After the meager 0:0 in the friendly against Romania, there is disillusionment in the camp of the German U21 national team. Eintracht Frankfurt’s BVB loan Ansgar Knauff also comes off badly in the rating of coach Antonio Di Salvo.
“This time he lost the ball a lot and sometimes avoided a duel,” said Di Salvo to the “kicker” looking back at Knauff’s performance in the disappointing zero number.
“I told him that he had to keep at it and remain self-confident, even if he didn’t complete an action. He misses that a bit,” added the DFB coach.
“If something doesn’t work, he hangs his head”
Knauff started against Romania but was substituted in the 69th minute.
“If something doesn’t work, he hangs his head,” criticized Di Salvo. “He has to keep at it, but that only works with willingness. If he’s ready to compensate for mistakes by running back, if he has the direct impulse to counterpress, everything is fine. He has room for improvement there. “
For Knauff there is currently little hope of improvement in a disappointing season. At Eintracht Frankfurt, the 21-year-old shooting star of the Europa League triumph in 2022 lost his regular place after poor performances.
BVB? Eintracht Frankfurt? Ansgar Knauff’s future open
The fact that Knauff will travel to the U21 European Championships in Georgia and Romania (June 21 to July 8) as a regular player is far from set in stone.
In the coming season, the winger will have to make decisive decisions for his future: his loan contract with Eintracht Frankfurt is expiring. Knauff returns to BVB as planned. In the current condition, the competition for him there should be insurmountable.
“I still have enough other things to do until the end of the season, I have big plans from a sporting point of view. You can see everything else in the summer,” Knauff said in an interview with “Sportbuzzer”.