Dazzling stars and super talents have played their part in Bayer Leverkusen’s success, but so has veteran Jonas Hofmann. He and Florian Wirtz form a successful duo in the attacking midfield, which could also be interesting for the national team.
Finding the right balance is an art, especially in the midfield department of football teams. More defensive, more offensive forces, two sixes or just one?
The new national coach Julian Nagelsmann used the trip to the USA to try things out and tested different personnel constellations in the midfield. Not among them: a double ten with super talent Florian Wirtz (20 years old) and Jonas Hofmann (31).
The super talented and the super experienced
The veteran was never on the field with Wirtz in the games against the USA (3:1) and Mexico (2:2) and was also tested at the eternal full-back construction site. One for Bayer Leverkusen However, it does not exist in the Bundesliga, which is why the “Werkself” will have no reason to convert Hofmann into a defensive player at VfL Wolfsburg (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.).
Instead, the 31-year-old, whom the Leverkusen team surprisingly let go from Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer thanks to their release clause, is an absolute guarantee of success in Bayer’s attacking game alongside Wirtz.
Because the chemistry is right between the super talented and the super experienced: Wirtz, who played 84 Bundesliga games at a young age despite injury problems, benefits from the experienced Hofmann (239 first league games) as a partner in the double ten in the 3-4-2-1. System from coach Xabi Alonso. Together they were involved in almost half of Leverkusen’s goals (23), measured in terms of assists and own goals.
Much more than just in the slipstream of the stars
Hofmann seems like the missing piece of the puzzle that was missing for the talented and technically adept “Werkself”, who are being followed as league leaders by Stuttgart, Bayern and Dortmund. Before the start of the season, some critics may have been skeptical as to whether Hofmann would continue to play a leadership role in a squad full of super talents, as he did in Gladbach.
In a squad that was also equipped with other fresh offensive players – such as the Nigerian striker Victor Boniface, who dominated all the headlines early in the season. Boniface scored seven goals and contributed two assists in seven games.
But Hofmann appears right behind in the scorer list with four of his own goals and four assists. Only Chris Führich (VfB Stuttgart) had more assists (five). This means that Hofmann is even better off than Wirtz (one goal, three assists).
The national team player simply continues where he left off in Gladbach: There he was the most dangerous midfielder in the league in the last two seasons (a total of 24 goals and 15 assists in two seasons).
Hofmann had a share of a goal in every game
So does the Bundesliga now see an improved Hofmann again? In any case, the signs for a record-breaking season are good for him. So far he has been directly involved in goals in six of seven games, and at Bayern Munich he also took the penalty shortly before the end to make the final score 2-2.
Only a good 20 percent of the season has been completed. If things continue like this for Hofmann, he could pulverize his previous records in goals and assists. And national coach Nagelsmann might also be embarrassed to test the successful duo Hofmann/Wirtz in the national team on the double ten.
