Someone like Ballack: Leon Goretzka from FC Bayern © Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Julian Nagelsmann will name his European Championship squad on Thursday. Whoever gets the call from the national coach can be lucky. Leon Goretzka will probably not be there, Bild and Sky reported on Tuesday. In the episode, recorded a few days before this news, the hosts discuss the pros and cons of being nominated.
The fact that this is even worth discussing is in itself a surprise. For Oliver Fritsch, one of the hosts of He can kickthe football podcast from ZEIT ONLINE, three years ago Goretzka was the designated captain who was supposed to lead his team to the home European Championship.
What has happened since then?
“Goretzka is the ideal German footballer – for better or worse,” says Fritsch. He plays efficiently, purposefully, can shoot hard and is seen as someone who asserts himself instead of over-strategizing the game. He reminds Fritsch of Lothar Matthäus or Michael Ballack.
However, Goretzka has a problem. You don’t know exactly where it’s supposed to play. Even the hosts disagree. Fritsch sees him as more of a tenner, Christian Spiller an eighter. He says: “Goretzka is too versatile.” In modern football, specialist skills are required in every position. Nevertheless, Fritsch and Spiller took the Munich native to the European Championships.
The two also praise Goretzka’s stable attitude off the pitch, talk about the heart gesture for the 2021 European Championship and wonder how political footballers should be. Also in this episode: The five most muscular kickers and Oli Fritsch sweats on the 125,000 euro question.
“He can kick” is the football podcast from ZEIT ONLINE. It appears every two weeks and is dedicated to the best footballers of our time. We talk less about tactics and more about what really matters in football: the individuality of the players. You can find all episodes of the podcast here, all Powercard ratings here. Write us! We accept criticism of the show and suggestions for Mister X at [email protected].
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Julian Nagelsmann will name his European Championship squad on Thursday. Whoever gets the call from the national coach can be lucky. Leon Goretzka will probably not be there, Bild and Sky reported on Tuesday. In the episode, recorded a few days before this news, the hosts discuss the pros and cons of being nominated.
The fact that this is even worth discussing is in itself a surprise. For Oliver Fritsch, one of the hosts of He can kickthe football podcast from ZEIT ONLINE, three years ago Goretzka was the designated captain who was supposed to lead his team to the home European Championship.
