Most dangerous German striker: Füllkrug is chasing Völler’s Werder record

Debate about World Cup participation

With his brace in the 5-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Niclas Füllkrug catapulted himself to the top of the Bundesliga goalscorers list. The 29-year-old, who, together with Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, is also the best German in the league’s scorer rankings, fueled the discussions about possible World Cup participation – and is on the way to breaking a more than 35-year-old record by a Bremen legend .

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Only Rudi Völler (8 goals) was even more successful in the 1985/86 season in a Werder jersey after eight Bundesliga matchdays. “Völler was a good guy,” said Füllkrug with a smile when asked about the statistics on Saturday evening. While the Werder fans chanted “Gap for Germany!” through the Weser Stadium and record national player Lothar Matthäus raved about a “fantastic” performance on “Sky”, Füllkrug kept the ball flat when asked about a possible World Cup nomination. “Of course I’m very happy when people like Lothar Matthäus or others who know football praise my game and think I’m doing it well,” said the Bremen player and added: “But everything else is not in my hands. I’m trying to do what I’m doing right now.”

Should he succeed and be able to further expand his current quota in the coming weeks, national coach Hansi Flick will find it difficult to get past Füllkrug when nominating the World Cup squad. Given the numbers, not a few are convinced that the German center forward, who is currently by far the most dangerous in the top 10 European leagues, could solve the national team’s problems in the nines position. “Hansi Flick is not blind, he sees it too. He will take a striker with the advantages that Niclas has,” explained Matthäus.

For Werder coach Ole Werner, however, the performance of his protégé comes as no surprise: Füllkrug is “a very complete player who has almost everything that characterizes a striker”. In addition, his top attacker, who played a key role in promotion in the previous season with 19 goals, brings a “positive obsession” with him, “this unconditional will to win games and get better. It’s something he exemplifies and brings to the team.”

Füllkrug’s teammates at Werder were also impressed by the attacker’s run and were convinced of his qualities. “Niclas can also be important for the national team. If you want to play with a classic center forward, you can’t get past him,” said defender Niklas Stark and announced: “I’ll make it as difficult as possible for him in training so that he’s well prepared for the World Cup.” Strike partner Marvin Ducksch, who scored the first goal of the season against the “foals” after a long wait, found clear words: “I told him before the game today that I would try to help him,” said the 28-year-old, who had placed one of the two filling jug hits. “The boy can do everything, for me he is currently the best German striker. I would like him to go to the World Cup. Performance should be rewarded,” says Ducksch.

Werder striker Füllkrug: “It’s no coincidence that I can now call up my performance”

The harmony of the promoted team was clearly noticeable in view of the successful start to the season and eighth place in the table – with 16 goals Werder is currently the second most dangerous team behind FC Bayern. So also Füllkrug made no secret of the fact that he was incredibly happy about the bursting of the knot with his strike partner Ducksch: “We all stood behind him and knew that it would happen at some point. He deserves it.”

The native of Hanover also attributed his own leap in performance to the fact that he had remained largely injury-free for two or three years. It is therefore “no coincidence that I can now call up my performance. (…) I can continue working every week from where I am right now. That puts me in very good shape,” he said: “But you always need a great team.”

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