The pointer to national coach Hansi Flick could not have been clearer. National player Jonas Hofmann made a strong statement on his own behalf just 18 days after his shoulder joint fracture.
On his comeback, the 30-year-old was the match winner for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 3-1 (2-1) win against VfB Stuttgart on Friday evening and was brimming with self-confidence afterwards.
"The feeling is definitely positive," said Hofmann with regard to the nomination of the World Cup squad on November 10th. His body language and charisma revealed that, despite his serious injury on October 18th in the 2-1 cup defeat at second division Darmstadt, he was counting on the decisive call from the national coach.
The all-rounder, who has been sorely missed in Gladbach for the past two weeks, added diplomatically: "Nevertheless, you have to wait for the nomination. But for now I'm in a positive mood." Hofmann clearly did self-promotion. Without him, the Gladbachers lost twice in the league after losing the cup in Darmstadt. As soon as he was back on the field from the start on Friday, things started to rattle in the VfB case. After just four minutes, Hofmann heaved a nice preparatory work by Alassane Plea into the net with a fine dropkick.
"Of course you can start like this - especially when you come back from an injury," Hofmann rejoiced on the DAZN streaming service. From then on, Hofmann immediately impressed again as a driving force and, on top of that, held out until injury time.
The shoulder withstood the endurance test
Apparently Hofmann was lucky that the injury wasn't as bad as it was with teammate Hannes Wolf in September. It quickly became clear to the Austrian that he would not play again this year. Hofmann also had to endure anxious hours at first. "Of course you do think about it in bed at night," said the offensive player. "I've had a few injuries, but as far as feeling pain goes, that was the worst thing I've experienced."
But the doctors quickly gave the all-clear and encouraged her. Apparently rightly so, because the shoulder withstood the endurance test on Friday. "I fell on it once. That was a good test, I think, when I realized everything was stable and good," said Hofmann.
National coach Flick should have followed Hofmann's dream comeback with benevolence. Before his injury, he was an undisputed regular player and was considered a safe Qatar driver. Especially after the injury to Leipzig striker Timo Werner, Flick should now have one less problem. This applies all the more to Gladbach's coach Daniel Farke, who can send a much stronger team onto the field with Hofmann.
"Jonas is a difference player for us"
"Jonas delivered an outstanding performance. We also have great quality against the ball with him. Jonas is a difference player for us," said Farke, who recently slipped into an initial earnings crisis with Borussia without a few injured top performers.
For Farke, it was "definitely no coincidence" that the redeeming home win after the last three competitive bankruptcies came straight away with Hofmann's comeback. With 19 points from 13 games, Gladbach can now go into the final two games of the year on November 8th at VfL Bochum and on November 11th against Borussia Dortmund a little more relaxed. "We are now very stable again. That is also very good for us in the table," said Farke after the important win and made a clear recommendation to Flick: "Jonas is definitely always a good choice."
