Although he was not seeded at the beginning of the season due to a muscle injury, Niklas Süle played the second most competitive minutes of all BVB stars in his first season since his move from FC Bayern to Borussia Dortmund, which received a great deal of media attention. 64 percent of duels won are also one of the best values among the frequent players in the German Bundesliga – national coach Hansi Flick nevertheless set a (questionable) lesson.
“If you look at the squad, you can of course see that we have a lot of central defenders. This means that we also want to try a back three,” announced Flick after the announcement of the DFB squad for the friendly game against Ukraine.
It is not the first time that the BVB defender is missing words that must have come across as malice to Niklas Süle, but surprisingly in the squad for the 1000th international match in the history of the German national soccer team.
Instead, Flick called up World Cup drivers Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Matthias Ginter (SC Freiburg), Nico Schlotterbeck (BVB), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig) and Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United) as well as youngster Malick Thiaw (AC Milan). all of whom can act in central defence. The lush selection is complemented by Robin Gosens (Inter Milan), Marius Wolf (BVB), David Raum and Benjamin Henrichs (both RB Leipzig) – all of them more offensive acting full-backs.
BVB star “leaves a lot”
The fact that two of his teammates are there should be little consolation for Süle, especially since Flick justified his dismissal in a dubious manner.
“I think he’s still leaving a lot. I want him to take a step forward in his attitude, in his mentality,” explained Flick in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” and added: Süle “could be one of the best central defenders that exist. Its potential is huge”.
In addition, Süle only convinced him 90 percent of the World Cup debacle in Qatar, which was simply not enough for Flick. “I think every national player should have the right to make the most of their potential. Getting away with less – that’s not my mentality,” the 58-year-old continued.
At first glance, a solid, even stimulating justification of the national coach. On closer inspection, however, this raises questions even if Thiaw’s nomination is classified as a foreshadowing of the future.
Does Thilo Kehrer, who alternates between the starting XI and the bench at West Ham United, no longer have the potential? Is Gosens, like in 2022/23 mostly at Inter (substituted in 32 out of 48 appearances), just a joker? And how is the situation at Klostermann, who only made short appearances last season, at least in the big games at RB Leipzig?
The impression that Flick uses different standards cannot be completely dismissed.
Süle suddenly outside after the World Cup
Also striking: Flick and Süle’s time together at FC Bayern, which the national coach coached from November 2019 to summer 2021, was characterized by many of the defender’s health problems.
If Süle was fit, Flick usually called him into the starting lineup. And not infrequently even as a right-back. Anything but an argument that speaks against using the native of Frankfurt in a chain of three.
Meanwhile, it is also unclear how Flick’s renewed resignation from Sules will be received by the rest of the squad. When the Dortmunder was already missing along with some other stars in March, midfield star Joshua Kimmich was visibly surprised in an interview with “tz”. Schlotterbeck emphasized in the “kicker” at the end of March that Rüdiger and Süle were “rightly a bit ahead” of him in the DFB hierarchy.
On the other hand, not many national players have been showered with compliments as much as Süle von Flick in the past. When the defender switched to BVB, Flick once again emphasized his “enormous quality” and explained that he saw Süle as a building block for the future of the DFB selection.
That seemed to be true up until the disappointing World Cup: if he was fit, Flick called Süle into the starting eleven in 13 of 15 games, and he didn’t miss a minute at the World Cup – since then Süle has been waiting in vain for a nomination.
Four days later, after the 1000th international match in their history against Ukraine, the DFB team will face Poland in a friendly in Warsaw. The last international match of the hat-trick takes place in Gelsenkirchen on June 16 against Colombia.
Marc Affeldt