Borussia Mönchengladbach praise sparkling Florian Neuhaus: “He earned and took his chance.” | OneFootball

After a series of seemingly endless outgoing transfer rumours, the first Bundesliga start of the 2024/25 campaign could not have gone better for Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Florian Neuhaus. While the ten-times-capped international didn’t take the Man of the Match honour, he earned plenty of praise from his head coach along with one of his fellow former German internationals, Julian Weigl.

Neuhaus started alongside Julian Weigl in a double-six set-up in Gerardo Seoane’s 4-2-3-1. The 27-year-old nevertheless didn’t remain deep. Neuhaus recorded two shots on target, assisted on a further three, and got his name on the scoresheet by officially assisting on Tim Kleindienst’s goal. Neuhaus played 90 minutes, racking 11 kilometres total distance covered while completing 85 percent of his passes.

Neuhaus remains a diverse midfielder capable of playing as deep as a sweeper and as high up as a ten. It’s nevertheless no secret that the former 1860 Munich man prefers a more attack-minded role. Injury problems – combined with the fact that Gladbach have great competition up front (Alassane Plea, Philipp Sander, Kevin Stöger, Rocco Reitz, and Nathan Ngoumou) – currently precludes him from getting starts up there.

When considering Saturday performance, it would appear that Neuhaus opted to take his chance at auditioning as a ten anyway. Seoane and Weigl were quick to praise the intrepid foal, even if he didn’t exactly follow the tactical plan.

“He showed us that he’s there when we need him,” Weigl remarked when stopping in for an interview with Sky Germany. “He helped us out with that assist and many other elements of his game today.”

“There have been decisions for other players and not against Florian Neuhaus,” Seoane added, going on to praise the interplay between Weigl and Neuhaus. “They were playful sixes, doing well defensively.“

Seoane added more at the post-match press conference.

“He [Neuhaus] had the opportunity to transfer out,” Seoane said. “There were enquires from other countries. He made his presence felt from the beginning. He played out of the back and made his mark defensively.

“I always emphasise that Florian Neuhaus has a lot of competition,” Seoane continued. “We have many good midfielders. Sixes, eights, and tens. Every player gets a chance to prove himself in training.

“He earned his chance and took his chance,” Seoane concluded. “He put himself in service of the team and brought a lot to the pitch.”

GGFN | Peter Weis