Germany U21 squad | Analysis and seven “winners” from the September break

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In tonight’s Get German Football News feature, we’ll peek in on the German “Jungs” representing the Bundesrepublik at the highest youth level. Checking in on the status of the Germany U21 squad will at least prove more fun than assessing the torrent of rubbish that is Julian Nagelsmann’s senior team. The September international break typically serves as an unwelcome hiatus for Germans made about their club football. That notwithstanding, there are some interesting storylines here. 

After Germany U21 head coach Antonio Di Salvo concluded an “Era” during which he regularly worked with many regulars for several years this summer, it was time to call up a totally fresh squad comprised of many intriguing newcomers this time. Plenty of interesting rising Bundesliga club talents to take a look at! The author is pleased to report that many of them did well. Just as was the case following the 2023 U21 Euros, the German FA scheduled a tune-up friendly before the official start of 2027 U21 Euro qualifying. 

Di Salvo’s DFB-Juniors traveled to Albania for their test fixture and pulled out a 0-2 away win last Friday night. Qualifying for the next major international tournament officially began on Tuesday evening with a home match against Latvia in Rostock. This ended in a 5-0 victory. We’ll take a brief look at both games, cover seven “winners” from this year’s September break, and enclose some tactical graphics as a means of illustrating what Di Salvo’s “new-crew” U21s look like on the pitch. 

The Test

Germany 2, Albania 0

Nothing much doing during the first half at Elbasan Arena on Friday night. Both teams played it cautiously on a dodgy pitch during the opening 45. Lead strikers Nelson Wiper (Mainz) and Nicolo Tresoldi (Brugge) got their looks in shortly before it was time to head into the tunnel. Matters got much more interesting after the restart, with two of Di Salvo’s 10 half-time substitutions taking charge early.

Ilyas Ansah scored the 1-0 in the 48th-minute. Hoffenheim’s Muhammed Damar broke into the box to supply the Union Berlin forward with a simple finish. Four minutes after that, Wolfsburg teammates Aaron Zehnter and Dzenan Pejcinovic combined for the 2-0. Zehnter – a late call up to this team – supplied Wolfsburg’s surprise new lead striker with a sumptuous through ball. 

The hosts did manage to make the DFB defensive ranks unsorted at times during a strong spell that lasted nearly until the end. Di Salvos lads nevertheless wrested control of the game back. Damar contributed a very strong second half overall, particularly via controlling play through the middle. Pejcinovic found himself unlucky not to record a second goal with a strike of the post in the 78th.

The Qualifier

Germany 5, Latvia 0

The first official match remained competitive for much longer than it should have been. Tresoldi missed a monster opportunity to open up the scoring in the 2nd. After a near howler from new SV Werder Bremen keeper Mio Backhaus, traffic flowed almost exclusively in the DFB direction. Weiper finally broke through with the 1-0 in the 19th. Hannover 96’s Noel Aseko Nkili picked up the assist. 

Tresoldi capped a dominant German first half with the 2-0 in the 44th, sliding elegantly to polish off a Weiper cross. Tresoldi opened up the floodgates with the 3-0 five minutes after the restart. Weiper recorded another assist with a great ball win and play-through into Tresoldi’s path. Tresoldi completed his hat trick with the 57th, banging home after initially failing to finish off a corner. 

Aseko Nkili got his second assist of the night with a set-up of Damar on the 5-0 in the 59th. The DFB Juniors kept the pressure on until the finish. Weiper, Pejcinovic, Umut Tohumcu and Brajan Gruda nearly added more goals. Ansah and Said El Mala had gos late-on, but weren’t very close in their finishing. Pejcinovic hit the post at the death.

Winners from the break

Dzenan Pejcinovic, VfL Wolfsburg

From the moment new Wolfsburg trainer Paul Simonis began praising him in training camp, most of us could tell that a very special season was in store for the 20-year-old. The fact scorer of a hat trick in the Pokal has started both of Wolfsburg’s league fixtures this year certainly counts as pretty damn special indeed! Nice to see Pejcinovic continue to excel for club and country. Also nice to see notoriously whinny VfL striker Jonas Wind finally get what he deserves.

Aaron Zehnter, VfL Wolfsburg

Most of us German football watchers weren’t necessarily keen on the new VfL summer signing after his weak training camp. Always a pleasure to be proved dead wrong. This 20-year-old has proceeded to light it up for both club and country. After scoring his maiden Bundesliga goal just prior to the break, Zehnter really proved himself a skilled player by serving higher up the left wing under Di Salvo. 

Muhammed Damar, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Just as he did during the Hoffenheim pre-season primer, the author must simply grit his teeth when discussing this 21-year-old. Sigh. Nothing against Damar personally, of course. It’s simply the fact that his hated club happens to be too damned good this season. Damar isn’t even a TSG starter despite his undeniable talent. Double sigh. 

Nicolo Tresoldi, Club Brugge

The statistics naturally speak for themselves here. German football lovers are left to lament the fact that we lost him to the Belgian Pro League this summer. The still only 21-year-old Tresoldi still has time to pick up more traction out West and get himself onto the roster of a German top flight club. In the author’s humble opinion, Borussia Mönchengladbach should have pursued Tresoldi instead of Haris Tabakovic. 

Nelson Weiper, FSV Mainz 05

Another case in which the stats speak for themselves. To think that it all nearly fell apart for this 20-year-old and his club over the course of the summer. One feels a bit sorry for the VfB Stuttgart supporters who missed out on the chance to get Weiper. Oh well. Onwards to Conference League Glory with the Rheinhessen!

Noel Aseko Nkili, Hannover 96

It appears we’ll all have to get used to pronouncing the FC Bayern München academy man’s name. The Berlin-native is due back at the German giants next summer after his second loan stint in Lower Saxony draws to a close. This 19-year-old loos to function well as both a defensive and attacking midfielder. It came as a surprise to see him leapfrog Tohumcu for a place in midfield. 

Lukas Ullrich, Borussia Mönchengladbach

Definitely one of the unsung heroes of the team during this break. Ullrich largely looked strong in the left fullback role. His right-hand-side counterpart Elias Baum of Eintracht Frankfurt wasn’t half bad either. It remains to be seen as to whether he can fend off Luca Netz for the starting role at his club. To recycle a joke already used “Netz vs. Ullrich” serves as one of the best “footballing featherweight battles” ever.

Tactical Documentation

We’ve a bunch of straightforward 4-4-2s to look at. The 4-2-3-1 Era of the German U21s died along with the European dream this past summer. It’s clear that Di Salvo will stick with this formation for the foreseeable future as it makes the best use of the depth of his squad. The actual tactical constellation constitutes the least interesting part of the break, however. What obviously excites Germans more is the individual performance of players within it.

We’ll use this space to touch upon some of the names not covered above. To create a “Losers from the break” section simply remained too harsh. It was still the case that some real talents put in some quiet performances. That’s not necessarily something to be concerned about, yet merits a mention nonetheless. 

Lineup—DFB (Friday, first-half)

Köln’s Said El Mala – whom some may recall as a huge Brighton target over the summer – had a weak first half against the Albanians and was not selected for the XI against Latvia. Again, not of much consequence. The 19-year-old mega talent is still off to a scintillating start for club after netting his first Bundesliga goal just before the break.

Union Berlin’s Aljosha Kemlein – the first to don the captain’s armband since Köln’s Eric Martel turned it in – was also inconspicuous in midfield. Germany U21 veterans Weiper and Brajan Gruda were slow to get started in their first match back in action. New Southampton signing Joshua Quarshie picked up a booking.

Lineup—DFB (Friday, second-half)

With Tohumcu the only one permitted to remain on the pitch, the fresh set of actors did much better. Beyond those who got their names on the scoresheet, Union’s Tom Rothe, Hertha’s Linus Gechter and new VfL Bochum signing Leandro Morgalla had some notable moments in defense. As noted above, Hoffenheim’s Damar was fabulous off the bench and Zehnter did well to prove himself higher up. 

Lineup—DFB (Tuesday)

Di Salvo pieced it all together for the first official qualifying match. Nseko Nkili and Damar absolutely earned their surprise starts. Tapping Mio Backhaus to tend goal constituted a big statement. So too did according Stuttgart’s Finn Jeltsch donned the captain’s armband. Here we received the likely answers to the two most pressing questions surrounding the team as we entered the break.

Backhaus is probably the new No. 1. Jeltsch – being the highest-valued professional on the squad – will likely take over the captain’s role. Pejcinovic, Rothe, and Ansah all made their contributions off the bench. New FCU record-holder Ansahdidn’t quite make the “winners section” above, but it was close. Ansah certainly deserves an honorable mention. 

There aren’t necessarily too many conclusion to be drawn from what we witnessed from the German Jungs at the country’s highest youth level this time around. One can nevertheless be grateful that the palette has been cleansed of sour taste of the absolute dross supplied by the men’s team. Moreover, watching some of the rising stars on German top flight club teams gets one excited for the return of the Bundesliga!

Damn these early international breaks!

Bring back the world’s best footballing beat!

GGFN | Peter Weis