Jonathan Tah 2019/20 – scout report

With Niklas Süle suffering from a major injury that would have seen him miss the Euros earlier in the season, Germany needed to find a centre-back that could adequately fill his large boots given the forced retirements of Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels. While there are plenty of prospects that could be considered, Jonathan Tah has made himself a standout candidate to become Germany’s undisputed starter in defence. The 24-year-old has been a stalwart in Bayer Leverkusen’s defence and has displayed characteristics that could make him a future great in his position.

Given Leverkusen’s struggles of putting together a squad and style that can compete with the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund over the last couple of Bundesliga seasons, Tah has yet to live up to the wonderkid status that he came with when signing from Hamburg. However, this season, he has improved his game in a system under Peter Bosz that makes it difficult for a player of his style and position to excel in. This scout report will provide a tactical analysis of Jonathan Tah’s contribution to Leverkusen’s campaign that will showcase his playstyle, defensive solidity and his excellence in passing.

Defensive intelligence

As a defender, it is obviously the most important thing to stop the opposition from scoring. One of the ways in which Tah can get this done is by successfully taking up great positions to reduce the space for opponents or prevent attacks from happening. His intelligence in defensive situations has led to him making 5.05 interceptions per 90 in the Bundesliga according to Wyscout. The first example showcases this well and it comes from Bayer Leverkusen’s match against Mainz.

The image was just taken prior to the opponent ahead of Tah getting the ball. Leverkusen’s defence is trying to play the offside line but, as shown by the dotted line, one of the defenders is slightly too deep. This gives two opposition players the chance to make runs in behind, which Tah is aware of. The German international immediately closes the opponent who is about to receive the ball in order to prevent a pass going into the open space behind that could lead to a dangerous chance. He gets to the ball and wins the 1vs1 duel against his opponent, which ended the chance for Mainz to go through on goal as Leverkusen were able to clear their lines. This move looks quite simple but as a defender, the fundamentals are the most important to help the team be solid at the back. Also, if the challenge goes awry, it leaves Leverkusen in an inferior position or could result in Tah picking up a booking.

Under Bosz, Leverkusen are a side that press aggressively and thus, play a very high line to reduce the space for the opposition to beat the press. Therefore, the opposition can only go direct and in behind Leverkusen’s defence, which means Tah has to be able to read situations and make the correct decision without rushing in unnecessarily to stop the counter-attack. This is shown in the example below which is from the same game as the previous example but just a few minutes later.