Leon Goretzka is considered an enormously variable midfielder. As a mixture of driver and ball magnet, he is blessed with many footballing strengths, but he also has a weakness.
Weaknesses / weak points
The Bayern clock is not a player who attaches great importance to the defensive orientation and works a lot backwards. If he does that, as he did in Augsburg in February 2019, it can have strange consequences …
In the service of FC Bayern as well as FC Schalke 04, Goretzka unfortunately complains about a high susceptibility to injury. A thigh injury in 2014/2015 forced him to take a 220-day break, with 27 missed competitive games. Muscle injuries and an ankle joint injury also threw him back in Munich.
Strengthen
Prophetic moments: His coaches at VfL Bochum, Peter Neururer and Dariusz Wosz, Leon Goretzka predicted a great future for him. Trainer fox Neururer was certain “never seen an 18-year-old who even remotely has his potential” and saw in him a “talent of the century” or “the greatest German football talent of the last 30 years.” Ex-national player Dariusz Wosz worked with Goretzka in Bochum’s A-Junior team and described him as an “exceptional player like I haven’t had before”.
That is hardly surprising. Goretzka has taken the predicted career path 1: 1 and hardly any other German midfielder combines dynamism with a feeling for the ball and stamina with a goal risk.
In addition to a high level of understanding of the game, he has great strengths in the final pass and in the goal finish. Goretzka’s performance figures show hits and assists almost always in harmony. His variable midfield game makes him a real cornerstone for FC Bayern, but also for the German national team.
Successes (among others):
Confederations Cup Winner 2017
Silver medal winner Olympic football tournament 2016
U17 Vice European Champion 2012 (with the national team)
Champions League winner 2020
German champion 2019, 2020
DFB Cup winners 2019, 2020
DFL Supercup Winner 2018 (with FC Bayern Munich)
German Vice-Champion 21018 (with FC Schalke 04)
failure
The biggest failures are defeats with FC Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04 and the German national team in important tournaments or decisive games. In particular, these are:
- The lost DFB Cup semi-final in 2018 with FC Schalke 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt (0: 1)
- An early “end” with FC Schalke 04 in the DFB-Pokal 2015 – 0: 2 against Borussia Mönchengladbach in round 2 on October 28, 2015.
- The elimination of the German national team at the 2018 World Cup in the preliminary round
- Knockout in the Europa League quarter-finals 2017 with FC Schalke 04 against Ajax Amsterdam in the local arena
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