded goals have come from opposing corners or free-kicks. When we couple that with the fact that no team has faced more shots on their goal than the Foals this season and that they’re the fourth highest in the league for total ball losses after seven games, it points to a team that also struggle to control possession and subsequently entire games. (Stefan Bienkowski)

Kaiserslautern are for real

With DAZN Canada continuing its baffling decisions regarding which games it is showing and omitting both in the Friday and Saturday Bundesliga fixtures, I was stuck watching the Friday fixture between Kaiserslautern and Hannover 96. And I have to say it was a treat. I have written plenty about Kaiserslautern on this Substack and, among others, have asked what would it take to make the club great again. But maybe I got it all wrong? Kaiserslautern are already great; just ask the 43,000+ that packed into the Fritz-Walter-Stadion on Friday to watch their team beat Hannover 3-1 in what was a highly charged affair. It took 100 minutes for Lautern to fend off Hannover. Aaron Opoku scored an unbelievable goal following a solo run in the 79th minute, and Boris Tomiak put the game away from the spot in the 100th minute. Four goals and one red card against Hannover’s Havard Nielsen had the Betzenberg at a boiling point. Kaiserslautern are a sleeping giant with a similar potential to Union Berlin and perhaps one of the best stadium atmospheres in Germany. Let’s hope they can keep this run going and finally return to the top flight. (Manuel Veth)