“Does he ever watch himself play football?” – Fierce attack on Cologne star Said El Mala

Cologne forward El Mala made little impact on the pitch in the 0-0 draw against Schalke and inadvertently caused injuries to two opposing players. After the poor match, he now also has to face criticism from two former stars.

Two FC Schalke 04 icons comment on and analyse their side's performances in the 'Legenden-Talk' video series. The latest away match at 1. FC Köln left Klaus Fischer (76) and Rüdiger Abramczik (70) unimpressed. Fischer is particularly concerned about the lacklustre attack.

Coach Miron Muslic's defence and goalkeeper Loris Karius again gave them nothing to criticise. Köln striker Said El Mala was another matter. The two former stars took aim at what they saw as his poor football, not the unfortunate action that made him partly responsible for the heavy collision between Robin Gosens and Soufiane El-Faouzi.

"They talk about 60, 70 million. Hello! I ask myself, who's going to pay that for him? Does he ever take a look at how he plays football?" said Abramczik, before briefly mentioning their yellow-and-black rivals Borussia Dortmund, aka Lüdenscheid. "I'm glad those from Lüdenscheid, I'll say that for now, otherwise I'll get in trouble again later, didn't take him. I don't know why such a fuss was made."

A gifted winger in his day who played 19 times for Germany, Abramczik said he had "seen nothing" from El Mala "apart from the worst action of the match, when he pushed our two lads there."

Despite those words, Abramczik did not blame the Köln player for the collision. He called the head injuries both Schalke players suffered "a terrible thing" but said the incident was, of course, not a "red card".

Klaus Fischer questions Said El Mala's national team credentials

Unimpressed by El Mala, Fischer, like Abramczik, offered no substantive argument. The 1982 World Cup runner-up instead turned his attention to the national team. "Is he supposed to fire Germany forward? To greater heights?" asked the third-highest goalscorer in Bundesliga history. "All I can say is: Goodbye, Germany. What has he achieved? Nothing!"

During the most recent international break, El Mala made his senior international debut under Germany coach Jürgen Klopp. The left winger played one half in the 2-0 Nations League win against Serbia, then 27 minutes in the 0-0 draw against Greece a few days later.

The 20-year-old, linked with a move to the Premier League and BVB in the summer, has made seven competitive appearances for Köln this season and scored two goals.