‘It’s like London buses’ – Mika Biereth ‘not too worried’ about fallow spell at AS Monaco | OneFootball

“He brought us to this game against Manchester City tomorrow,” said Adi Hutter. The AS Monaco manager was talking about Mika Biereth (22), the scorer of 13 goals in 16 games last season, which secured a third-place finish and UEFA Champions League football for the Principality club.

His partnership with Breel Embolo was key to the former Arsenal forward’s goal-scoring form, however, he left to join Stade Rennais in the dying hours of the transfer window. “I think you could see that we had a good connection on and off the pitch,” said Biereth.

A Hale End connection

The Denmark international is therefore having to strike up new connections. The most natural connection is the one forged with another fellow Arsenal academy product, Folarin Balogun, with whom he played a handful of games at youth level. But there has been plenty of rotation with Monaco struggling, and with Hutter looking to find the right balance in attack. Biereth admits that striking those connections within this context is taking time.

“With our squad and with the other strikers we have with George (Ilenikhena), Paris (Brunner) and Flo (Balogun), we have really good strikers and we complement each other really well. I think it is just taking a bit of time to get used to that,” said the Monaco forward in a press conference attended by Get French Football News.

So far, Biereth has netted just once, although it is not as if he is missing chances. He is only slightly underperforming his xG and has not missed any glaring opportunities. The issue, it seems, is more structural at the start of the season, although Biereth identifies another factor.

Biereth adapting to a different context

“When I came, it was a new thing for the team to have this type of striker, and I think a lot of eyes were on me. It was a big change. Now I’m more used to it, and the teams are getting used to it, too, so from my point of view, I’m adapting to it,” said the Dane.

Having got his first goal of the season, against FC Metz a fortnight ago, Biereth seemed relieved; “Finally”, he posted on his Instagram story. He didn’t get on the scoresheet against FC Lorient last weekend, but he is counting on discovering his goal-scoring touch.

“It’s like London buses, when one comes, they all come, so I’m not too worried about it,” he told GFFN. He’ll be hoping to kickstart his season and Monaco’s Champions League campaign against Manchester City on Wednesday night.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Monaco