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Domenico Tedesco: "We left a lot behind"
Photo:
Thomas Eisenhuth / Getty Images
To the top team in three days:
Because Leipzig is not playing for second place in the Bundesliga, but is eleventh, coach Jesse Marsch had to leave.
His successor Domenico Tedesco, who is actually the successor to Julian Nagelsmann, who moved to Munich in the summer, was introduced on Thursday.
Three days later, RB football showed like at the very best of times.
The team created a number of chances against Mönchengladbach, and they did so with the restless football with which Leipzig had once established itself at the top of the Bundesliga.
The result:
RB won 4: 1 (2: 0) in their Tedesco debut.
No gate too high.
The first half:
Gladbach was overrun. The Leipzigers sprinted towards the defensive chain of Borussia every minute. Josko Gvardiol scored to 1-0 (20th minute), André Silva scored the second goal (33rd), and in addition to the two hits, there were several other RB chances. A selection: Nordi Mukiele and Konrad Laimer missed an early goal one after the other (7th), Silva missed one time (10th), sometimes he failed to goalkeeper Yann Sommer (45th), and Christopher Nkunku was not on the list of goalscorers Bad luck: The French didn't miss a lot three times (18th, 34th, 44th). Gladbach was well served with the 2-0 break at break.
The Tedesco effect:
Was already noticeable in these first 45 minutes. The new coach bet on a 3-4-1-2 formation and two things stood out. On the one hand, the interaction between Zehner Emil Forsberg and the outstanding Christopher Nkunku (left striker next to André Silva). Both sought to be close to the other, they ensured an outnumbering on the left and often combined each other in a way that was worth seeing. On the other hand, Gladbach couldn't cope with the Leipzig pace. RB immediately played in depth after conquering the ball, and the ball was always followed by several Leipzigers; the counter-actions (and there were plenty of them) developed a force that overwhelmed Gladbach.
Standard = weakness:
Last week, in the memorable 6-0 at home against Freiburg, Gladbach conceded four hits after dormant balls. Coach Adi Hütter said afterwards, that defending standards had been specially trained in preparation for the game. And now? Borussia caught another goal after a free-kick cross. Jonas Hofmann stood with goal scorer Gvardiol, let him go and no one took on. There aren't many methods that can be as effective in achieving success in professional football as standards.
The second half:
Was shaped by Leipzig missing out on opportunities. Above all, André Silva (51st) negligently missed the opportunity to score the third goal, later Forsberg shot past (62nd), Nkunku couldn't get past Sommer (74th). The now stronger Gladbachers were meanwhile also dangerous, following a standard it was now Borussia (!) Who scored, and it was worth seeing, Ramy Bensebaini artistically put the ball into the goal (88th). But it wasn't exciting anymore, two counterattacks led to two RB hits, first by Nkunku (90th + 1), then by Benjamin Henrichs (90.4).
Artistic shot of the game:
footballers who don't hit the empty goal have always fascinated us spectators.
Maybe because the professionals are unusually close to us at such moments.
According to the motto: Look, this happens to him too!
André Silva had his peek-a-boo in the 51st minute.
Nkunku put the ball on him, the attacker just had to push it into the empty goal, goalkeeper Sommer was beaten, he had played a bad pass outside the penalty area, but Silva hit the crossbar.
You could re-enact the scene 50 times during training, it would probably always hit.
The Gladbacher Twitter account reacted to the chance like this:
What's wrong with Gladbach?
Borussia have three games to forget, 1: 4 against Cologne, 0: 6 against Freiburg, now Leipzig. 18 points from 15 games, that's not a good record for Hütter, who came in the summer. He was also unlucky: Borussia believed that many games were unfortunate, games were not won despite the increased chances. But this time the defensive behavior was worrying. Before a great chance in the middle of the first half, Gladbach lost the ball in forward gear, and then nothing happened. The strikers trotted out, many did not switch to defense. And before the 0: 2 you saw some players running towards their own goal, others running forward towards the ball, it seemed as if one foot did not know what the other was doing. The performance against RB was worse than the one in the 0: 6 against Freiburg.
Is Leipzig now marching through the league?
Possible.
Tedesco and his team seem to get along straight away, the squad is better than that of many teams that are currently still ahead of RB.
However, it remains to be seen how effective the Leipzig offensive will be against obstinate opponents.
After all, not every team offers as much room to counter as Borussia.
During his stint at Schalke, Tedesco's team was excellent at keeping their opponents away from their own goal for a long time.
However, that team is not remembered for an outstanding offensive plan, as shown by 108 goals in 75 competitive games.
Such a quota would be a disappointment in Leipzig.
