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Lukas Nmecha has benefited from the coaching change in Wolfsburg
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Martin Rose / Getty Images
One topic has been particularly hotly debated in German football for years.
Where have the strikers gone?
So the real center strikers, also called Neuner, like a Uwe Seeler, a Gerd Müller or a Miroslav Klose.
When the concept of the wrong nine established itself in world football, a piece of German football identity apparently also died.
This condition has not improved under Hansi Flick either.
The new national coach has been on the sidelines five times so far, all games have been won, with a goal difference of 18: 1, and Flick's previously preferred center striker Timo Werner scored five goals.
And yet Flick had to answer questions about Werner's performance and the lack of a classic nine in his squad several times.
After the win against Romania in October, Flick responded with a question: "What is a classic center forward?"
Now the 56-year-old has nominated Lukas Nmecha from VfL Wolfsburg for the first time.
The Nmecha who scored the U21 team last summer with four goals for the European Championship - as a center forward.
Can Nmecha fulfill the longing of many fans and experts?
Nmecha is 22 years old and has just played 16 Bundesliga games.
He is 1.85 meters tall and therefore five centimeters taller than Werner.
The header game, a very important detail in the evaluation of German strikers, is still not one of Nmecha's great strengths - even if he has just scored two goals for Wolfsburg (against Salzburg and Augsburg).
Arrived in Wolfsburg on the second attempt
In Wolfsburg, Nmecha is the big winner of the change of coach.
Florian Kohfeldt followed Mark van Bommel two weeks ago, and since then VfL have played three times - always with Nmecha over 90 minutes - and the attacker scored in every game.
Under van Bommel Nmecha belonged more to the category of supplementary players and many felt reminded of his first time in Wolfsburg.
In 2019, the attacker trained at Manchester City had already landed at Lower Saxony. And couldn't prevail. After half a year it went back to England, where another loan deal with Middlesbrough ended similarly unsuccessful. Nmecha only met regularly at the club last season at RSC Anderlecht.
His time at City ended afterwards and since the contact with Wolfsburg was never broken, Nmecha tried his luck a second time in Wolfsburg. Around the club you can hear that Nmecha was not far enough for the Bundesliga on his first attempt. The self-confidence that distinguishes him now on the leap to the national team ("I always think that I'm the best striker.") Was already there back then. Only he could rarely confirm it on the pitch, which was due to various factors.
VfL had to find each other under the then new coach Oliver Glasner.
With Wout Weghorst there was a center forward who scored regularly.
With every game without a stake, the discontent among owners, Manchester City, grew.
And Nmecha needed getting used to, which Glasner did not want to allow him - even if the talent flashed in many training units.
A place at Weghorst's side
Weghorst is still in Wolfsburg.
Actually nothing has changed in the hierarchy in the storm, but Nmecha's flexibility is now more important.
At this point the national team comes into play again.
Because if you expect a breaker from old German striker school in Nmecha, you will be disappointed.
The right foot can hold many positions on the offensive. Under Kohfeldt, VfL could permanently play with two tips, Nmecha would then be the striker playing alongside Weghorst. The role of a ten also fits Nmecha, he can come over outside, even if he is not a dribbler, who lets opponents stand and prepares goals. Nmecha's strengths lie in the conclusion and in his speed, he has more depth in the game than his club colleague Weghorst. But Werner also has these strengths - who was not nominated this time for reasons of protection.
In Wolfsburg, those responsible know that Nmecha still has to work on its first contact.
The ability to hold the ball with his back to the goal is another weakness, as is his ability to combine in tight situations against low-lying opponents.
Nobody at VfL doubts that he will work on it in the coming months.
Because Nmecha is said to have developed into a model professional who has matured compared to his first time in Wolfsburg and who occasionally puts in extra shifts on days off.
In addition to Werner, Adeyemi and Musiala are also missing
Flick owes the chance to debut another talent with Nmecha mainly to his former U21 coach colleague Stefan Kuntz. Because Nmecha played for England's national teams in their youth. At the age of nine he had moved with his family from Hamburg to Manchester, was discovered at a tournament of his elementary school team and went through all of Manchester City's youth teams. The way to the Three Lions team was paved, but Kuntz made sustained efforts to get Nmecha and managed to convince him of the DFB.
Now the final World Cup qualifiers are due. The DFB-Elf is already qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, Flick could experiment in Nmecha's new home Wolfsburg against Liechtenstein in the evening (8.45 p.m. / TV: RTL) and against Armenia in Yerevan on Sunday, and Niklas Süle's positive corona test has the Preparation also messed up considerably. In addition to Werner, Karim Adeyemi and Jamal Musiala will also be absent.
When Thomas Müller was asked about the lack of a striker, he replied in the usual detail.
Whether it is really about a center forward, or rather a goalscorer from the Robert Lewandowski brand.
So an attacker who meets very regularly.
It's not that easy, because that's exactly what Werner has done in previous international matches.
Nmecha won't have it easier there.