Konrad “the terrier” Laimer putting in a big shift
Konrad Laimer is known to be a hard worker on the pitch | He won UEFA’s “Player of the Match” award in the win against Manchester City | The Austrian is “perhaps a little bit too ambitious at times”
Konrad Laimer, or “Konni” for short, has picked up a fair few nicknames during his time at RB Leipzig. He’s known as a “hard worker”, a “tireless runner” and as a “terrier”, a term which was used to describe Berti Vogts back in the day. He’s lived through highs and lows in his four and a half years at RBL, and now he’s fighting to get his form curve going upwards once again.
Laimer joined us in 2017 from RB Salzburg after winning the Austrian Bundesliga’s Player of the Year award the previous season. The board were very much aware of what sort of player they were signing. Laimer is someone who gives their all in every match and who will do everything to try to ensure the success of the team. He is also a versatile player who is comfortable playing in a variety of positions.
“I think it’s clear to see that I feel much more comfortable playing centrally than on the wings.”
Back in the middle under Nagelsmann
He proved exactly that in his first two years at the club, lining up predominantly at right-back, but also in more attacking positions and even on the left-hand side of the pitch. It was only in the 2019/20 season that he began to play more and more in central midfield under Julian Nagelsmann. Laimer commented at the time: “I’m glad to have been trusted in this position for a long time. I think it’s clear to see that I feel much more comfortable playing centrally than on the wings.”
We stormed to third place in the league and to the semi-final of the Champions League with Laimer a regular in central midfield. But then his story took a bitter twist, as he suffered a serious ankle injury which ruled him out of the entirety of 2020/21. It was the toughest period of his still very young and budding career. He told us in the summer of 2021: “You learn to appreciate the times when you’re fit. One minute you’re playing in the Champions League, the next minute you can’t walk.”
A national team regular
He got through that tough period, though, and last summer he competed at the European Championship with his native Austria, reaching the round of 16. The 24-year-old started all of Austria’s four tournament matches, and he is one of the first names on Austria head coach Franco Foda’s team sheet.
This season at Leipzig, however, Konni has had to experience what it’s like not to be a guaranteed starter. There is a huge competition for places in midfield and Laimer started just one of Leipzig’s opening eight league fixtures.
But the Austrian knows better than anyone that he’s had a long time out on the sidelines: “I’ve still got plenty of steps to make on this journey, but slowly and surely I’m getting back to full fitness.”A very honest remark from someone who admittedly was “not happy” about the lack of game time.
Ambitious and impatient
It’s no surprise that Laimer is also a wildly ambitious person. He’s not entirely sure himself as to how he became such a hard worker on the pitch. “I think you either are or aren’t that person. I don’t think it can be taught,” he revealed. “With me, it was just that case that I had to do a lot of running to make it tough for my opponent and that I have an unbelievably strong will to win ,” added Laimer.
He’s definitely a sportsman through and through, which meant that he showed the perfect reaction to finding himself on the bench for a few games, doing what all good footballers should: work hard in training to get another chance, which came to him at home to Paris St. Germain in the Champions League. And Laimer delivered. He completed 90 minutes for the first time this season and also put in an excellent performance. A few weeks later, Laimer played spectacularly once again in Europe, this time against Manchester City in a game which finished 2-1 to Leipzig and saw him pick up UEFA’s “Player of the Match” award. He then got the nod from new Leipzig head coach Domenico Tedesco for the home match against Gladbach in the Bundesliga, and played superbly as the team emerged 4-1 victors.
He's all over the park
The French champions couldn’t escape “Konni” Laimer when they faced him in Leipzig. Laimer played a huge part in sourcing out and stopping PSG attacks before they became dangerous or before they were able to get a shot on goal thanks to his energetic defending. He also got involved in a lot of Leipzig’s play in the attacking penalty box, too, as he had two big chances during the game which both required last-ditch actions from the PSG defenders to prevent a goal.
Despite a strong individual performance, Laimer was quick to praise the work done by the entire team at full time. “We’re putting in really solid performances against some of the best teams in Europe – and we’re doing that with what is a very young squad.”
Kylian Mbappé picked up the “Player of the Match” award on that occasion, but Laimer was very much the home team’s best performer during the narrow 3-2 defeat in what was a real turning point for the Austrian’s season. He embodied all of his qualities and nicknames – the “hard worker”, the “tireless runner” and the “terrier” – on the pitch that night. He wants to win back another one of his nicknames in the coming weeks: Konrad Laimer: regular starter.