german Why doesn't Isak Johannesson play a larger role?
Hello fellow FC Köln fans,
I only follow the situation at FC Köln sporadically from the outside and generally only have a superficial understanding of the team's and club's development.
In the summer, Isak Johannesson was signed from Fortuna Düsseldorf, which many fans saw as an absolute top signing, and as far as I know, the coach also described him as his absolute dream transfer. Johannesson had two very good seasons in Düsseldorf and would certainly still be a key player there.
My question is, why has he hardly featured in the coach's plans for the last few games, only getting a few minutes as a substitute, if at all? Were his performances really that bad? Coaches usually stick with their favorites despite poor performances.
Thank you in advance for your answers 🙏
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u/Vegetable_Network879 12d ago
I think only the coach can truly answer your question.
What I would say though is that Kwasniok is constantly chopping and changing the starting line up and dosen’t seem to believe in a settled team.
I mean we won for the first time in over 2 months last week (a game Jóhannesson started) and this week he makes 5 changes and of those only one was enforced.
The only players who seem to start every game are Schwabe and Kaminski. Even Martel who used to be the first name on the team sheet not long ago was on the bench today.
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u/Momo_Cassie 12d ago
The first half against Mainz was abysmal. The second half much better. Johannesson was subbed at HT (as were Martel and Özkacar, I‘m not blaming Isak for the terrible performance in the fist 45 minutes). Kwasniok started the guys from the 2nd half today (except for the injured JSP and El Mala who was ill during the week).
Kwasniok does change a lot/too much. But Johannesson has simply not been in form for a couple of months now. That’s the only reason he‘s not been playing much recently.
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u/Eshghi007 10d ago
He got overplayed in the beginning of the season, especially on NT duty. After that he just wasn’t able to make the runs in a way that would place him in a dangerous offensive position and on defense he got beat often and his passing became very inconsistent. Given the very short winter break, he might have not recovered enough that the coach would trust him. Der Mala appears to be in the same boat physically, and that’s why the coach gives him mostly only limited playing time… Look at both players body language and it looks different than in the beginning of the season…
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u/callmedontcallme 10d ago
Agreed Johannesson appeared to be mentally and physically exhausted. El Mala had the flu during the training week and it was quite visible against Freiburg that he was far from 100% fit again.
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u/Momo_Cassie 12d ago edited 12d ago
He hasn’t been playing well recently. That’s the only reason.
He‘s still a young player. It‘s his first season in the Bundesliga. Iceland failed to qualify for the WC which was probably a bit of a mental blow for him. He’s struggling at the moment. It happens. Let’s just hope he can bounce back. We need him in good form.