For years, Jérôme Boateng and Mats Hummels dominated the German defense center. This time is now history, but there is international top class in the DFB team due to the good development of some players. Three players in particular stand out, two of whom will play at the end of the World Cup. We take a look at the top 10 of German central defense.
The Bochum central defender is a top performer in the U21s and a very promising talent. The youngster already showed strong performances at VfL last season and will almost certainly be able to build on that. With all his facilities, the 2022 World Cup is still a little too early for him. Bella-Kotchap has no international experience and of course 22 Bundesliga games are not the world. But we will hear a lot more from the 20-year-old.
Robin Koch made the leap from Freiburg to the Premier League, where he narrowly escaped relegation with Leeds United last season. In addition, the 25-year-old was thrown back by injuries and was out for almost the entire first half of the season. In the back series he was at least able to regain his regular place. Koch is an intelligent and calm defender with a good build-up game. However, he is not top class in a duel and he still lacks top game experience.
Thilo Kehrer has recently played a lot at the right back in the DFB team. But he’s not exactly outstanding there. All in all, Kehrer is better off in the center of defense with his strength in tackles and athleticism, but he doesn’t have any quality that Germany could urgently use. Kehrer makes mistakes when building up the game and has little competition practice. There are better alternatives out there.
Lukas Klostermann has recently played more often in central defense at the club. In the DFB team, however, there are several alternatives that are more suitable. Klostermann is fast, but not the best in positional play, duel behavior and build-up play. The Leipziger can definitely play a more important role on the right side of defence.
Due to the fact that his club colleagues Süle and Schlotterbeck are also national players, it could make sense to nominate Hummels. This is due to the fact that he simply knows the processes and does not have to acclimatize in an emergency. Nevertheless, one cannot avoid saying that the time of Hummels is a bit over. His speed deficits can no longer be compensated – with all the qualities that the defensive giant otherwise has. In addition, he could cause unrest on the bench due to his leader claim.
In the course of his career, Matthias Ginter was actually always a solid bank and a player who you could always trust. However, the central defender has had a weak and unusually flawed season in Gladbach. It is to be hoped that he will find his form again in Freiburg. Ginter is a player you don’t necessarily need in the squad, but he could be a help and a stabilizer as he recovers from his miserable Gladbach year in the coming months.
There’s a pretty big gap behind the top three centre-backs. The Leverkusen player has shown good performances, especially in the past season, and has finally stabilized at a strong level, but has not yet managed to do so in the DFB team. After coming on as a substitute against Italy, he immediately looked bad when he conceded to make it 2:5. Tah is generally a strong defender without major weaknesses. However, it doesn’t have any outstanding properties either.
Nico Schlotterbeck is the only serious challenger to Rüdiger and Süle. The youngster has great abilities both against the ball and in building up the game and knows how to use them. The new Dortmunder was the outstanding man on the pitch in the cup final with SC and recently showed his passing ability against Hungary with his deadly pass to Hofmann. Compared to Süle and Rüdiger, Schlotterbeck is less experienced and more prone to making mistakes.
Niklas Süle had a strong season at FC Bayern and should be able to follow on from that at BVB. Süle isn’t the most agile, but he’s strong in tackles and headers, as well as fast-paced and well-versed in football. Here and there Süle has even smaller dropouts in the DFB team. This applies to fix with regard to the World Cup. Ultimately, however, he should be able to form a great duo with Rüdiger.
Antonio Rüdiger has worked his way up to become the head of defense for the DFB team in recent years. The 29-year-old has matured enormously at Chelsea and now hardly makes any mistakes. His speed and toughness in duels have always been outstanding. In the meantime, he also combines his physical abilities with intelligent play behavior and a safe build-up game. Rüdiger can also set an example in the direction of opponents and will rightly be set as a defensive leader. Even if he doesn’t get a chance in Madrid, it will be difficult for Flick to put Rüdiger on the bench.
