The Monday Bulletin: Weghorst’s redemption, Atubolu growing pains & Frankfurt’s North African connection

Hello and welcome to the fifth 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. 

Eintracht Frankfurt’s North African connections

• It’s taken a little longer than Eintracht Frankfurt supporters might have hoped, but the Eagles are slowly spreading their wings this season. After back-to-back wins over Heidenheim and Hoffenheim, Frankfurt were the better team for long periods against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday and deserved more than a 3-3 draw, as entertaining as it was. New coach Dino Toppmöller said in the week that he wanted to see “structure and stability” from his team rather than offensive “hurrah football” – an approach that explains a run of four results in September which read: 1-1, 1-1, 1-1, 0-0. Now, however, Frankfurt’s new-look front four are starting to look a real threat going forward. Omar Marmoush followed up his goal away at Hoffenheim last week with two more against Dortmund, one from the penalty spot, while he also hit the post just before half-time. Behind him, Ansgar Knauff, Fares Chaibi and Aurelio Buta are keeping Mario Götze out the starting XI in a 4-2-3-1. The link-up play between Egypt’s Marmoush and Algeria’s Chaibi is particularly notable, and the North African connection extends further back to Tunisian midfielder Ellyes Skhiri, whose pinpoint pass to Chaibi set up Frankfurt’s third goal in the second half. However, while Frankfurt could feasibly have scored more, they also conceded three, and Toppmöller was keen to reiterate the need for stability. “I don’t want to see us just blindly pouring forward, that’s what I mean by ‘no hurrah football,’” he told me. “We want to attack out of a clear structure. Indeed, when you see the goals we conceded today, it wasn’t as if we were caught on the counterattack; they came from periods of Dortmund possession. But I do believe we can develop the right dynamic going forward while playing within a clear structure.” Frankfurt’s next four fixtures should give them ample opportunity to keep working on that as they face third-division Viktoria Köln in the German Cup and HJK Helsinki again in the Conference League, plus struggling Union Berlin and Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, before the next really big test against high-flying Stuttgart on November 25. (Matt Ford at the Waldstadion)

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Growing pains for Freiburg and young Atubolu

• It is a goalkeeper’s nightmare. There were 60 minutes on the clock, and it was 1-0 between Leverkusen and Freiburg when Jonas Hofmann took a shot from about 20 yards out; the ball hit the post and ricocheted off the outstretched back of goalkeeper Noah Atubolu to bounce back into the goal. Freiburg would shorten the lead to just one goal in the 70th minute thanks to a strike by Manuel Gulde but didn’t have enough to overturn the result. That also meant that the Hofmann goal was the winner. It adds another unfortunate chapter in Atubolu’s still-young career. The 21-year-old has been straddling a fine line between absolute brilliant saves and unfortunate moments, such as Sunday’s one against Leverkusen. The game showed a bit of both as Atubolu produced an incredible save following a thunderous shot by Florian Wirtz in the 75th minute. You can’t even blame Atubolu for the second goal; it is just an unfortunate moment. Indeed, the coaching staff in Freiburg, starting with Christian Streich, have been overly protective of the U21 German national team goalkeeper. In fact, the club made a conscious choice to bank on the talented goalkeeper after Mark Flekken was sold to Premier League side Brentford, even though they knew that there would be growing pain. It is a move that must be applauded, especially as there is a lack of German talent between the posts coming up through the ranks. All that highlights that things work a bit differently in Freiburg; rather than throwing a talent under the bus after a poor performance, Atubolu is given the time he needs to mature. In a business where players are given ever less time to develop, that’s the sort of special path only possible in a place like Freiburg under a head coach like Streich.  (Manuel Veth)

The Wout Weghorst redemption arc

• Hoffenheim’s 3-2 victory over Stuttgart was a truly remarkable 90 minutes of sheer entertainment, with plenty of key moments to chew over. But one that really stood out to me was the relatively benign manner in which Wout Weghorst celebrated his penalty conversion in the 21st minute. Rather than hug his team mates or celebrate with the fans, the Dutch forward sprinted half the length of the pitch to embrace his head coach, Pellegrino Matarazzo. There was little doubt over who Weghorst thought deserved the praise for Hoffenheim’s second goal. This, undoubtedly, is because Matarazzo has stuck by Weghorst despite a seemingly apparent dry spell in Sinsheim this season. The truth, of course, is a little more complicated than that. Despite Saturday’s spot kick being Weghorst’s first goal contribution of the league season, he has played a critical part in Hoffenheim’s impressive start to the league campaign. In a hybrid No.10 role that has seen the towering target man play behind the front line, Weghorst has found himself placing the passes that lead to goals, rather than scoring them. So far this season he sits second in Matarazzo’s squad for through balls and key passes in the Bundesliga. Which was evident for all to see in the lead up to Hoffenheim’s first goal, with Weghorst playing Maximilian Beier through towards the Stuttgart goal. The former Wolfsburg talisman may not be finding the back of the net like he once did, but he’s still proving to be an exceptional useful player in the Bundesliga.  (Stefan Bienkowski)

Dortmund’s vulnerable left flank

• When asked in the Waldstadion mixed zone what he thought of Borussia Dortmund’s left flank against Eintracht Frankfurt, Sebastian Kehl was diplomatic. “Yes, you could see that Frankfurt had more success down that side today,” the BVB sporting director told reporters after a careful pause. “We made some positional errors. We can do better.” That was putting it lightly after full-back Ramy Bensebaini and Gio Reyna, starting on the left wing, were exposed time and time again, especially in the first half and especially by the dangerous Aurelio Buta. The entirely ineffective Reyna was replaced by Karim Adeyemi in the second half and, while the defensive frailties remained (Chaibi brushed off his compatriot Bensebaini with ease before drilling home Frankfurt’s third), the change did pay dividends at the other end. Picking up possession on the left wing, Adeyemi feinted and sprinted past Dina Ebimbe before crossing low for Julian Brandt to make it 3-3 and cap off what has ultimately, despite a rather wobbly display in Frankfurt, been a very good week for Borussia Dortmund. “Less sexy, more successful,” said Eden Terzic again, repeating his current mantra in Frankfurt. Let’s see if it works against Bayern Munich next Saturday, too. (Matt Ford at the Waldstadion)