Letsch takes off “hat to Manuel”
Polarizing VfL keeper cries with emotion this time
03/11/2023 10:34 am
Hard weeks lie behind Manuel Riemann. His VfL Bochum is threatened with relegation from the Bundesliga. And he does little to change that. The keeper who polarizes like this is on the verge of demotion. But against 1. FC Köln he got himself out of trouble. And gets a lot of praise.
Manuel Riemann had tears in his eyes. At the end of a grueling week, the teammates ran up to him and hugged him tightly. After seven and a half years, the emotional and polarizing goalkeeper almost lost his status as VfL Bochum’s number one. In the end, he was the hero in the 2-0 win at 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga, the second away win of the season. With this success, Bochum improved from last to 14th place in 90 minutes. And Riemann symbolized the resurrection of VfL.
“I take my hat off to Manuel,” said coach Thomas Letsch: “Of course there’s pressure when you’re being questioned and there are many issues to do with you personally. Then delivering such a performance deserves absolute respect. And says everything about him as a goalkeeper and as a person.”
In a survey conducted by VfL-Magazine, 70 percent of the 1,809 voters were in favor of taking Riemann out of goal and letting substitute keeper Michael Esser play instead. Of course, this only paints a picture of the mood and is not an instruction to the coaching team, but up until the day before the game it seemed clear that Riemann would actually be the prominent victim of the recent negative series. But then Esser signed off with gastrointestinal problems. When asked whether Riemann would have played if Esser had been fit, Letsch answered evasively. “It’s pointless,” he said, “Manuel played. And Manuel played well.”
So the number 1 has re-established its status. The 34-year-old, who was named VfL player of the past season, played a strong game. After a few seconds, Riemann defuses Cologne’s first chance, after 18 minutes he saves again and thus holds the lead through Kevin Stöger’s penalty (9th). The keeper, who is extremely polarizing with his way of playing and his loud instructions to his teammates, was a calming influence that evening, a sovereign support.
Losilla “in top shape like a 25-year-old”
But at least as important was the return of Anthony Losilla. “We always knew that he was important to us. But when he was absent, we realized how important he is,” said Letsch about his captain, who recently had to sit out two red cards. On his 37th birthday, Losilla confirmed his coach’s assessment that he was “in the best shape of a 25-year-old”.
“It was a wonderful evening. The boys gave me the best present,” he said: “I was finally able to step on the gas again. It was a great feeling.” But he still had to clarify one thing with his coach. “I wanted pizza for the team, but the coach said it was forbidden,” revealed the Frenchman. Apparently he had this information second-hand and his coach was surprised. “I didn’t ban anything. From my side, you’re welcome to eat pizza,” said Letsch.
FC Bayern as a role model
However, the unusually harsh words that the coach is said to have found after the 2-0 defeat to FC Schalke 04 and then four games without a point or goal during the week were unmistakable. “Everyone sacrificed themselves,” Letsch said with satisfaction: “I hope that everyone who thought last week that we weren’t fighting saw that we were alive and that we’re far from giving up.”
FC Bayern Munich, of all places, served as a model for use in the relegation battle. Or the goalkeeper of the series champion. “I thought what Yann Sommer said was outstanding,” explained Letsch: “The fact that they love defending the goal. That was the case with us today, and that was crucial.”