By Marie Schulte-Bockum
There’s this typical sentence that coaches of troubled teams often use when they’re hoping to throw an 18- or 19-year-old in at the deep end: “He has this youthful carelessness and can play freely.”
Niclas Füllkrug may be 30 years old, but he also plays carefree – when he’s allowed to. The Werder player has seven goals in nine international matches. In each of his three starting eleven appearances in the German dress, Füllkrug scored.
So why does Hansi Flick leave his only real center forward for the home European Championship against Poland (0: 1) and Colombia (0: 2) on the bench? There will be no alternatives to him in a year’s time – at least not of the quality of a Bundesliga top scorer.
Niclas Füllkrug has long since earned a regular place
Just in March, after Füllkrug’s brace to make it 2-0 against Peru, Flick said: “We need a certain level of stability and players who know they’re playing.” Füllkrug would have earned a permanent place in the axis of the national team long ago – but he doesn’t get it, which is a big mistake by the national coach.
Since his debut shortly before the 2022 World Cup (friendly against Oman, Füllkrug scored to make it 1-0), he alone has scored half of all German goals.
Apparently not enough for the adventurous national coach, who made nine (!) starting XI changes against Poland and preferred to have three playmakers (Kai Havertz, Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala) in the front line rather than a target player with Füllkrug, success in the DFB team almost promises to set up.
Niclas Füllkrug in the DFB team: Nobody embodies the spirit of optimism so much
“Lücke”, as the Bremen striker with the striking smile is often called, embodies exactly the spirit of optimism that Rudi Völler, Bernd Neuendorf and Flick always evoke.
The 1.89 meter tall nine makes a wonderfully rustic figure in a team full of noble technicians, with which the (remaining) Germany fans are happy to identify. Even at the messed up World Cup, he became the crowd favorite with humorous PK performances and three goals.
In the fall, the national team will face France, Japan and the USA. The pressure on Flick will not decrease until then. A solution to make life easier for yourself and the team must now be: There is no way around the filling jug when setting up.
2023-06-27 10:45:00
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