Kiessling peaking

Bayer Leverkusen have shown their Jekyll and Hyde sides this season. Roger Schmidt's attack-heavy team have demonstrated their ability to score for fun in the German top flight, but their defense remains porous.

Tin Jedvaj, Hakan Calhanoglu and Son Heung-Min were on the scoresheet in Friday's matchday three encounter with Werder Bremen, as the hosts struggled to leave the BayArena with a point. Sebastian Prödl leveled the match at 3-3 with only four minutes left on the clock.

It's a chance dropped for Leverkusen to have gone six games winning on the bounce. There's still optimism that Leverkusen can put in a strong fight to be in the top two at the end of the season, especially with the strength-in-depth of Schmidt's squad.

Losing three goals to any team can hardly be deemed a fluke. There's a lot for Leverkusen to work on after conceding two goals on the last matchday against Hertha Berlin. Even so, seven points from nine marks a positive start to the campaign.

Key to that has been German striker Stefan Kiessling. But the Kiessling we are now seeing under former Salzburg coach Schmidt is a different performer from the one left out in the cold by German national team coach Joachim Löw.

Despite already being 30, Kiessling is playing some of the best football of his career. He's living up to the traditional expectations of a number nine center forward by scoring nine goals so far this season, in all competitions, though not against Werder Bremen.

Working for the team

But Kiessling is more than just a number-nine striker in the traditional mold. The Leverkusen frontman covered 9.88 kilometers against Bremen that crucially included 23 sprints and 59 intense runs to make him fit the style of a high-pressing, quick-thinking Schmidt team.

His 1.91-meter (six feet, three inch) stature gives him the advantage in aerial duels, making him a brilliant outball for a counter-attacking side. He might need to polish up on bringing others into the game, but he's proving to be a very complete forward player in the Bundesliga. He was the top goalscorer in both 2013 and the 2012-13 season.

As Schmidt encourages Leverkusen's four-pronged attack to press the opposition defense and ball-playing pivot players, Kiessling throws his body around like a battle-hardened warrior, closing down with determination and disrupting the opposition's flow. He won 21 tackles against Werder Bremen, more than any other player on the pitch.

Rewinding back almost a month to the first weekend of the season, Kiessling seemed to almost single-handedly drag Leverkusen through certain points in the game against Dortmund. He covered 11.62 kilometers (26 sprints, 78 runs) and won 29 tackles - again, the highest on the pitch - while showing cold-blooded composure in front of goal to score the second in the win.

For Leverkusen to remain in the hunt for a top-two finish, keeping Kiessling in peak physical condition is crucial - but somewhat of a huge task with Champions League commitments, as well. Josip Drmic will be able to step in every so often to give him some recovery time as an excellent second option.

But if Kiessling can maintain this level of contribution to the team while still scoring goals, the Leverkusen faithful can have something to look forward to.

As for his absence from the national team, Joachim Löw is the only man who can give Kiessling a chance - and so far he shows little willingness to do so.