Impressed and surprised

Kohfeldt speaks about five young Werder talents on their way into the first team
Luc Ihorst made his Bundesliga debut against RB Leipzig (Photo: nordphoto).
First Team
Thursday, 26.09.2019 / 17:38

If Florian Kohfeldt can take any positives away from all the injuries his team have suffered, one might be the number of young talents who have made their mark after being given a chance earlier than expected. For example, Benjamin Goller impressed against RB Leipzig. “He played a great game,” praised the head coach, who will also be taking the youngster to Dortmund with the rest of the first team. But Goller is not the only youth player catching the eye at the moment.

Goller, Gruev, Straudi, Ihorst – the last Werder line up may have contained one or two surprises for some fans. Four U23s players, excluding veteran Christian Groß, were in the squad for the home game against Leipzig. All of them will be helping SVW in the relatively near future, though each of them are on different paths. Ahead of the Borussia Dortmund match, head coach Florian Kohfeldt discusses the development this young quartet, as well as David Philipp, who has not yet been named in the squad. 

 

Gruev and Straudi yet to make their debuts

Benjamin Goller and Simon Straudi - on their way to the Bundesliga (Photo: nordphoto).

Last weekend was not the first time that summer signing Benjamin Goller has been in the spotlight. The former Schalke player had already shown some excellent form in pre-season, but picked up an injury. “Benni would have made an appearance earlier if he’d been fit. I trust him to play in the Bundesliga – he will be coming to Dortmund and is a candidate to make the starting line up,” says Kohfeldt, who saw some “refreshing dribbling and deep runs” from the 20-year-old against RB Leipzig. Nevertheless, the coach is concerned with Goller’s “long-term development,” which is why playing for the U23s would not mean a step back for him.

 

Simon Straudi and Ilia Gruev find themselves in a similar situation, having been in the Bundesliga squad several times without coming off the bench. “I think Ilia is already capable of playing in a Bundesliga match. He will have a bigger role in the team next year,” says the head coach, adding: “He provides a great mixture of passing and strategic thinking but needs to work on being more robust in defence and play with his back to goal less often. Straudi is more likely to be play in the U23s side, mainly because of his history with injuries.” 

Straudi will be reunited with Luc Ihorst there for their upcoming matches. The striker made surely the most surprising debut of the last few weeks. However, “Luc still has his clear home” in the U23s. Kohfeldt had this to say about the 19-year-old: “His height, speed and coolness in front of goal will earn him some chances but he needs to get used to dynamics of the Bundesliga and hit some consistent form.”

 

David Philipp is also part of this five-man youth training group. “He’s playing well for the U23s and is on a really good track. I would definitely include him in this group of guys,” says Kohfeldt. It is a group that Werder fans will hear a lot more from in the future. 

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