Auf geht's, Jungs: German Youth Discussion Thread Vol. V

The plan with VfB Stuttgart's new signing – and the hurdles
When will "artist" Darvich get his chance to shine in the Bundesliga?

Noah Darvich has only been in the VfB Stuttgart first-team squad once and hasn't played a single minute. That will likely remain the case for a while.

One of his team's most successful scorers, a regular starter week after week, and among the best-rated players in the league: Noah Darvich is essentially where he wants to be at VfB Stuttgart, just in the "wrong" league. The summer signing has become a regular in the reserve team, but remains a phantom in the first team.

On the second matchday of the Bundesliga, Sebastian Hoeneß included Darvich in the matchday squad against Borussia Mönchengladbach – for the first and last time. Since the subsequent international break, the 19-year-old (who turned 19 in September) has been continuing his development exclusively under Nico Willig in the 3. Liga. What sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth said about the returning Barcelona player in the summer still holds true: "The future belongs to him." For now, the present belongs to others.

Darvich isn't the only one suffering from the new depth in Hoeneß's squad.
"Up front, we currently have a lot of depth with several players who have performed well. Naturally, it's more difficult to break into the first team. Things won't change that quickly," Hoeneß emphasized after the 3-2 victory against FC Augsburg. He was talking about Silas, who hasn't even been named to the squad yet, but he could have said the same about Lazar Jovanovic or Darvich. Even though Hoeneß is rotating his squad like never before this season, some players are still being left out.

Unlike Jovanovic, who, as a non-EU player, is not on the eligibility list for the 3. Liga, Darvich at least has the opportunity to showcase his skills with the U21 team, and he's been taking advantage of it. In seven appearances for the ninth-placed team, the attacking midfielder has already scored three goals and provided one assist. With a kicker rating of 2.71, he is the sixth-best outfield player in the league. And yet, apart from the occasional training session, a chance with Hoeneß isn't likely to come anytime soon.

Hoeneß: "This isn't a walk in the park."
"With Noah, it was pretty clear that things would go the way they are now," the VfB Stuttgart head coach explained about two weeks ago. "And that's exactly right. For him, it's invaluable to accumulate so many minutes at the third-division level. I can only reiterate: it's no walk in the park. It's a league where you first have to establish yourself and prove yourself. It's often exactly the right stepping stone. And that's what it will remain for Noah, because we're seeing so much potential in him."

Darvich, who moved from SC Freiburg to FC Barcelona in 2023 for €2.5 million as a U-17 European Champion, but played almost exclusively for the reserve team in two years, "is absolutely ready to work on himself," praises Hoeneß. He already possesses "the most important thing." Even though the left-footed player is an "absolute artist," he can "also work hard at football."

So Darvich is far from being a bad signing, even without a single minute of Bundesliga action. On the contrary: VfB Stuttgart consciously "invested in the enormous potential of these talents" with him and the almost equally aged Jovanovic, as Wohlgemuth explained in the summer. And should Darvich one day shine in the "right" league for VfB, those in charge can perfectly present his detour as a role model to new young players. Hoeneß has no doubt about it: "He will go far, that's for sure."
https://www.kicker.de/wann-darf-sic...-der-bundesliga-zeigen-1165166/artikel#twfeed

 

I think Darvich wasted time by jumping to Barca too early, if he'd stayed at Freiburg would have played 3.Liga two years ago instead of now, would likely be in 1BL at this point but yeah high ceiling and can definitely see him making breakthrough with Stuttgart.

 

there is derailment by injuries and derailment by career choices. The 2nd one is the more annoying because its a willing waste of time. I just hope that Darvich doesn't end up on loan as it would just continue to show the 0 chances to any Stuttgart U19-II player.


LOL Brunner should easily be scoring like 5-6 goals vs Romania instead of his current hat trick.

 

Brunner has so much ability, really hope he can make progress with Monaco this season.

 

he feels like a player who has yet to fully adapt to pro footy but doesn't feel excessively far off either. Players his age most important thing is get that game time in order to fully get into it. I just hope that come Summer 2027 and he's playing fulltime in a good level. Basically in time for 06-07 U21 cycle.

Moerstedt now makes it 5-0 for Germany U20!!!!

 

Darvich scores PK for the 6-0.

its his Germany U20 debut too. Played from XI but haven't kept track of assists, so don't recall if he has any, LOL.

 

Germany U21

Die Männer für Malta 🚀#U21 #GERMLT #UNSEREZUKUNFT | 📸 Thomas Böcker/DFB pic.twitter.com/ccXfc4PXof

— DFB-Nachwuchs (@DFBNachwuchs) November 14, 2025

debuts in XI for Karl (also his U21 debut) and Ansah.

who's playing RB? Is it really Collins????

we FINALLY have Collins and Jeltsch in XI together but they might not even be the CB pairing, LOL.

 

Looks like Collins RB and Jeltsch + Quarshie CB.

Exciting to see Karl there, pretty rare to see a player jump up 3 age groups with the DFB YNT's.

 

believe he's youngest in U21 since Wirtz too. Its rare for any 17 y/o to play Germany U21 too.

 

I think Moukoko was 16 the time he score in the u 21

 

LOL, Jeltsch is playing RB, why???

I still don't get this fixation with CBs at RB.

 

Karl looking very dynamic so far.

 

BISCHOF!!!!

from outside the box, 1-0!!!!

 

LOL, Jeltsch dribbling past everyone.

 

KARL!!!!!

2-0, nice finish!!!!

Draxler would be proud!!!

 

Bayern truly hit the jackpot with Aleks Pavlovic, Tom Bischof & Lennart Karl. pic.twitter.com/XovVbbb9RI

— Complaxes (@Complaxes) November 14, 2025

add Musiala, Wisdom etc.

 

Italy U21 lost 2-1 to Poland.

LOL, we had Poland U21 in like back to back U21 cycles. Was getting fed up with them, LMAO.

its always bad when you L vs your nearest competition in group.

 

🇩🇪 17 year old Lennart Karl on his Germany U21 debut so far

45 minutes
1 goal
1 big chance created
1 key pass
92% pass accuracy
4/4 accurate long balls
4/5 successful dribbles
1 interception
2 recoveries
4/6 duels won pic.twitter.com/1Mspf5I018

— - (@MusialaEra) November 14, 2025

Lennart Karl is now the second youngest goalscorer of all time for Germany U21s. https://t.co/5UDB9Vl6AB

— BayernTalente (@CampusVid2) November 14, 2025

 

Karl looking great, so much confidence. The kind of player you need v bus parking. Think we can score a few more in the second half.

 

5-0 now,

Bischof with hat trick and Karl with double like 5/5 goals=goalazos, LMAO.

we need more of than in SNT.

 

but Karl has been fantastic, kid really should be up like 4 goals and like 2 assists, LMAO.

feels like I've lost count to how dangerous he's been all game.

 

Damar makes it 6-0 with great run.

feel bad for Malta they showed potential in 1st half but were never gonna last the 90.

 

Weiper with great header and Malta captain with line clearance, sheesh.

 

Good result . Happy for Karl. What a debut and what a talent. But it is weird to win by 6 goals without any striker scoring.

 

would say its still a good sign.

look at recent past France, Giroud in loads of games in WC didn't score but due to his movement opened up space for the M+AM/W to score.

vs Germany SNT, where too many games the M+AM/W do basically nothing all match. And they are even WORSE without a CF playing uptop.

the game should have been 10+ W too. All the CFs should have scored tbh, they all chances to do so whether Tresoldi, Ansah, Weiper, Pejcinovic.