Despite being just 630 minutes into his Bundesliga career, Joe Scally is already being talked up as Borussia Monchengladbach’s best player.
Gladbach’s coach praises Joe
Joe’s been here since January, has got used to Germany and has been playing incredibly well for seven games,” Gladbach sporting director Max Eberl told the journalists during the October international break. For me, he’s our player of the season. It’s hard to disagree with the Gladbach boss. Scally hasn’t missed a kick for the Foals in the early part of 2021/22 – literally to a great extent, and most certainly metaphorically.
Only seven games in Bundesliga
Seven rounds of fixtures into the new campaign, the teenaged full-back has won more challenges than any of his teammates (80). He ranks fourth among Bundesliga defenders for attacking contributions (nine), and sixth league-wide for both distance covered (49.7 miles) and intensive runs (512). Playing every game from start to finish, he is fast becoming a Gladbach stalwart. It’s a wonderful story,” commented German football legend and former coach Jurgen Klinsmann following Scally’s straight-in-at-the-deep-end debut against record champions Bayern Munich on Matchday 1. He didn’t do anything extraordinary. He did his job for the team. He played a very focused game. Having joined the New York City FC academy at U13 level in 2015, barely three years had passed before Scally became the second youngest player in Major League Soccer history – after Freddy Adu – to sign a professional contract. The American was already on the Gladbach radar at 16, but red tape put plans on hold for a further two years. He eventually made the switch upon turning 18 on 31 December 2020, five MLS and 31 US youth international appearances the richer. Joe Scully is definitely the most promising youngster in the Bundesliga. Despite his young age, he can make a big impact on Gladbach’s season.