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Moroccan and Bayer 04 Leverkusen attacker, Amine Adli, has explained why the club’s coach, Xabi Alonso, sometimes plays Nathan Tella as a striker, Soccernet.ng reports.
Tella joined Die Werkself from Southampton last season for £20m and was featured largely as a right winger while deputising for Jeremie Frimpong in the right-wing back position when needed.
Like Boniface, the former Arsenal man played a crucial role in the domestic double the German side clinched last season while they remained unbeaten.
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In Leverkusen’s 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal this season, Xabi Alonso opted to play Tella as a striker, and the decision stunned many, Adli included.
However, the move paid off as Tella scored a towering header that knocked the Bavarians out of the German cup, which made Adli respect Alonso even more.
“The coach always has a special tactic in certain games. Not playing for three and a half months and then getting substituted in such a game against Bayern, that says a lot. I was a bit surprised that it happened in such a game.
“Sometimes he has ideas that we couldn’t explain. If I had hit Grimaldo’s flank, everyone would have said it would have been a magic decision. We know what the coach thinks. Sometimes he needs some special players to implement his tactics. Just like the running and pressing monsters, Tella and Adli against the Bavarians,” the Moroccan forward said in an interview with Kicker.
“If he relies on these qualities that others may have, so, you can see in such games that we press very highly that we are running a lot. That’s why coach Nathan set up.
“You have to ask the coach, he determines the tactic. Sometimes even we don’t really understand them, but it always works. So we cannot complain,” Adli concluded.
Tella has scored three goals and provided three assists in 30 games across all competitions for Bayer 04 Leverkusen this season, and is just three goals short of equalling his goal contribution tally of last season.
