This time Robert Andrich was unnerved. When asked about his constant discussions with Cologne striker Davie Selke, Bayer Leverkusen’s midfield engine didn’t even bother to use soothing words. His anger “maybe has something to do with the way he plays,” Andrich said after Leverkusen’s 2-1 derby defeat about FC’s double goal scorer: “It’s a bit too theatrical for me in many situations, and I have that just stated more often.”
A “bandit” on the field
Selke is a player with rough edges. Someone who provokes, sets standards and works with everything on the limit of what is permissible – and sometimes just beyond. When Augsburg’s Jeffrey Gouweleeuw – curiously enough like Andrich himself something like the aggressive leader of his team – accused him of “acting” four weeks ago, coach Steffen Baumgart jumped into the breach for him.
“Hermann Gerland wrote in his book: If you want to win something, you need bandits,” said former striker Baumgart at the time. And when asked whether Selke was a “bandit”, he replied: “In the field, definitely. And there he reminds me of someone who stands on the edge and is loud from time to time. Because I was one too.”
On Friday evening it was sometimes a bit too much even for the coach. When asked if he had goaded Selke, the coach explained: “On the contrary. I said that we have to stay calm. And I talked to Davie two or three times in the first half alone because I didn’t want to that by being provocative he sees yellow.”
“I give everything for my boys”
But if you ask yourself whether Selke still became a match winner, the answer is more likely: That’s exactly why. When asked about the scuffles and pack formations, the 28-year-old said with a smile: “I always enjoy it in general. I give everything for my boys. It was a derby and there is an extra amount of emotion involved. After that you shake hands and then it’s good.”
So he has probably brought himself to operating temperature. So he attracted attention in Leverkusen with more than his often admirable and sometimes questionable commitment. And became a derby hero with his first brace in five years – with the last one in the Hertha BSC jersey in 2018, he sealed the last FC relegation to date. Baumgart can rightly claim that he always believed in the initially very unfortunate winter access. “I often hear from the outside what someone can and cannot do,” said the coach: “That’s why I’m glad that I’m the coach and that I’m right with one or the other assessment.”
