Paul Seguin, a key player for SpVgg Greuther Fürth in their promotion year, is the first Bundesliga player to be suspended this season due to a yellow card.
In the 30th minute against VfL Bochum, the time had come: For a tactical foul on Elvis Rexhbecaj, Paul Seguin saw his fifth caution on matchday eight and therefore has to be the first Bundesliga player this season to miss Saturday’s game at RB Leipzig due to a yellow ban. This fits in with the disappointing impression of the top performer from the promotion year so far.
Yellow cards are not necessarily bad. They can be a sign that players and the team are fighting back and not putting up with everything. Conversely, they can also be a sign that a player literally cannot keep up, that the game is too fast for him or that he is standing in the wrong position. In Seguin’s case, at least, it is a fact that the son of former GDR national player Wolfgang Seguin has played a disappointing season so far. Although the 26-year-old has always been in the starting line-up and, apart from one late substitution, has always played through, the kicker grade average of 4.31 says a lot about Seguin’s performance.
A coherent picture of why SpVgg are bottom of the table
Of course Seguin is not the sole culprit in the weak start – but one of the symbols for it. Why? Like Julian Green, Branimir Hrgota or the now demoted goalkeeper Sascha Burchert, Seguin was one of the defining faces of the Kleeblatt’s rise, but they are all struggling at the moment. If you add the departing regulars Ernst, Jaeckel, Stach and Raum plus newcomers who have not (yet) caught fire (Fein, Christiansen, Seufert) or were unable to do so due to injuries (Jung, Ngankam), you get a coherent picture of why SpVgg are bottom of the table.
There are higher expectations of Seguin
Seguin, it is an open secret, would have moved to another Bundesliga club if they had not been promoted. Now, after good summer preparation, he is struggling in precisely this league. Part of the truth is that he is being watched closely and expectations are higher than for others, precisely because he was expected to play a good role in this league.
Christiansen could replace Seguin
On Saturday, Seguin will be forced to take a break. Who will replace him? Green is not in good form, with him, Jeremy Dudziak and Timothy Tillman the midfield would be too offensive anyway. The most likely candidate is Max Christiansen, newcomer from Waldhof Mannheim, who has been substituted four times so far. He has not been in the starting eleven so far.
