Mathew Leckie started his professional football career back in 2009, when he was plucked from the Victorian State League by Adelaide United scouts at just 18 years of age. He soon became a fan favourite with his direct style of play, his physical strength, his speed and his willingness to take on defenders. His talent was recognised early on in the A-League and he was quickly linked to join several European clubs. He spent two season’s with Adelaide United, but felt, like many in Australia, that his personal development could be further enhanced joining a top European team. As it came to be Borussia Mönchengladbach of Germany were the team that managed to acquire Leckie’s signature at the start of the 2011/12 season for a fee of around €300,000.
In Mathew Leckie’s first season in Germany, the young Australian attacker only managed to muster up 9 Bundesliga games; all coming from the bench, which totalled to just 125 minutes on the field. He became increasingly frustrated with his lack of first team playing time, spending the majority of the season in Gladbach’s second team in the Regional-liga. As we know, 2011/12 was a season that Gladbach performed above expectations, and several youngsters had break-through years; such as Marco Reus, Patrick Herrmann and Roman Neustädter. This meant that Leckie’s playing time was grossly limited and he began to assess whether there were other options available that would enable him more first team football.
As it turned out, FSV Frankfurt from Germany’s 2.Bundesliga came knocking, and a loan deal was agreed for the 2012/13 season.
“My time in Gladbach was good,” revealed Leckie on the AufstiegPodcast. “Originally it was supposed to be a one year loan deal. The main thing for me was to get game time, although I played around 10 games for Gladbach, for me it didn’t feel as if I was playing enough.”
Mathew Leckie’s first season at Frankfurt showed some glimpses of excellence, but also showed some obvious flaws in tactical awareness. Very often you would find on the highlights reel, that he was able to beat two or three defenders on rout to goal, and then think ‘Wow! How talented is this guy?’ On closer inspection it was noticeable that he did not obtain the same tactical awareness as some of his other teammates. In Australia there is not the same type of tactical education passed down to the kids as is in Europe. When Australian’s are brought to Europe they are often clueless in regards to tactical expectations from coaching staff.
At the end of Leckie’s first season, he could look back on his move and deem it a success. He managed to appear in 28 2.Bundesliga games (only 10 as a sub), and had 4 goals and 6 assists next to his name. FSV Frankfurt were encouraged with Leckie’s performances so they decided to agree a permanent deal with Mönchengladbach for a fee of only €50,000.
“We discussed again at the end of the season (with Gladbach). For me, I thought it was in my best interest that I stay here (FSV Frankfurt), knowing that I will be playing. I didn’t want to go back to Gladbach and potentially be sitting on the bench again.”
This season has seen Mathew Leckie take his game to another level. Not only has he been one of the most influential players in his side, he also sits in sixth place in the ‘Scorer Points’ chart for the whole league (1 point is rewarded for either a goal or assist). After match day 26 Leckie sees himself with 8 goals and 6 assists to his name (14 Scorer Points). It’s amazing to see what this lad can do; beat defenders with pace and look so composed when shooting for goal. Like Robbie Kruse of Fortuna Dusseldorf and now of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, there’s evidence to show that players from other countries take time to settle in a different living environment. Not only is there a whole different language to contend with, they are always a few steps behind in terms of technical and tactical education when you come from a place that doesn’t possess the same sort of football infrastructure, like Australia. Robbie Kruse’s story is not too that dissimilar of Leckie’s; struggling in his first season in the 2.Bundesliga, then being his side’s best performer in his 2nd season in the 1.Bundesliga.
So why will Mathew Leckie be playing Bundesliga football next season? Firstly, he is sitting 6th in the overall ‘Scorer Points’ chart for the league, and is currently the youngest member on that top 6 list. At only 23 years of age, he has years to offer. Secondly, FSV Frankfurt appears to be staying another season in the 2. Bundesliga as they currently sit in 10th place with only 8 games remaining until season’s end; meaning, FSV can’t hope to keep the promising ‘Aussie’ attacker by luring him with potential 1.Bundesliga status. Thirdly, Leckie has pace to burn. Any player that is able to run at pace with the ball at his feet is such as asset in this day of age, and combining with his relatively impressive upper-body strength, it would seem remarkable if no 1.Bundesliga clubs were interested. Hopefully his lengthy stay in Germany has enabled him to adapt to his surroundings in regards to learning the language, and it can be assumed that now his tactical knowledge is far more advanced than when he first stepped through the doors at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
In a recent interview with Australian media Leckie was quoted as saying, “I would love to push my way back into the Bundesliga and be successful there, but right now I need to keep performing for Frankfurt and then hopefully take that form into the World Cup”.
Leckie has a contract with FSV Frankfurt until midway through 2016. He has a transfer value of around €1 million, which is nothing short of a bargain in this day and age. Many 1.Bundesliga teams will be interested in his services, considering his good showings this season. Two clubs that would make a good fit are Freiburg and Augsburg. Freiburg lost many stars at the end of last season’s campaign and are set to lose even more at the end of this coming season. Jonathon Schmid may look elsewhere to further his career and Admir Mehmedi is definitely not a certainty to sign a permanent deal with the Schwarzwald club. Augsburg are having a season like Freiburg had in 2012/13. It would be ignorant to think that the top clubs won’t come to raid their talent in the off-season. Andre Hahn is almost a certainty to go, and with Augsburg’s lack of financial resources, they may seek a cheap 2.Bundesliga player as replacement.
When asked on the AufsteigPodcast, “Where do you see yourself in the next few years?” Mathew Leckie replied with, “Any player wants to reach the highest level they can. At this stage I’m pretty happy in the second league. I think I need to perform in this league first, before I can worry about anything else”.
“I always thought that it would be good to one day play in England, so you know, who knows? But in the 2nd Bundesliga, I’m really enjoying myself here, and playing well also makes it good”.
With the World Cup beckoning at season’s end, Leckie’s performances in this tournament could prove pivotal to his destination move in the summer. His is likely to feature in the starting 11, with Australia’s other pivotal winger, Robbie Kruse, ruled out with injury. A group featuring the likes of Spain, Netherlands and Chile, won’t make it easy for Leckie to stand out in team that isn’t tipped to get a win in the tournament. With his current 2.Bundesliga record it wouldn’t surprising to see a top tier club snatch up Leckie in the summer.