Returning to Brittany: Terriers' battle against the peat drought | Kicker

Finally wants to prove his finishing skills for Bayer 04: Martin Terrier.
IMAGO/Jan Hübner

When Bayer 04 plays Stade Brest in the Champions League in Guingamp on Wednesday evening, Martin Terrier will be entering familiar territory in the arena of current second division team EA Guingamp – and not exactly popular territory. The 27-year-old Frenchman, who moved from Stade Rennes to Leverkusen in the summer for a fee of 20 million euros, has not personally had the best experiences with either the small arena or the opponent Stade Brest.

“I know the stadium and have played here several times,” says the attacker, “but haven’t scored a goal yet. I hope it doesn't continue like this.” The fast right-footed player played two games at the Stade de Roudourou in Guingamp and another three at the Stade Le Blé in Brest, where Stade Brest played its league games. His record: no goals with a total of two blessings, two draws and one defeat. He would like to end this goal flute in the premier class on Wednesday.

The better Martin still has a lot to show.

The 27-year-old has shown signs of his qualities at Bayer 04 so far, but has not yet made a lasting, profitable contribution. An assessment that can also be seen in Xabi Alonso's words of praise about his summer shopping: “He has adapted very well to our style and is heading in the right direction. He is a special player, regardless of whether he comes from midfield or in front of it. “Goal acts,” says Leverkusen’s coach and adds: “The better Martin still has a lot to show.”

The “better” Terrier is the extremely strong finisher that he presented himself in Ligue 1 over the years, where he scored a total of 50 goals in 130 games in four seasons for Stade Rennes despite a torn cruciate ligament. But so far he has only demonstrated his extremely high abilities as an enforcer in training in Leverkusen. The right-footed player has only scored one goal in the Bundesliga.

It's quite natural for me to play on the left.

Also because he is usually not deployed in his ideal position on the half-left, but rather on the half-right, and so his strength of pulling the ball into the middle and then successfully with the right cannot be implemented as often. An aspect that Terrier describes diplomatically: “I would say that it is quite easy to adapt to Xabi Alonso's system. All the players around me are used to playing in this system. It's very intelligent,” he says and explains about his position: “It's quite natural for me to play on the left, but my qualities allow me to also play on the right, perform well there and be decisive.”

Terrier doesn't demand anything, but rather emphasizes its versatility. “I can play as a striker, act as a number ten between the lines, further left, further right – I adapt. But it’s more important what we invest and not how we play.” He wants to prove this on Wednesday. In the stadium and against the opponent against whom he, the strong attacker, in Brittany, not a single goal was scored.