Kwasniok explains El Mala’s role as the wild card
Jan 10, 2026 7:55 p.m. | 1:19m
Said El Mala saved 1. FC Köln a point in Heidenheim with his goal to make it 2-2. Coach Lukas Kwasniok then explains the youngster’s joker role.
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With Saeed, I think it’s now known in the league that he is one of the best substitutes the Bundesliga is currently seeing. But there are three categories of players and I don’t want to go too far into that. At least for me. There are game managers, game improvers and game deciders and game deciders decide games at the back, especially in the second half. And one of the best has just arrived and we just want to take advantage of his weapon. And if he plays from the start, he has to work through a lot and then he loses a little of his quality. And that’s why it’s a very fine line, on the one hand, to get him to not only work, but also to improve the game so that he can work and make decisions. And we have to find a good balance so that on the one hand we don’t burn him out, but we also don’t take away his strength, because in the 2nd 45 minutes the opponent is a little more tired and then his weapons come into their own even more. And yes, we will hopefully always use them in the right balance and are, of course, happy that he is with us.