Most valuable U23 keeper in Germany
Coach Christian Streich from SC Freiburg once again demonstratively supported his goalkeeper Noah Atubolu after his mistake against West Ham United and before the away game at FC Bayern Munich. “This is a normal process for a young goalkeeper,” said the 58-year-old about the German U21 national goalkeeper’s fluctuating performances. In the Europa League group game against the “Hammers”, Atubolu’s mistake led to the final score being 1-2.
After a somewhat bumpy start to the season, the 21-year-old had recently appeared more stable again. The new mistake could now lead to a goalkeeping discussion. Under predecessor Mark Flekken (30), who moved to Brentford FC for a fee of 12 million euros, Freiburg conceded an average of 1.27 goals per game in 44 games last season. In Atubolu’s nine appearances so far in 2023/24 there is an average of 1.56 goals conceded.
The Freiburg team, who promoted Atubolu from third division keeper to the new number one professional team in the summer, remain convinced of their decision. “We do this because we are Freiburg,” explained Streich, whose team is visiting Bayern on Sunday (5:30 p.m./DAZN), where they suffered a 5-0 defeat almost a year ago with Flekken in goal. The coach pointed out, among other things, that he was used to dealing with young players from his time as a youth coach at the sports club.
“Other established goalkeepers also make mistakes,” said Streich. “We talk to each other, train, watch videos. And then the development will come that it will become more and more stable. We assume that, that’s why we’re doing it.” Atubolu is not only by far the youngest goalkeeper in the league, but also Germany’s most valuable goalkeeping talent. In addition to Freiburg, there are currently four other German U23 keepers with a market value beyond the million mark: Jonas Urbig (20), who was loaned out to Greuther Fürth by 1. FC Köln, Marcel Lotka (22, BVB), Christian Früchtl (23 , Austria Vienna) and Nico Mantl (23, RB Salzburg). None of these goalkeepers are currently exposed to sporting pressure like Atubolu in Freiburg.
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Midfielder Maximilian Eggestein also jumped to his goalkeeper’s side. “Noah is strong enough, he can do it,” said the 26-year-old. “We don’t have to make it bigger than it is.” The sports club only extended the long-term contract of its homegrown team in July. In addition to Atubolu, Streich also has new signings Florian Müller (25), who came from VfB, and Benjamin Uphoff (30).
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