Honeymoon Over: Cologne Boss Criticizes Emmanuel Dennis’ Body Language

The Nigerian international enjoyed a bright start to life in the Bundesliga, but he has come in for criticism from his club boss following his unconvincing performance at the weekend

FC Cologne manager Markus Gisdol has confessed that he was left frustrated by Emmanuel Dennis’s displays and reactions during the club’s agonising 1-0 defeat to Stuttgart at the weekend.

Dennis, who joined Cologne on loan from Belgian champions Club Brugge in January to help resolve the Billy Goats’ goalscoring problem, is yet to open his league account for the German side.

Cologne are one of the lowest scoring sides in the German top-flight. The Billy Goats boast just 20 goals in 22 matches, with only Arminia Bielefeld and basement Schalke 04 netting fewer goals.

Despite not scoring,  Dennis has been enterprising for Markus Gisdol’s men, playing influential roles in the 3-1 defeat of Arminia Bielefeld on his debut and the subsequent away victory over Borussia Monchengladbach on February 6.

But it has not been rosy since then with Cologne losing 2-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Valentine’s Day before crashing at home to Stuttgart on Saturday.

Dennis lost a lot of balls, made a few bad passes, and missed a big chance to equalise for his team in the second half.

Obviously annoyed by his own performance, the 23-year-old increasingly vented his frustration with various gestures which his manager is not enthusiastic about.

“He’s emotional and wants the balls. But this only increases the pressure on himself, because the next time everyone looks at him, whether he is fixing the ball himself,” Gisdol said, as per 24rhein. 

“That is body language that we and the team don’t like.

“We’ll talk about that.”

Dennis got his first goal in the colours of Cologne in the 2-2 draw at Jahn Regensburg in a DFB Pokal clash on February 2, although his side crashed out of the competition after losing on penalties.

It is in the Bundesliga that his goalscoring ability is urgently needed as only three points separate the Billy Goats from the relegation zone.