With national coach Marco Sturm, the national team is starting a new era
Now things really start for Marco Sturm: with this Deutschland Cup The first test for the new national coach is on the agenda. His debut this Friday (19.30 p.m., live on SPORT1) is eagerly awaited. "The boys trained very well, everyone was very committed, I am very satisfied," said Sturm, summing up his impressions of the training week.
Familiar faces instead of lots of new names – this is how the German squad presents itself from today onwards Deutschland Cup 2015. Since there will be no further tournament in February 2016, unlike in previous years, national coach Marco Sturm didn't have much choice but to rely on the tried and tested Deutschland Cup not to turn it into an experimental field.
With the German-Canadian Brooks Macek from Iserlohn there is only one newcomer in the squad. Macek is hoping for a similar success as last year with Brent Raedeke. The former Iserlohner and now Mannheimer (currently injured) even earned a place in the World Cup squad in his first year in the national jersey.
Sturm nominated a total of twelve players from that squad for the tournament in Augsburg. There are also numerous returnees. Sinan Akdag and Felix Schütz are back at the 2015 World Cup after their injury-related cancellations. Both players already have World Cup experience. In addition, David Wolf returns to the circle after two years and his stay in North America DEB-Teams back. Be the same Hamburghe teammate Marcel Müller.
Despite all the routine that is certainly there, Sturm also relies on one or two young players. With Jonas Müller (19, youngest player in the squad), Dominik Kahun (20), Mathias Niederberger (22), Leo Pföderl (22), Sebastian Uvira (22) and Yasin Ehliz (22), there are also six U23 players in the squad, although Ehliz from Nuremberg already has the experience of two World Cups. Jerome Flaake (25) and last year's World Cup debutant Nicolas Krämmer (23) are also still part of the younger and inexperienced faction.
The fight for places at the World Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia, begins in Augsburg. Because if you add the North American legionnaires and numerous players who are currently or recently injured, such as Justin Krueger, Denis Reul, Frank Hördler, Danny aus den Birken, Marcus Kink or Frank Mauer, who are at the Deutschland Cup are missing, then there is definitely a decent pool from which Sturm can choose.
Two questions are likely to be most exciting during the first appearances of the “new” national team: Who will emerge as the blueliner in the majority? This type of player has been lacking for years - with the exception of the North American Legionnaires, who are often unavailable. In terms of their potential, actors such as Daryl Boyle, Sinan Akdag, Moritz Müller, Stephan Daschner or Bernhard Ebner could take on this role. However, no one has really managed to achieve this on an international level in the long term. And: Who will provide the goals in attack after Michael Wolf's resignation?
Wolf was once again Germany's top scorer at the last World Cup. Apart from him and Matthias Plachta, who moved to North America, only Patrick Reimer met more than once in the title fights in the Czech Republic. This gap must now be filled. Here, too, there are some interesting players with potential in attack, but this must first be harnessed on a long-term basis at international level.