Kovar's transformation: maturation process or tactical instruction?

In this scene, he held strong against Magnus Knudsen and played a confident game in Kiel: goalkeeper Matej Kovar. IMAGO/Ole Jacobsen

It was already clear before the match against the bottom team in Kiel that Matej Kovar would not be under constant fire due to the large difference in performance between the two teams. It is therefore all the more impressive that the Czech national goalkeeper, who played his third Bundesliga match this season, was fully on point in the few tests he had to face in the 2-0 win .

In a long-range shot by Magnus Knudsen in injury time of the first half (45.+2) just as he had done 25 minutes earlier, when he wasted a great chance against the midfielder who was charging alone towards the Leverkusen goal because he had recognized the through ball to Knudsen early on and rushed far out of his penalty area to then parry the shot in a split step.

In short: When Kovar was needed, he was there. A good performance from the 25-year-old, who hopes to become number 1 in the medium to long term. Even though Xabi Alonso has long since stopped talking about a goalkeeping hierarchy in this sense and uses captain Lukas Hradecky and Kovar alternately in the three competitions.

But what was even more remarkable was the way in which Kovar interpreted his game with his feet this time. While the goalkeeper had not only overstrained his coach's nerves with a daring dribble in his own five-meter box in the cup quarter-final against 1. FC Cologne (3:2 after extra time), the right-footer, who had previously often taken risks in the build-up play, showed an absolutely mature and composed performance in this respect in Kiel this time.

He avoided risky short passes to his central defenders or the sixes, and when in doubt he played the ball long and clear forward. Even though Kovar was once again unable to show much overall, this was perhaps the most balanced game in the Bayer jersey.

A relatively quiet change in Kovar's game, which raises the question of whether it can be attributed to a general maturation process of the keeper or to the tactical approach that Xabi Alonso had generally instructed his players to follow due to the poor pitch conditions in Kiel. Among other things, there was a clear announcement not to provoke any switching opportunities for Kiel on the less than ideal surface .

This requirement may have fuelled Kovar's low-risk style of play. The result was certainly what was desired. Now the keeper has to prove that he is capable of making a healthy balance between opportunities and risks when opening up play, even on the best pitch.