Jonas Hofmann actually wanted to forget his weak second half of the season and play his way back into the national team with good performances at Bayer Leverkusen – but nothing has happened so far. The 32-year-old is currently completely left out under Xabi Alonso.
The script for Tuesday’s encounter didn’t necessarily play into Jonas Hofmann’s hands. After the opening goal, Leverkusen were very deep for a long time, while AC Milan made a massive push in the last half hour and wanted to force an equalizer. Bayer coach Xabi Alonso therefore preferred to substitute players who were more defensive or counterattack-oriented. Hofmann, on the other hand, stayed outside again and watched idly as his team saved their narrow lead over time.
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Ultimately, only he knows exactly when Hofmann’s luck ran out. Whether he would have finally been allowed to take part again if the game had gone differently is probably also the case. What is certain, however, is that the midfielder’s career has stalled at various points for almost ten months.
From the outside, he was neither guilty of anything nor lacking in ambition. But because the 32-year-old has rarely reached his upper performance limit recently, he is largely left out of Alonso’s game.
Hofmann? “It’s not easy for him”
Hofmann hasn’t been on the pitch for a single second since the end of August, when the Werkself suffered another round of defeat against Jena in the DFB Cup and he even headed the winning goal. It’s been six games since his last appearance. The situation of the 32-year-old, who played not a little in the second half of last season, but less than at the beginning of his time in Leverkusen, has undoubtedly worsened again.
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“It’s not easy for him. But we still have a lot of tasks to do this season, so every player is important,” said Alonso about his protégé on Tuesday. “Jonas hasn’t played much so far. He is ready and must now wait for his moment. I’m still thinking about when that moment will come.” However, it is also clear that with every encounter that Hofmann sits on the bench, he becomes more out of focus – but he had a lot planned for him.
More precisely: to build on the level of his extremely strong first series in 2023/24. Back then, Hofmann, who came from Gladbach for ten million euros, made an impact right away and collected scorer point after scorer point. Often unspectacular, but extremely efficient as a provider of ideas and rhythm in the front third alongside Florian Wirtz and Victor Boniface with good passing and clever running routes.
Hofmann is the victim of the terrier transfer
Even though Hofmann’s influence in Leverkusen’s top squad decreased significantly in the last second half of the season, he ended up with eight goals and twelve assists in 48 appearances – which were absolutely presentable figures. And values that he would like to increase to over 20 goal participations.
He was not intimidated by the fact that the competition did not become smaller in the summer, but on the contrary, another offensive player, Martin Terrier, was added.
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Hofmann is endowed with robust self-confidence, has a lot of experience and the patience to push through. Qualities that Bayer definitely don’t want to miss out on during this strenuous season.
But it is already clear that the Heidelberg native is only fourth choice in his position behind Wirtz, Terrier and Amine Adli. Bad for his playing minutes in Leverkusen – and just as bad for his ambitions in the German national team.
Is the topic of the national team closed for Hofmann?
In the fall of last year, Hofmann lost his place in the DFB team under the new national coach Julian Nagelsmann. After the draw against Mexico he was no longer on the pitch, and he was part of the squad for the last time in the following disastrous games against Turkey and Austria. Since then, it seems to have been a marginal topic at best within the national team. The Leverkusen player was not nominated by Nagelsmann for the home European Championship in Germany.
Hofmann once again emphasized in the summer what a heavy blow it was to miss the tournament in his own country. “If someone had told me beforehand,” he said, “then I would have taken the double instead of being there.” But he also confirmed: “It was of course a disappointment.” At the same time, he looked ahead and hoped to be able to recommend himself to the German champions for a DFB nomination: “I will hopefully take this opportunity.”
Despite all the intensity and meticulousness that he showed during the preparation, nothing has come of it so far – which is not least due to the fact that Hofmann was hardly able to convince in the two competitive games that he played and in comparison to his teammates dropped significantly. So it remains to be seen whether Alonso will give him the next chance on Saturday, when the Rhinelanders meet Kiel (3:30 p.m. in LIVETICKER). Either way, his situation remains difficult.
