Xhaka praises brace-scorer Tella and discusses "risky" deployment
Bayer 04 Leverkusen "midfield metronome" Granit Xhaka spoke on both his own deployment and a surprise start for Nigerian Nathan Tella after his team's 2-0 victory over Darmstadt today.
Ahead of a massive matchup against German giants and fellow title-aspirants FC Bayern München next week, there was some discussion as to whether Bayer 04 Leverkusen trainer Xabi Alonso would risk playing Granit Xhaka against lowly Darmstadt today. The Swiss international and one of the Bundesliga's best performers in the current season sat on four yellow cards. A fifth would mean an accumulated yellow suspension
Much as he did with Jonathan Tah in the round 17 encounter against Augsburg, Xabi discussed the possibility of resting Xhaka lest the 31-year-old incur a fifth booking and miss out on the Bayern game. In the end, the Werkself trainer opted to take the risk. It paid off. Xhaka was not booked. In his post-match interview with Sky Germany, the player spoke on the decision.
"There were talks during the week," Xhaka confirmed, "We weren't sure whether I should play. But I have more experience now and said that I would definitely be careful - thank God it worked out well. Because as a footballer, you want to play games like next week."
Another surprise move that absolutely paid off concerned a start for Nigerian attacker over Jeremie Frimpong at the right wingback position. Frimpong - having missed several chances to score in last week's 0-0 draw with Gladbach - made way. This too paid off. The 24-year-old bagged a brace in his first Bundesliga start. Xhaka praised the hero of the day for "working hard" to "get into the team".
Tella himself spoke on the need to show a "reaction" after last week's draw. Tella has now netted four league tallies after twice scoring off the bench. During a media appearance earlier in the week, the Nigerian who some expected to replaced the injured Victor Boniface at the Africa Cup of Nations remarked that it was about time he scored with his head.
This came to pass on Tella's third league goal of the season and fourth across all competitions. Both Tella and Xhaka could only smile at what the latter described as an "intriguing week ahead". Leverkusen face fellow "top three" side Stuttgart on Tuesday in the DFB Pokal quarterfinals on Tuesday before Bayern awaits in next Saturday evening's "Top Spiel".