Samassekou’s new quality

Hoffenheim’s 30 goals so far this season have been scored by 13 different players. Now even the sixes are scoring

Diadie Samassekou is used to waiting a long time for goals. That’s why it didn’t matter to him on Saturday how long it seemed to others before referee Daniel Schlager, after checking Ihlas Bebou’s previous offside position, finally allowed his goal to make it 3:1 against Frankfurt. And as if on cue, the emotions and joy bubbled out of the 25-year-old over the still rare event.

It had taken more than two years before the man from Mali scored his first competitive goal for Hoffenheim against Leipzig the other day. Now he followed it up in the next home game. “It’s nice that I’m scoring so often at the moment, but the most important thing is that we win,” Samassekou explained, “it feels very good to beat Frankfurt. I had never won against them before. We like the feeling of winning games and we didn’t want to give that up. “

We saw again what we can achieve this year

Finally, it is the first time ever under coach Sebastian Hoeneß that TSG have won three in a row. Samassekou also wants to take advantage of this flow. “For two years we weren’t as well placed as we are now, and we worked a long time to get back there in the table,” says the African, “now we have to keep working hard, that’s the most important thing. Because we need more wins to stay up there. We have seen again what we can achieve this year if we work as a team. “

Part of this is the fact that many players are now capable of scoring goals. Not only Samassekou, but also the second six, Dennis Geiger, scored his second goal of the season against Eintracht. Sebastian Rudy has also scored twice, as have defenders Kevin Akpoguma, Pavel Kaderabek and Stefan Posch once each. No coincidence, but strategy, as Hoeneß reveals: “We want the boys to get into the box,” says the TSG coach. So the defensive midfielders also move up and into the sixteen depending on the situation.

Hoeneß’ special praise for Samassekou: “Keep up the good work “

Against Leipzig, Samassekou headed a Geiger corner into the net, now he even scored with his weaker left foot with a still deflected shot from about 13 metres. “He is the absolute top defender in the Bundesliga,” says Hoeneß, “and now he is also starting to score goals. A player who is super to train because he is always working on himself, is willing to learn. Keep up the good work. “

That could well work out. The 25-year-old, who was set back by a corona infection in the summer, is now showing what is possible with continuous training without annoying interruptions due to illness, injuries or long international trips. In addition, the resolute defender, like Geiger, managed to continue defending aggressively and effectively despite an early warning, without overdoing it and risking a yellow card. “We have a good flow and we want to stay in it,” said Geiger, “against Freiburg we now want to follow up. On the cloud we are floating on, we want to continue. With every win, our self-confidence grows.” However, Freiburg, who are still one place and two points higher, also had plenty of confidence when they won 6-0 in Gladbach.