When Julian Nagelsmann calls his squad for the October international matches against Luxembourg (October 10th) and in Northern Ireland (October 13th, both 8:45 p.m., live ticker near Sportschau), Niclas Füllkrug will also be there again. He did not deserve this through performance, it is more of the lack of alternatives.
It should be a new beginning, and it initially started promising for the Hanoverian, who played in the Bundesliga for the 96, Bremen and Dortmund: Füllkrug was in the away game at Everton FC in the starting eleven of Nuno Espirito Santo. It was the first game under this coach for West Ham United, and it ended 1-1 on Monday evening (September 29, 2025). Fill jug remained without goal participation.
Espirito Santo already his third coach
For the center forward, it was the third coach at the Hammers within just over a year. When he came in late summer in 2024, he played under Julen Lopetegui, in January Graham Potter took over. But his balance sheet was devastating: he only won six times at 25 attempts and wrote with a point cut of 0.92 negative club history.
Fill mug did not contribute a lot to improve this balance. He also missed half -season with lengthy and not really tangible injuries such as “Achilles tendon irritation” and “Thigh problems” and in the end only three goals and two templates.
He cost 27 million euros. The hopes associated with it were enormous, but nothing works in the current season either: no hit, zero assists.
Potter used him as a “wrong nine”
Sometimes filling jug could also be sorry for you. One of the best final players in the younger DFB past (24 caps, 14 goals) was sometimes used as a “wrong nine” under Potter. Then he looked even more than foreign bodies than in many games as a top.
The evening in Everton also showed a lot of the deficits that the 32-year-old is responsible for. He runs too little, understanding with his colleagues is still not good. If it offers itself briefly, the flank comes long – and vice versa. It is not the case that he does not kneel, he throws himself into the duels, which also appreciate West Ham fans on him.
But it often seems unhappy, such as in the 87th minute. Then he finally came to an end in the penalty area, but his own teammate Luis Guilherme did in front of him and blocked the ball.
Havertz and small service are missing longer
After all, under Espirito Santo he was allowed to participate deep into the stoppage time, only in the 94th minute did the substitute shine with number 11. How long Nagelsmann adheres to Füllkrug is questionable according to achievements such as this and a season balance without scorer points.
However, Kai Havertz fails for a long time, Tim Kleindienst is still fighting through the rehab and Leroy Sané is also outside after moving to Turkey. For the lack of alternatives, Füllkrug could stay with it for the time being.