Köln head coach on Said El Mala hype: “Needs to add Bundesliga-level play to his ‘highlights'” | OneFootball

In a case not unlike an unforgettable press conference a few weeks back, 1. FC Köln head coach Lukas Kwasniok once again finds himself backed into a corner verbally. This week, Kwasniok again stuck his foot firmly in his mouth at a Bundesliga press conference yesterday whilst speaking on the topic of German footballing phenom Said El Mala.

El Mala scored a wonder-goal for his Bundesliga club just prior to the international break. After the 19-year-old completed an excellent October tour-of-duty with the Germany U21s, the transfer links began surfacing again.

Will German record champions FC Bayern Munich perhaps pluck away the teenage sensation? What about the Premier League clubs who were prepared to spend upwards of €15m on El Mala this summer before the youngster even kicked a ball in the Bundesliga?

Kwasniok deliberately attempted to play down the hype in his Friday pre-match press conference. After joking that he “hadn’t noticed any hype surrounding Said“, Kwasniok went on to emphasize the differences between younger players and veterans.

“Said is 19-year-old’s old and has played three games in one week,” Kwasniok said on Friday. “His body isn’t used to the strain like other players. I don’t like the hype surrounding him. How is a young player like him supposed to handle it? All of this is being artificially exaggerated.”

Kwasniok obviously had to sing a different tune on Saturday after El Mala drew his team level with yet another wonder-goal late in the match. El Mala entered in the 59th-minute with his side trailing 0-1. Köln would not have nicked a point off visiting Augsburg without the youngster’s sparkling 76th-minute finish on the 1-1.

“You’re misinterpreting what I said [yesterday],” Kwasniok noted at the post-match press conference. “I can’t and don’t want to downplay the hype. We just want to focus on our work with the lad. Specifically, our work integrating him into the team. He makes a fantastic impression, but is a ‘highlight player’.

“There’s a difference between a ‘highlight player’ and a ‘good Bundesliga player’,” Kwasniok continued. “There’s setting highlights and then there’s being of overall service to the team.

“[Jakub] Kamiński (23) [for example], is not a big ‘highlight player’, but is two or three levels above El Mala and, respectfully, more valuable to the team,” Kwasniok went on. “It’s our job to bring [El Mala] up to Kaminski’s level.

“But if he [El Mala] continues to perform like this and adds Bundesliga-level play to his ‘highlights’, we’ll have to sell him for a lot of money,” Kwasniok concluded. “That will happen one day, but I have a feeling that’s long off. He has Köln close to his heart. For now, he’s enjoying this. We’re enjoying this. I’m enjoying this.“

GGFN | Peter Weis