His adaptation, at first, barely thwarted by a knee injury in preparation which deprived him of the first two days, was lightning. Facilitated in particular by Sebastiaan Bornauw. Its accelerations then, with a peak at 35.58 km/h. If Ralph Hassenhüthl sometimes faces the same problems as Alexander Blessin in bringing him into his tactical framework, the striker considered to be Wolves’ best recruit of the summer quickly became indispensable and is aiming for 20 goals this season.
For Haaland, Nusa is incredible
His talent has never been questioned. His expression, particularly in numbers, could sometimes have been annoying in Bruges. But by moving to Leipzig this summer, Antonio Nusa left this worry behind him. He who completed his last Belgian season with 4 goals and 4 assists in 46 appearances, has already scored as many times and scored twice as many in just 24 matches. With the highlight being this hat-trick of assists against Frankfurt on December 4.
The evolution is not just in numbers: the Norwegian has become a piston who takes care of everything, all alone on the left side. Not necessarily scheduled to play as much, he has the sixth most playing time in the team and was able to get the better of German international David Raum.
“He runs a lot, he is fast, strong in duels, defends intelligently and is consistent”appreciates his trainer Marco Rose. If, like the others, he struggled in the Champions League, the one who knew how to deal with the cumbersome label of Dani Olmo’s replacement is also now shining in the selection: during the last meeting, he scored a double in Slovenia before to score in Kazakhstan. “He’s incredible”summed up Erling Haaland.
Delaney mixed
Seven years after his departure, Thomas Delaney experienced a contrasting return to Copenhagen, his training club. Often aligned alongside another ex-Pro League, Lukas Lerager, the midfielder wore the armband when Viktor Claessen was not there, mentored the young people and established himself as a leader. Not hesitating to raise his voice after the debacle at Rapid Vienna on the last day of the Conference League (3-0) which forced his team into a play-off against Heidenheim before potentially facing Chelsea.
Kasper Schmeichel and Thomas Delaney, Anderlecht from Denmark: “We were in an even more complicated situation three years ago”
“It was really bad. Nobody was up to the task. I’m not happy. We have to be critical of us and the supporters had to be too…” The tied leadership position with Midtjylland in a championship which will hibernate until February 13 will perhaps console him.
The Dragus enigma
His 15 goals in Gaziantep last season gave rise to the idea of something clicking. But the return to earth is even more brutal. Recruited by Trabzonspor who saw their two top scorers leave this summer, Paul Onuachu (17 goals) and Trezeguet (11), Denis Dragus did not manage to do as well as these two former Pro League players with two goals, one in championship, the other in the European Cup.
Former Rouche Denis Dragus discusses the situation at Standard: “It hurts me to see the club in this state”
That’s as many as during his last five selections with Romania. The striker remains elusive as he showed again during one of the matches of the year in Turkey: capable of pulling off the most improbable gestures with this flash of genius and this incredible scarf move which allowed his team to to lead at Galatasaray, he missed the simplest match at the end of the match against Muslera.
Stassin does not want to imitate Dony
Seeing Saint-Étienne pay 10 million euros (including one as an option) for Lucas Stassin was something surprising. Under the orders of Olivier Dall’Oglio, the Greens scored only 12 goals in 15 days, five of which were scored by Zuriko Davitashvili alone and Stassin, often lonely at the forefront, fought but suffered with three assists, one penalty caused and only one goal. The arrival of Eirik Horneland on the bench at the end of December can breathe new life into his season. Against Reims, the Stéphanois delivered their best match of the season. Like the former Westerlo striker, decisive passer then scorer. Enough to remove the comparison with Loïs Dony, also purchased for the record sum of 10 million in 2017, and considered the biggest flop in the history of the club.
Lucas Stassin will be an attentive spectator of Anderlecht – Westerlo: “Me a lazy person at RSCA? Maybe, but I always scored”
