Run of blunders shocks Brugge! Does a former Bayern Munich goalkeeper suddenly become a "high-risk patient"?
Yann Sommer makes two identical blunders at Club Brugge within a matter of days. The former Bayern goalkeeper then comes in for heavy criticism in Belgium.
Bruges may have run out 3-1 winners against Royal Antwerp on matchday six of the Belgian Jupiler Pro League, but most of the talk after the final whistle centred on the visitors' goal that made it 1-1.
The Swiss goalkeeper badly misjudged a long ball just outside his own penalty area. Sommer had already pulled his foot back to clear it, but Antwerp forward Snayder Porozo nipped in and calmly rolled the ball into the empty net.
Sommer had already got away with one earlier in the move after gifting possession with a poor pass and then recovering the situation himself. Bruges still sealed the home win through a Hugo Vetlesen brace and the first goal from 20-year-old Spaniard Jan Virgili. Even with the three points and third place in the table behind KAA Gent and Union Saint-Gilloise, the focus remains on the goalkeeper.
What made it worse was how closely the mistake mirrored Sommer's error in the Champions League against Aston Villa earlier in the week. There too, a long ball caused the problem before Nicolas Jackson struck for 3-1 to the English side and wrapped up defeat in Europe's top competition.
"Nightmare week": Yann Sommer faces heavy criticism after mistakes in Belgium
After his summer move from Inter Milan to Belgium, the Swiss player is now coming under clear criticism in the press. The portal voetbalnieuws called it a genuine "nightmare week" and concluded: "This week, Sommer found himself right in the eye of a storm."
Nieuwsblad compared it with Sommer's Bundesliga past and wrote: "From the nineteen saves Sommer once made in a single game for Borussia Mönchengladbach, they can only dream at Club Bruges for the time being. Good on the line, but far in front of his goal Sommer reveals himself to be an uncertain goalkeeper. Little can currently be seen of the usual calmness and composure from Sommer’s days in Gladbach, Munich or last season’s title-winning campaign at Inter."
Het Laatste Nieuws even described the 37-year-old after the midweek defeat as a "high-risk patient who has appeared in no man’s land instead of being a safe haven".
Yann Sommer: 50 per cent of his games without conceding
Inside the camp, though, the veteran still has complete backing. Joaquin Seys made that clear in his support for the goalkeeper: "Something like that can happen. Yes, even twice in one week. Yann is important in the dressing room and on the pitch." The defender continued: "After we conceded, he also saved us a few times. None of this will have any consequences for him. He has enormous qualities. We should not start doubting him now, and he should not doubt himself either. He will pick himself up anyway. And he also kept us alert a few times."
Head coach Ivan Leko also played down the incident. "Yann knows that mistakes are part of football. I am sure that he will soon be one of our best players again, just as he was before this week. In my opinion, it is not down to communication either. Things like that just happen."
Leko added: "It is bad luck, by no means a sign of a lack of quality. Sommer has played in Champions League finals in recent years and has become Italian champion. Really, everything will be fine."
Sommer, who made 335 competitive appearances for Gladbach in Germany and later played 25 times for Bayern Munich, has so far been in goal eight times for Bruges. He has conceded seven goals, but has also kept a clean sheet in 50 per cent of those games.
