Germany under-17s manager Christian Wück is a meticulous person and he doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. In the little amount of free time he has between training, talks, media related activities and match preparation at the under-17s European Championships in Bulgaria, he takes time to study tactics, statistics and videos of their next opposition.
He is supported by Jan Siewert, Marcel Lucassen and Christian Fiedler – the other members of his staff. Over the course of the tournament, other coaches from the DFB have visited games to watch other opposition and to analyse them, including Meikel Schönweitz (under-16s manager), Frank Engel (head of DFB youth development) and Guido Streichsbier (under-18s manager), who is currently in Bulgaria for the second time.
Their findings have allowed Wück to put together his game plan and that has certainly paid off up until now. Four games, four wins, no goals conceded – that’s the record of the under-17s going into today’s semi-final against Russia (18:00 CEST) in Stara Zagora. “We want to reach the final,” said Wück. “But we have a tough task ahead of us in Russia.”
Wück: “Russia are very dangerous on the counter”
The 41-year-old has been working on how Germany are going to overcome this hurdle since Saturday evening when he watched Russia beat England 1-0 in the quarter-finals. “They are extremely compact and have a physical side,” was Wück’s analysis of their strengths.
Manager Mikhail Galaktionov’s Russia side finished second in their group (2-0 win over Scotland, 1-0 defeat to France and a 2-2 draw against Greece) but saved their best game for the quarter-finals against England. The Russians let their opponents dictate the play and were left with a few, but very direct counter attacks. “That’s when they are very dangerous,” said Wück.
They were reduced to five counter attacks against England, all of which led to big chances, including the deciding goal from Aleksei Tataev as well as a penalty, which was missed by Boris Tsygankov (74’).
Striker Denisov is Russia’s key man
The German staff have highlighted striker Egor Denisov, who has already scored twice in the tournament, as Russia’s key man. “We’ll have to watch for him as he is a top quality striker,” warned Wück. “He holds the ball up for his teammates and gets forward very quickly. If we can keep him under control then we’ll have kept a great source of danger at bay.”
The team used Sunday afternoon to go on a trip to nearby harbor town Nesebar, which is one of the oldest towns in Bulgaria and the historic old part of the town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The players took time to eat ice creams, stroll round the town and they also paid a visit to a pizzeria. “It was important for the guys to see something other than the hotel, the training pitch or the stadium after two weeks,” explained Wück.
Hanna is fit, Köhlert suspended
The focus was back on the semi-final against Russia on Monday morning. At the final training session ahead of the game, the defence worked on their assurance on the ball and playing out from the back. “We need to make the Russians do all the running so that we can find the gaps in their compact defence,” explained Wück. The manager had his whole squad present at training, including Joel Abu Hanna, who had to be withdrawn from the game against Spain after taking a knock to his left ankle.
As he has done in the other four games, Christian Wück will have to make a change to his side and this time it will be enforced as Mats Köhlert is suspended. “We have a very even squad and we’ll have a look at who will fit in best for the game against Russia,” said Wück. Let’s hope that the 41-year-old finds the right balance once again in the semi-final.
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Germany under-17s manager Christian Wück is a meticulous person and he doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. In the little amount of free time he has between training, talks, media related activities and match preparation at the under-17s European Championships in Bulgaria, he takes time to study tactics, statistics and videos of their next opposition.
He is supported by Jan Siewert, Marcel Lucassen and Christian Fiedler – the other members of his staff. Over the course of the tournament, other coaches from the DFB have visited games to watch other opposition and to analyse them, including Meikel Schönweitz (under-16s manager), Frank Engel (head of DFB youth development) and Guido Streichsbier (under-18s manager), who is currently in Bulgaria for the second time.
Their findings have allowed Wück to put together his game plan and that has certainly paid off up until now. Four games, four wins, no goals conceded – that’s the record of the under-17s going into today’s semi-final against Russia (18:00 CEST) in Stara Zagora. “We want to reach the final,” said Wück. “But we have a tough task ahead of us in Russia.”
Wück: “Russia are very dangerous on the counter”
The 41-year-old has been working on how Germany are going to overcome this hurdle since Saturday evening when he watched Russia beat England 1-0 in the quarter-finals. “They are extremely compact and have a physical side,” was Wück’s analysis of their strengths.
Manager Mikhail Galaktionov’s Russia side finished second in their group (2-0 win over Scotland, 1-0 defeat to France and a 2-2 draw against Greece) but saved their best game for the quarter-finals against England. The Russians let their opponents dictate the play and were left with a few, but very direct counter attacks. “That’s when they are very dangerous,” said Wück.
They were reduced to five counter attacks against England, all of which led to big chances, including the deciding goal from Aleksei Tataev as well as a penalty, which was missed by Boris Tsygankov (74’).
Striker Denisov is Russia’s key man
The German staff have highlighted striker Egor Denisov, who has already scored twice in the tournament, as Russia’s key man. “We’ll have to watch for him as he is a top quality striker,” warned Wück. “He holds the ball up for his teammates and gets forward very quickly. If we can keep him under control then we’ll have kept a great source of danger at bay.”
The team used Sunday afternoon to go on a trip to nearby harbor town Nesebar, which is one of the oldest towns in Bulgaria and the historic old part of the town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The players took time to eat ice creams, stroll round the town and they also paid a visit to a pizzeria. “It was important for the guys to see something other than the hotel, the training pitch or the stadium after two weeks,” explained Wück.
Hanna is fit, Köhlert suspended
The focus was back on the semi-final against Russia on Monday morning. At the final training session ahead of the game, the defence worked on their assurance on the ball and playing out from the back. “We need to make the Russians do all the running so that we can find the gaps in their compact defence,” explained Wück. The manager had his whole squad present at training, including Joel Abu Hanna, who had to be withdrawn from the game against Spain after taking a knock to his left ankle.
As he has done in the other four games, Christian Wück will have to make a change to his side and this time it will be enforced as Mats Köhlert is suspended. “We have a very even squad and we’ll have a look at who will fit in best for the game against Russia,” said Wück. Let’s hope that the 41-year-old finds the right balance once again in the semi-final.
