For some players it happens quicker than others – a number of the Germany U19 stars hoping to feature in next year’s European Championship are already featuring in the Bundesliga. “Featuring in the top flight is a great experience for the lads, especially at their age,” explained U19 head coach Marcus Sorg. “There is, however, a difference between cameo roles and consistent appearances. At the minute their making cameos and going into a major tournament you really need to have some rhythm and be used to playing full games.”
Numerous attackers featuring
None of the current crop of U19 internationals are top flight regulars yet, however, Arianit Ferati (VfB Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Philipp Ochs (TSG Hoffenheim 1899) and Suat Serdar (FSV Mainz 05) have featured. They are all attackers. “That’s just a coincidence as last year as well as Timo Werner and Leroy Sane, we saw defenders Timo Baumgartl, Jonathan Tah and Lukas Klostermann make the step up,” said Sorg.
Stuttgart’s Arianit Ferati has featured the most. He has made three appearances, totalling 70 minutes of action. He created Timo Werner’s late equaliser against Hoffenheim and has impressed so far this term. “Ari is an excellent footballer. He’s great in 1-on-1 situations, he’s dynamic, athletic and has a strong left foot,” explained his boss at international level.
Henrichs makes debut against BVB
Benjamin Henrichs made his debut for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in September’s 3-0 defeat in Dortmund. He came on for Karim Bellarabi after 78 minutes. Sorg’s opinion on the youngster is as follows: “Benni is a talented midfielder. He’s good at both end of the pitch, can lift the team and is combative.”
Mainz’s Suat Serdar has made four sub appearances in the Bundesliga, totalling 25 minutes of action. Sorg describes him as “being a good player overall and can dribble at pace. He’s technically good and well developed for his age.” The final member of this year’s quartet is Philipp Ochs, who has played twice for Hoffenheim (8 minutes). “He’s a good team player and deadly in front of goal,” remarked Sorg.
Four of the U19 squad have made their debuts in the Bundesliga and the head coach is happy with their progress, however. He added that “it would help them a big more if they were playing regular football at U19 or reserve level, as cameo appearances only help to an extent.” The 50-year-old believes that consistency is key and is therefore of the opinion that if his players can’t feature on a weekly basis in the top flight, he’d rather see them feature elsewhere instead of sitting on the bench.
