In the summer, Josip Stanisic was loaned out to Leverkusen by FC Bayern to get more playing practice. Despite his first starting appearance in the Bundesliga for Bayer, the realization remains that the 23-year-old would probably have had much more of a chance in Munich so far
On Saturday in Wolfsburg he was allowed to start for the first time in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04. After previously playing 24 minutes spread across three wildcard appearances, Josip Stanisic was on the pitch for Leverkusen for 88 minutes in the 2-1 win in the Autostadt.
A small step forward for the Croatian international, whose one-year loan to the Werksklub from FC Bayern München has so far failed to have the desired effect. On the contrary.
Before the Wolfsburg game, the right (center) back was only allowed to start twice for Bayer 04 – and that was only in the two Europa League games against international no-names BK Häcken (from Sweden; 4:0) and Molde FK (Norway; 2:1), against which coach Xabi Alonso relied more on his second row.
Stanisic, like many other prominent benchwarmer at Bayer, suffers from the extreme run that the Werkself has: eleven games, ten wins, one draw. No reason for the coach to change his starting lineup in the league.
Especially since Stanisic has not really been able to recommend himself so far. In the absence of regular match practice, his performance on the pitch seems lacking in self-confidence. The right-footer was guilty of a number of inconsistencies just before the break in Wolfsburg. His defense of a corner, which preceded Wolfsburg’s 1:1, was also unfortunate, to say the least.
After the break, in a much stronger Leverkusen team, he was credited with the penultimate pass for the winning goal when he sent Jeremie Frimpong beautifully deep. It was a small step forward for Stanisic, whose change has not been one for him so far.
Admittedly, it was clear from the outset to the quick and defensively strong right-footer that he would not easily become a regular at Leverkusen. But he had already hoped for a more important role. The fact that he hasn’t had one so far is doubly bitter for him, though.
Stanisic has to come to the ironic realization that he would probably have been used for much longer in Munich, given the thin lineup of the back four there, for which Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel has only six permanently scheduled trained defenders at his disposal anyway.
In addition, of this sextet, Dayot Upamecano and Noussair Mazraoui, two starting eleven candidates, were recently missing injured in Mainz, so that in the 3:1 win against the 05-er even the actually already written off permanent reservist Bouna Sarr was substituted as a right defender in the 74th minute, as well as on Tuesday in the 3:1 win in Istanbul against Galatasaray in the Champions League. In addition, Tuchel recently repeatedly resorted to six-man Konrad Laimer as a right-back out of necessity.
Stanisic would therefore have had a much better chance of playing in Munich than at Leverkusen, where Odilon Kossounou, who was initially spared in Wolfsburg, has had an outstanding season on the right side of the three-man backline. And Stanisic can’t really compete with the extremely offensively strong right-sided track player Frimpong in a 3-4-3 anyway.
Only in a back four, which Xabi Alonso only resorted to against Häcken and in fact for long stretches in Wolfsburg, does Stanisic have a semblance of perspective at right back so far, as Frimpong can then act as a (quasi) right winger.
Rolfes sees Stanisic’s situation calmly
Stanisic must therefore continue to fight for playing time. Whether he will be in the starting eleven again on Thursday against Qarabag Agdam, as he has been in every Europa League game so far, remains to be seen. After all, Kossounou, who is recovering from his international trip, could start again then.
Simon Rolfes is relaxed about Stanisic’s situation. “He came to us a little later,” explains the manager about the defender, who was only brought in on August 20, “he will still play a lot with us in the English weeks.” The same applies when the Africa Cup (Jan. 13 to Feb. 11) runs at the beginning of 2024 and with Kossounou (Ivory Coast) and Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) two central defenders will be missing. By then, at the latest, Stanisic’s balance sheet should have improved considerably.
