European Players of the Week #1383

Moussa Diaby vs Augsburg

Moussa Diaby, for several years, has been one of the most immense talents in the Bundesliga. He has only built on his incredible performances following a 15 assists season during the last campaign. He’s a player that everyone recognizes has the quality, mentality, and ability to be among the very best in German football and Beyond. However, for whatever reason, he slides under the radar. Never genuinely gets the credit that he ultimately deserves. He has been a constant key player for Bayer Leverkusen. Last season Leverkusen lost Leon Bailey, who moved to Aston Villa; this caused the workload to increase as the young twenty-two-year-old has, even more, to carry on his shoulders. Without Leon Bailey, Moussa Diaby has grown to become a much more refined player. He is one of the most explosive players in the Bundesliga; all he needs is an inch of space to be effective. His movement with and without the ball is superb, and the level of the explosion he has on the right side goes without saying. This week against Augsburg, Moussa Diaby was at his very best he had not scored for a couple of games, but on Saturday, he just unloaded. Scoring his first Bundesliga hat-trick with a performance to be remembered. Getting in those dangerous positions constantly and finding enough space to rinse the Augsburg defense regularly. He is a player that is effective in many assets of the game even when he’s not scoring, but this weekend, in particular, he exploded, and there was no answer for him. Again he’s not a player that is talked about as much as he should be. He is a type of player that many teams would love to have across Europe, and it’s only going to be a matter of time before he makes that big move. He has 11 goals and eight assists this season as he is on pace for another monster year. Along with Patrik Schick, the impact and influence of Moussa Diaby have primarily contributed to Leverkusen having an opportunity to secure Champions League football next season. With what they lost during the last campaign, as I mentioned Leon Bailey and the Larson Brothers they were expected to someone struggle this season very few for saw them as a Champions League team Moussa Diaby continuing to perform at the level he has this campaign has been vastly influential in Bayern Leverkusen. The success they have had so far, Patrick Schick’s high voltage scoring has undoubtedly been a part of that for the two of them together have created quite a partnership they always know where each other are. The pair set the pace for Bayern Leverkusen this weekend in particular; he was just fantastic; it has been all season we will continue to fly under the radar while the team continues to perform. He has never really got to look into the French national team; he certainly should know that very few players at his position have been as consistently productive as Moussa Diaby.

Georginio Rutter vs Dortmund

Georginio Rutter stock is rising in German Football; it is apparent anytime you watch Hoffenheim this season. Hoffenheim is vibing for a Champions League spot this season; they are on track to make it to Europe one way or another. Hoffenheim is a well-balanced team with many good weapons such as Christophe Bumgarner, Andrej Kramaric Bebu, and many others; even though they are overachieving this campaign, it shouldn’t come off as a massive surprise. Georginio Rutter gave Hoffenheim the platform to mount a comeback after going down early against Dortmund. They were dealt with devastating circumstances. Typically speaking, if the player in question does not at least pick up a point in the performance, they will not make my list. However, Saturday’s 3–2 loss to Dortmund came under extraordinary circumstances. Georginio Rutter started the game from the bench; he was thrown into action early in the first half. A beautiful goal from Dortmund saw Hoffenheim go behind moments later; one of the most important parts of their Midfield Christophe Bumgarner, unfortunately, picked up an injury and had to be removed. The 19-year old attacking midfielder entered the game and immediately made an impact. This week, there may have been players that had more of a highlight show, but considering the circumstances that he was put in, Georginio Rutter deserves a lot of credit for what transpired on Saturday. You look at the scoreline and see a Dortmund victory; this would give you the assumption that Dortmund played well and had a battle. If you did not watch the game last Saturday, you would not know the perception is completely false. Dortmund was outplayed from minute one to minute 90. Hoffenheim worked hard; the result did it. If the game had lasted another 10 minutes, the points would have been split. Georginio Rutter came into the game and made a difference, immediately nearly scoring 60 Seconds into his introduction. He dominated the Run of play; he got forward and put himself in dangerous positions; Dortmund could not deal with him; the link-up play between himself Andrej Kramaric and Bebu was something to see. The entire match was essentially half and putting incredible pressure on the Dortmund Defence. Dortmund played beautiful football, and they put together something truly extraordinary on two sequences. However, throughout the game’s duration, Hoffenheim was the better team; anybody who witnessed that game on Saturday will tell you this. A big reason they could handle themselves after losing one of their most important players in the Midfield is that the young kid came off the bench and made an immediate impact, and Hoffenheim didn’t lose a step. There are games where everything goes your way, and you still don’t get the results that was the case for Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim ended up getting an equalizer right before halftime. Then, unfortunately, Marco Reus was set up perfectly to score, and unfortunately, a few minutes later, there was an own goal. However, this did not discourage the ambitious nineteen-year-old that is making a mark in the Bundesliga this season; he has been the best youngster in German football this season that doesn’t have the name Florian Wirtz this campaign he’s been better than Jamal musiala and Jude Bellingham he has received High marks from the German press what Still Remains very much under the radar. This is a true shame because the kid can do pretty much anything; he hasn’t had that explosion yet, but it’s coming; he already has 10 goal involvement this season with five goals and five assists, another player will have their eye on he will be vital for Hoffenheim Champions League ambitions. This week he was spectacular he ended up scoring to get a goal back after a little luck from Dortmund; not only that in the bitter end of the game, he would not quit he kept getting after kept putting themselves in dangerous positions, kept occupying space, and spreading it to his teammates he was relentless he just never gave up. He has been one of the bright stars of German football and Europe this season; he may not impress you with statistics, but he is as well-rounded as a young player in Europe as anyone this season; the kid is special, and he’s incredibly scary; he’s another player that the French national team has to their disposal he may not be ready for that jump it just yet but Georginio Rutter is certainly cooking in Hoffenheim in a losing effort against Dortmund he was brilliant Hoffenheim had to deal with unforeseen circumstances but they never lost confidence and momentum in that game they remained the superior throughout even if they didn’t get the result, in the end, the inclusion of Georginio Rutter you didn’t see Hoffenheim miss a step if that’s not enough evidence I don’t know what it is he came it’s actually a tragedy that they didn’t at least get a point from the game because they were significantly the better team against Dortmund on Saturday, just another special performance from the youngster.

Tammy Abraham vs Empoli

There are very few attackers in World football that are better than Tammy Abraham. Truthfully the only ones I can think of are Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski; it is a very compelling argument that Tammy Abraham is a top-three striker in the world right now. Not necessarily in general but at the current moment, those are the only two that are having better seasons. The season as a whole has been a bit inconsistent from Roma’s output; however, there certainly could be an opportunity that they could turn the corner. Champions League football probably is not a possible outcome, but finishing in the Europa League would improve last season. As things progressed, they can continue to build on this campaign. The friedkin group is doing its best to rebuild the squad and make it a winner again. They deserve an enormous amount of credit for the Tammy Abraham deal. It was a battle for weeks between Arsenal and Roma. However, ultimately the Italian side was able to convince him. Roma forked out 36 million for Tammy Abraham; it seemed like a lot of money at the time; also, upon his arrival, he has given the number nine jersey, a jersey that was previously worn by Club Legend edin Dzeko, who has scored 119 goals over six seasons for the club. A lot of pressure was going to highlight that situation he was going to have to perform; there was no way around it. However, yet again, he has been absolutely superb this season, one of the most impressive performers of these weekends games; again he is just operating on a completely different level at the moment. Bojar mayoral last season was the Brightside oven otherwise brutal season. The Spanish international scored 17 goals last season; he has since Departed back to La Liga. His lack of usage seemed a bit harsh, but the way Tammy Abraham performed is a big reason. Tammy Abraham against empoli only continued his truly incredible form after scoring in the Coppa Italia Victory on Thursday. He added two strikes in the first half against a strong Empoli side. Tammy Abraham has 17 goals this season has scored 14 goals in his last 14 games; he has been exactly what Roma paid for Roma for the first time in a couple of years has a superstar at the striker position. Don’t get me wrong, edin Dzeko was a superstar the last couple of years you could see his age. Right now, we have a 24-year-old Striker scoring as frequently as any attacker in World football; he has reached 10 League goals this season. Chelsea has a Buy-Back option in 2023 that will cost approximately 88 million if they choose to activate it; as I said before, even though it is clear their making mistakes here, Abramovich will not swallow his pride and make that decision almost a admit that they messed up. Romelu Lukaku is there; eventually, he’s going to get back on track and start scoring, so I think it’s highly unlikely that the Buy-Back Clause will be activated or that Tammy would even want that as much as he loves the club. Tammy Abraham should be the number one choice at the World Cup; what he’s doing at Roma is very similar to romelu Lukaku at Inter Milan. He is in a perfect situation with good pieces around him; as Roma fans, we watch this team every week, and with the good and the bad, Tammy Abraham playing like a monster is not something that surprises any of us. Among Italy’s best strikers, Tammy Abraham is right there; with Ciro immobile, we have two Roman Strikers at the top of their game showing world-class capabilities every week in this league. Tammy Abraham making that big-money move from Chelsea not only has given Roma a superstar, but by the end of this, it will look like an extreme bargain a goal on Thursday in the Coppa Italia scoring twice on Sunday he is scoring at an unconscious level. There’s a reason he will continue to get recognition. Roma and Tammy Abraham fit like a glove as we repeatedly see incredible performances.