Jonathan Tah
Jonathan Glao Tah
Written by Nicolas Horn and Christian Spiller for Die Zeit:
Why only now? Even as a very young player at Hamburg, Jonathan Tah was regarded as a great German defensive talent in the making. The centre-back joined Leverkusen in 2015 but until recently, still seemed a long way from becoming an important international player. He has not yet played at a Euros or a World Cup, but that will certainly change this summer. Since Xabi Alonso became his club coach, Tah has been playing the way people had hoped he would: strong in duels, good in the air, difficult to dribble past, few mistakes. Perhaps Alonso has saved his career. “It was certainly never pleasant to play against me,” said Tah in a Zeit interview. “But now I'm even more unpleasant because I always have my opponent in my sights.” Rüdiger and Tah – you don't want to be a striker against this centre-back duo.
