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David Raum: One of the great discoveries of the football year
Photo:
Christian Charisius / picture alliance / dpa
Suddenly David Raum was challenged and he likes such tasks.
His teammate Jamal Musiala had played a steep pass towards the goal line, giving Raum the signal to chase the ball and then carry it further into the penalty area.
It looked like a difficult assignment.
But the risk was calculated.
Raum is the player with the most sprints in the Bundesliga, and his top speeds are also above average.
And: Nobody hits as many flanks as space.
At TSG Hoffenheim he made 13 assists in his first year in the Bundesliga.
Raum now brought all these qualities together.
He caught Musiala's pass and crossed straight into the middle to Kai Havertz, who couldn't build up enough pressure with the header.
Nevertheless, the Munich crowd cheered in the 37th minute of the Nations League game against England.
Raum's attack and his cross suddenly created a dangerous situation.
This scene from last Tuesday tells a lot about the German national team, which has made it its task to inspire the audience again after the disappointing last few years under ex-coach Joachim Löw.
About the kind of football that should help her with that.
And about a guy who could be part of this endeavor, although hardly anyone expected it: David Raum.
In a 1-1 draw with England, in an international match against a top opponent, Raum was among the best.
In the evening, when the German national team meets Hungary in Budapest (8.45 p.m., TV: RTL), he could attract attention again.
The long list of left-backs
But does the 24-year-old have the quality to represent the German team at the World Cup in Qatar next fall as a left-back?
Is he the man the DFB has been looking for for this position for years?
Robin Gosens, Thilo Kehrer, Christian Günter, Nico Schulz, Marvin Plattenhardt, Jonas Hector, Marcel Schmelzer: Many names have been tried out in recent years, and we were often sure we had found the perfect candidate.
However, for various reasons, none has become a permanent solution.
Rachid Azzouzi has no doubts that space can go a long way in the national team.
He has long believed in space.
Some time ago, the sports director of SpVgg Greuther Fürth was asked by a manager of a top German club for an assessment of space.
"He'll be a seasoned Bundesliga professional," Azzouzi told the manager.
The change didn't happen, but Azzouzi was right: Raum has arrived in the Bundesliga.
Azzouzi closely followed Raum's development.
Raum has played for the Fürth and junior teams of the club for 15 years.
In the 2020 promotion year, Raum was one of the heroes with 15 assists and three goals.
He then left the club in the direction of Hoffenheim, where he was able to assert himself straight away (13 assists, three goals).
This rise was achieved within two years: Raum became a regular in Fürth in 2020, a promotion hero in May 2021, then a Bundesliga player in Hoffenheim, a national team player in September, and now one of the best against England.
He has already played nine international matches.
For him it goes from level to level to level.
Raum has had the slogan “Living the dream” tattooed on his chest.
Live your dream.
And indeed, the rapid breakthrough sounds like something out of a football fairy tale.
However, there is more to it than that.
His diligence makes him so good
When Azzouzi talks about space, one term comes up particularly often: »extra work«.
Even on days off, Raum once came to the Fürth training ground to work on himself, to train crosses, he kept hitting the balls into the penalty area.
Not everyone uses their free time like this, Azzouzi tells SPIEGEL.
Against England you could see the variety of dangerous passes that Raum can play today: Right at the beginning of the game he served Havertz with a flat pass;
in the said 37th minute he managed a controlled cross from the sprint;
in the 70th minute he served Thomas Müller with a soulful cross on the back post.
All of these situations created chances and it showed just how great an advantage there is when a true left-footed player plays on the left wing.
This opens up more tactical options for national coach Hansi Flick.
Most recently, Flick had tried right-footed Thilo Kehrer on the left side of defence, but with him the offensive power dwindled.
He would be a candidate for more security.
Space is a risk type, attack type, but not only.
Raum had to give up something to get better
On the actually free afternoons in Fürth, it wasn't just flanks that kept David Raum busy.
He practiced something that wasn't really in his nature at the time: it was a lot about defensive work.
At the beginning of his career, Raum was very offensively oriented, he tried his hand at various forward roles.
That wasn't ideal, says Azzouzi.
The breakthrough did not materialize, even before the Fürth promotion year 2020/2021 there was space between the substitute bench and the starting eleven.
At the club, the coaching team around Stefan Leitl was sure that Raum had to play further back and live out his offensive spirit as a left-back.
It was a difficult transition, driven by Leitl's assistant coach Andre Mijatović, who once played as a defender in the Bundesliga.
But they believed in him, and Raum went with them.
"His great ambition and diligence have brought him to where he is today," says Azzouzi.
The sports director from Fürth describes Raum as a guy who is very open to advice and new ideas.
This willingness is part of the explanation why space could scale to any higher level.
The hardest level awaits in autumn: the World Cup.
In any case, Flick was impressed after the England game.
In addition to the cross runs, he also praised the control that kept space on the defensive against tricky attacker Bukayo Saka.
Does Raum still change clubs?
After the Hungary game, the second duel against Italy will be the last high-level test for the national team – and also for Raum.
With Hoffenheim he missed out on international competitions, so he could be missing important competition practice, which ultimately decides on the regular places at the World Cup in Qatar.
Perhaps Raum will also decide to take another next step.
"I would have liked to have played internationally with Hoffenheim next season, that's still a dream of mine," said Raum recently, but also that he still has a contract with Hoffenheim.
At the very end after the England game, the TV pictures showed Dortmund's Jude Bellingham and David Raum high-fiving each other.
Bellingham whispered something in Hoffenheim's ear and they both laughed.
What do you think he said to David Raum?
Maybe Dortmund will play in the Champions League next season.
