Squad Barometer - Forwards Select 2

not sure why you keep harping on the obvious has anyone here talked about youth striker becoming starters? No, but regulars yes. That they mostly emerge for real and become starters now around 23-24 isn't new knowledge.

our only youth strikers starters are in 2BL and lower outside of the rare exception of Werner. Even Werner would not be where he was at he not went with RB Leipzig when Stuttgart got relegated and his career would have been delayed too.

 

it's also about being a smart player and choosing the right clubs, Serra, Kruger and lyoha have all benefited from going to clubs in 2BL that play a lot of games with 2 uptop. Had they went elsewhere their progress would be a different story. Now it has allowed them to get more game time and develop more than they would otherwise elsewhere.

even more reason why I hope that Walter brings in another German youth striker to Kiel even more so if Serra were to be bought in Summer by a 1BL club. The 00s finish their U19 in Summer right on Que for someone to maybe go there. Or maybe some 98-99 can go there.

also Seydel and Morschel who are at Kiel are obviously not going to last there.So more openings. I think it's a very good chance for career progress for strikers.

 

Dortmund are playing Gotze up top, seems not bad tho

I just think there are three types of teams

False nine like Stindl, Kruse n Gotze
One striker
Two strikers

Basically option A n B, young strikers are difficult to emerge. Joelinton, Werner, Selke And Jovic are playing because the teams are playing with two strikers... Joelinton n Werner sometimes have to play at wing still...

If teams aren’t playing with two strikers, maybe there are just a handful .....who can start playing early

I see Jojo Eggestein will be having a path like Kruse tho. Like a Am/Wing then move back to CF later. He has something to prove tho

Jonathan Burkardt, was a 9 when he was younger, he has to opportunity to play for 1st team but instead of blaming he can’t play at 9, he better think about how he can do well at wherever he is used

 

Burkardt was deployed as LW in half of his Mainz 1st team games. Not sure why you make it seem like he didn't impress. Got praised by his coach and even his teammates, some praised his dribbling too. Coach also made a huge fuss that Burkardt should have gotten a PK in one of the games.His issues are that he's still U19 player, Mainz don't want to rush him and that it's too much for him at high level. All of his 1BL games he started them too, didn't come on as a sub. Needs time but the coach did say in Winter that he'll get playing later during the season, who knows these things can change.

 

I didn’t complain about Burkardt, he did well I think. Just that instead of saying he shouldn’t be used as wing, he stil lhave to deliver at that position before he has a chance at 9 eventually. Blaming wont help, he did fine but he has to do even better

I would say the same to Jojo Eggestein. He is used as winger but he still have to play amazing if he wants a chance to be used as striker.

U completely misunderstood my point. There are basically two ways of breaking through as striker in pro team, almost no shortcut: 2-striker formation and transformed from wing. Either way they need to use those chances to impress n even score

Some 19 year olds, didn’t even finish their Abitur. That’s also a factor for some strikers

 

Burkardt is a great talent, I think he wil lhave good future ahead

Maybe he thinks he is misused as winger now, but for a striker who is slightly weak physically, that’s how most strikers started their career

Suarez, Diego Costa, Van Persie, Crtistiano, Henry ... showed promise when they were used as wingers. And convinced clubs to play them up top later on

Even used as winger, they can’t blame no one.

Not many teams are playing 2-striker formations. It’s still a minority

I don’t know if Werner,,Jovic, Joelinton And Selke would play if their team weren’t playing 352 or 442

If Mainz are playing 442, 2 starting CFs, I think Burkardt can be a regular starter within 2 years

Actually think Teuchert is better playing 2-strikers too

 

one issue with going to W is what if coaches don't make them striker and they end up permanent W? At some point they could stop seeing them as CFs.

 

Well they still have to show promise even as a winger , transformation or not

It’s about survival. If they can’t play well if they were first asked to play at wing

They might not even have playing time at wing , not. To mention at striker. So they still have to perform

Once they start to perform at winger, then they talk about playing back at striker as next step.

So far, given the shortage of strikers in the world market. Transformation happens very often

But they have to talk about it as next step.

Usually the physically dominant ones will transfer back. So they still have to work hard on physique even they were originally used as winger

Jojo Eggestein is awared of that. But he also said if he doesn’t play at Wing now, he might have to wait another 2-3 years until Kruse or some veterans step down ... so playing at wing now is not even an option

In general, I m not too concern about the situation. I think they can get playing time first n at least it’s a platform for them to showcase earlier, better than nothing n no solution

The whole attacking system nowadays, even Mandzukic can be used wide at times. I think the fluidity n interchange among the front 3 is encouraging attackers to get inside the box a bit more. So “winger” still have plenty of time waiting inside the box in current fluid system

Like Salah n Firmino. Firmino is supposedly the striker but he drags back or wide sometimes and Salah becomes the frontman;

Or we saw last season, Befodil n Kruse. Kruse is the striker n do a lot of hold-up play , Befodil comes in from wide and becomes a frontman.

The system is interchanging n not as static nowadays.

Not to mention wingers nowadays don’t have to go wide, many teams use fullbacks to provide width n have “wingers” to go inside the box as receivers

Like Cristiano Ronaldo when he was used as a “winger” but he always becomes the targetman up front throughout the match

As long as the young strikers can play regularly (even Burkardt n Jojo) , play well there. Where it’s a centre forward or a inside forward. The definition is not as clear cut as u think, especially nowadays

 

If we look at teams like Liverpool, Gladbach, Dortmund ... May not have targetman in their system, some said false 9s.

But the fluidity of their attacking system still make them threatening. Napoli last season too of coz, very attractive attacking football, some would also argue Suarez was a winger before n is very mobile up front

Mandzukic is sometimes used as wide targetman

As long as the interchanging is good, I don’t think there’s a clear cut 9 or winger. They will all have equal amount of time playing inside the box in modern attacking system

9 as frontman in the middle, not moving, is an obsolete concept

 

I'm also curious as hell to see what happens to strikers from Academies with no II team. Guys who come from RB Leipzig, Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen, and good chunk of 2BL teams. Do they jump to 1st team or forced to go on loan? Of course they could always fail to get promotion......
00-Pia, Uzun (plays for Turkey)
01-Makanda/Cakar
02-Hartwig, Borkowski, Asllani, Kronemayer (believe Karlsruher II is gone, isnt it???)
03-Gedikli

there are more 03 but only added Gedikli for now. Point of adding Uzun is that if he gets 1st team promotion then he could block Hartwig. Most 2BL teams don't have a II as well which means their more low profile strikers could have that same issue.

 

To go two seasons on loan won’t be a bad thing after U19 , two years in the same club

Or selling with a buy-back clause.

Promotion directly to first team is possible but u gotta be elite talent, like talents who show promise early.

Gedikli n Borkowski will be promoted. Gedikli because he is an elite talent but Borkowski becoz he might first have to play at other positions

“Other positions” is ok, as long as is front 3. They do a lot of interchanging among the front 3 nowadays anyway. Even 9 has to drag back n drag wide, they need that to create space

So there isn’t a defined 9 nowadays, the system will be static n predictable

 

Borkowski's issue is the sticking point that RB have given 0 min to their players in 1BL. There is no trust at that club, always find it funny when Western media talks about how RB is a good club for youngster..........who have pro experience whether 1st or 2nd division.

I do wonder if Gedikli gets 1st team chance next season though. After all he turns 17 in April 2020 which would make him eligible for 1BL towards the last few games of the 2019-2020 season in May. Bayer have no reserve team, slow integration is the best way even if he doesn't play any 1st team next season.

 

Gedikli is tall, but still very very skinny.

I see that as his obstacle as striker for now. Even Volland even is not tall, but he is very physical n always able to control the ball in tight space under pressure

I think teams like the strikers to be tactically n physically ready.

It will come tho. But I won’t rush Gedikli, he has good potential but I think he is still growing so he isn’t doing much in the weight room (will kinda affect his eventual height)

 

I think a good thing about even getting
Injured at the wing at the first stage nowadays is that nowadays Wingers are not required to play on the flanks

Kohfeldt said he wanna have more receivers in the middle so the fullbacks are more required to provide width, wingers are actually playing in the middle nowadays

And many teams have such approach, the front 3 are interchangeable n very mobile. As to create space n movement.

We don’t even see many real wingers nowadays who just attack the flanks

 

so Gedikli is already 1.85m, wonder how tall he'll end up being? I don't really see him as a targetman but height wise he seems headed there as he seems like he could be 1.90+.

 

I think he will be 187-188cm at the end

Just that he has a small frame, very skinny still

He hasn’t hit the gym too often at this age, 15. They think he can still grow for a bit

 

but didn't some of the 00 strikers actually grow in size over the last year or am I mistaken? I recall you mentioned Burkardt growing, Arp too?? Also Kramny seems to have some more growing and these guys are all older than Gedikli.

 

Mentioned earlier that David Otto should model his game after Finnbogason, who has similar build and also just scored a hat trick today for Augsburg.

Looking further, it's pretty significant how many strikers developed at Heerenveen have passed through the Bundesliga later in their careers. Including Mark Uth who was the latest striker tried out by the DFB. After Uth and Finnbogason, there's also Bas Dost, Huntelaar and even van Nistelrooy towards the end of his career.

Sebastien Haller who spent formidable development years at Utrecht and Weghorst are other notable current BL strikers who came from the Eredivisie system.

 

What do u mean?

Gedikli is growing so he isn’t doing much weight training. It affects his growth (in height)

That’s why Gedikli is still very skinny now

Arp is obviously bigger than 184cm as listed. I think he’s around 186cm now

Burkardt is a late bloomer. Around 182-184, some listed him at 180 tho

 

As Nagelsmann said , he has some tactical n defensive issue now. Nothing wrong tho, not everyone is having the same learning curve

And amatuers don’t always aware of how players positioned and press

Finboggason also didn’t make it in La Liga when he was younger. No special formula

If one is tactically awared and physically dominant, he still have to wait for chance. Young strikers will likely emerge under two-strikers formation (Werner, Selke, Joelinton n Jovic) or starting from the wing (well nowadays is interchanging anyway)

 

Uth and Selke both scored in the Pokal. Hopefully this boosts their form towards the league play. Uth and Kutucu seem to have good chemistry together in attack.

 

I hope he is loaned for a season or two to a side that will start him. He’s not going to come in and start next season.

If we stick him in Bayern 2 its a complete waste.

 

I think he will spend a year in Bayern II and learn under Klose (who’s also a striker trainer). Then maybe loan out for a season. When he’s back he should be around 21/22

I think the development cycle for strikers will start from 22-24 nowadays. It’s delayed

Lewandowski should be the starting striker for another 2-3 seasons. So in terms of timing it matches

 

Selke and Volland beginning the Rückrunde in strong form. Waldschmidt scored today and would be nice to see him finish the season with 10 goals or more. Uth seems to be getting in better form but still working to cement his spot. Haven't seen positive momentum from Ducksch since he finally scored that one goal.