Bundesliga teams’ performances: Leverkusen continue to rotate under their new coach. But it will still take some time

Bayer Leverkusen had a busy winter transfer period and an even busier end of the season. Werkself hired an interim coach and narrowly won the Europa League with frequent injuries. Going into the new season, even with a new coach, the prospects are better.

Preparation

Bayer Leverkusen’s preparation didn’t quite go to plan and the culprit wasn’t the EURO, where only four players were with everything. The problem was the organisation of the friendlies, which were often cancelled or postponed.

Yet in the end Gerard Seoane’s charges played three not very successful matches. They drew with Freiburg, lost to Dutch Twente 1:5 and in the last game they beat Oberhausen 3:1. After returning from his holiday, the Czech national team’s Patrik Schick also made his presence felt.

As expected, Leverkusen beat Lokomotive Leipzig 3-0 in their first competitive match in the DFB-Pokal.

Transfers

Arrivals

As already mentioned, Leverkusen strengthened significantly already in the winter, so for a long time it looked like a more modest summer. After the EURO, however, Simon Rolfes, former player and currently sporting director, turned it up a notch.

First, Andrey Lunin came for free from Zenit St. Petersburg. From the 29-year-old goalkeeper, Leverkusen apparently promises only to cover the back of the unambiguous number one Hradecky. Another newcomer to the team is Mitchell Bakker. The PSG left back came for just €7 million.

It is his position that has been unstable at the club for many years. Until 2019, Wendell operated here, two years ago, the then young and promising Sinkgraven, who came from Ajax, came to compete with him. However, neither of them managed to put in consistent performances in the last two seasons.

So we can expect Bakker to work his way into the starting eleven quickly. Thanks to his acquaintance with Sinkgraven and Frimpong (both Dutch), he was able to acclimatise quickly and scored his first goal in the opening friendly of the season.

Bayer Leverkusen’s transfer policy in recent years has revolved mainly around young players. They often come in as replacements for older footballers who are past their prime.

And Leverkusen confirmed this with the purchase of Odilon Kossounou (20). The Ivory Coast stopper arrived for €23 million from Bruges in response to the departures of Sven Bender (32), Aleksandar Dragovic (30), Tin Jedvaj (25) and the injury to Edmond Tapsoba, who will miss the start of the season.

And although these are the only big signings, Bayer Leverkusen have done great business in securing minor reinforcements as well. Danish talent Zidan Sertdemir arrived for €2.5m.

The only 16-year-old midfielder has had starts in the youth national team and has been training with the A-team. Then 16-year-old Spanish striker Iker Bravo, who spent his footballing childhood at Barcelona’s La Masia academy, also came for free.

The in-form Pohnjapalo and stopper Retsos then returned to the club from their loan spells.

Departures

The Bender brother duo left Leverkusen after last season, returning to the club where they started their football career – TSV Brannenburg. Sven’s replacement has already been mentioned, Lars Bender didn’t play much last season mainly due to injuries and replacements came in the winter.

After only six months in a Werkself jersey, Demarai Gray left the club and was probably pushed out of the squad by the return of the talented Paulinho, who overcame several months of injury and recently returned from Tokyo with a gold medal around his neck.

The most tangible departure will definitely be the recent sale of Leon Bailey. He had been asking for a deal in England for a very long time and after failing to qualify for the Champions League, it was not worth keeping the talented winger at the club, especially when a nearly 30 million dollar offer came in from Aston Villa.

The line-up for the new season

Everything will depend on the tactics chosen by new coach Gerardo Seoane. During his successful seasons at Young Boys, he mostly practiced a 4-4-2 formation, but at Leverkusen he could make more use of the 4-2-3-1 formation that played second fiddle in his last stint.

The unwavering Lukas Hradecky will be between the three sticks. He has also consolidated his position with a great performance at the EURO. The defence from left to right could ideally look like this: Bakker – Tapsoba – Tah – Fosu-Mensah.

Tapsoba and Fosu-Mensah are out for an extended period. There is no alternative to Jeremy Frimpong on the right. A young speedster who came from Celtic six months ago.

Tapsoba will be replaced by either Retsos or new acquisition Kossounou. The advantage of the former is cheapness. Tah and Kossonou are both right wingers used to playing mainly on the right side of the midfield.

If we count on a 4-2-3-1 formation, the midfield trio would probably be Aranguiz, Amiri, Wirtz. Demirbay could often rotate with Amiri, who unlike his older teammate was brimming with great form last season, but now they both have that.

Demirbay has scored twice in a cup match, while Amiri has done the same in four games at the Olympics. Moreover, we must not forget the talented Palacios, who is still waiting for a bigger matchday in a Bayer Leverkusen jersey.

Moussa Diaby will no doubt play on one wing. His partner should be a new signing, a replacement for Leon Bailey. Patrik Schick will have a secure position at the top after a successful EURO, but he will have to improve his performances from last season.

Keys to success for the new season

Florian Wirtz has identified Champions League qualification as a goal for Bayer Leverkusen. What factors will be key to the journey towards such a goal?

A stable stopper pairing – Last season, also due to injuries, Peter Bosz often rotated the stopper pairing. This year, the pairing of Tapsoba – Tah or Tapsoba – Kossounou would need to be stabilized and stick with it throughout the season.

Patrik Schick’s performance – It probably goes without saying that Bayer Leverkusen fans didn’t even recognize the Czech international while watching the Euros. Consistent performances and goals were exactly what he lacked in Germany. If Leverkusen want to succeed, they need Schick to showcase his world class.

Replace Leon Bailey – 40 games, 15 goals and 11 assists are the numbers Leon Bailey managed to produce from the right wing position last season. Replacing the Jamaican super-talent will be difficult, but crucial for next season.

Avoiding injuries – The last factor is hard to influence. Last season, Leverkusen were plagued by numerous injuries that made the coaches job much more difficult. If they occur again this year, the Champions League will be a long way off.

Comment

Bayer Leverkusen have once again rotated their squad with a key player leaving. Last year it was Kai Havertz, this year it is Leon Bailey. If the club’s goal is to qualify for the Champions League, Gerard Seoan is facing quite a challenge.

The team has a lot of potential, but this will not be his year yet. I believe that
Gerardo Seoane will steer the team in the right direction and return Leverkusen to where they belong in the coming seasons. This year, however, I don’t see it happening yet.

I predict 5th – 6th place in the league, i.e. qualification for the Europa League. This year Werkself will also have to do that, and the demanding schedule will also complicate their success in the league. It probably won’t be for the trophy, but the quarterfinals should be a realistic goal.

Sources used: Transfermarkt, Livesport