According to Germany and Real Madrid playmaker Toni Kroos, international teammate Leroy Sane needs to change his body language to become a match-winner. Sane has endured a difficult few months.
The 22-year-old was omitted from Germany’s World Cup squad and has struggled to make Manchester City’s starting line-up this season. Kroos believes Sane’s problem is his body language.
Kroos telling Sane where he is going wrong
World Cup winner Kroos talking about Sane to Sky Sports, said “Sometimes you have the feeling with Leroy’s body language that it is all the same, whether we win or lose. He has to improve his body language,”
“He’s a player who has everything you need to be a world-class player but sometimes you have to tell him he has to perform better.
“What is crystal clear is his quality, his pace, his left foot. He was fantastic for City last year but Pep has the same problem at the moment – he’s trying to get the best out of him.
“If he performs, he’s a real weapon. He has the quality, especially for us, but maybe the head coach looked at his performances for the national team and wasn’t happy.”
Left out of the German World Cup squad
Last season Sane was on fire for Manchester City. The Germany international scored ten goals and produced 15 assists as the Citizens dominated the Premier League. The youngster was a key player in that domination.
However, despite his positive second campaign at City, Germany boss Joachim Low decided to omit the winger from his World Cup squad. It seemed a strange decision by the German boss.
Maybe the decision to leave out Sane was not based on his football ability, but on his attitude. There were unconfirmed reports that Sane failed to impress in training, which is the reason he was omitted from the 23-man squad.
The fact that Kroos talks about ‘having to tell him to perform better’ is concerning for a top-level footballer. He should be striving to develop and improve, especially at just 22 years of age.
Maybe rather than his body language, it should be his attitude and willingness to learn needs questioning. At City, Sane is working under one of the best head coaches of all time in Pep Guardiola. If he cannot develop under Guardiola, then he will never develop.
Needs to stop believing his own hype
Leroy Sane has immense ability, make no mistake about that. However, maybe he believes he has made it and does not want to put the hard work in anymore to become an even better player.
The fact that Guardiola has decided not to start him this season and even left him out of his City squad completely for the last match shows mentally he is not in the right frame of mind of late.
The City boss has recently defended Sane, saying that he has tried well. The proof is in Guardiola’s selections, and the winger has not spent much time on the pitch considering he is supposedly training well.
The game gives Sane the chance to shine and show that there is nothing wrong with his body language or his attitude. However, it will take more than one good display to turn his season around.
Whatever is wrong must be fixed, as Sane has the chance to be a truly top player. It seems it is now up to the player himself just how good he becomes in the future.
Is there something wrong with Leroy Sane’s body language?
