Goals, it is said, are the icing on the cake when it comes to football. Attackers, goal scorers and shooters provide the magical moments much more often than the other players. The fans like that, that’s why they make pilgrimages to the stadiums, and even the experts appreciate that. Among the world footballers of the year, who have been voted since 1991, there is only one defender, Fabio Cannavaro. That’s only because the Italian led his Squadra Azzurra to the World Cup title in 2006. In the 15 years before and the 16 after, offensive players have invariably emerged as winners.
Lothar Matthäus, who won the election in 1991, and Luka Modric, who triumphed in 2018, are the players with the most affinity to the back. Otherwise, the list of the very best ranges from record winner Lionel Messi, who triumphed seven times, to Cristiano Ronaldo (6), Zinédine Zidane, the Brazilian Ronaldo (3 each), his compatriot Ronaldinho, Robert Lewandowski (2 each) to Marco van Basten and Roberto Baggio , Romario, George Weah, Rivaldo, Luis Figo, Ronaldinho and Kaka.
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The dominance of the offensive players does not need to be underlined. It almost comes about itself. Filigree pieces and goals are unbeatable arguments. In the most recent election for World Footballer of the Year, which took place in Paris at the end of October, the best goalkeeper, the Moroccan Bono, who looks after the box at Sevilla FC in everyday life, appeared in 13th place. The highest-ranking defender only ended up in 22nd place. Min-jae Kim is the South Korean who became Italian champions with SSC Napoli last season, but has been wearing the Bayern Munich jersey since then.
In Europe, where the vote for the best footballer has been around since 1956 and was won by Stanley Matthews, the legendary right winger of Blackpool FC, defensive players are just as few and far between. On average, only one person makes it every decade: the Czech Josef Masopust, Franz Beckenbauer, Matthias Sammer, Pavel Nedved, another Czech, then Cannavaro and, in 2019, Virgil van Dijk, the last for the time being. Before the Dutchman (especially Messi and CR7, but also Franck Ribery) and after him (Lewandowski, Jorginho, Karim Benzema and Erling Haaland) there were only attackers again.
If any other proof of the superiority of the offensive forces is needed, just look at the choice of female soccer players. With the Spanish world champion Aitana Bonmati Coca, an attacking midfielder from FC Barcelona prevailed with an almost epoch-making lead. Samantha May Kerr, on the ball for Chelsea FC and also Australia’s record goalscorer, and Salma Celeste Paralluelo Ayingono, winger and Bonmati’s compatriot at FC Barcelona, followed on the pitch, other players who care much more about being close to the opponent’s goal than to the one own.
Steven Skrzybski was Unioner of the Year twice. He now wears the colors of Holstein Kiel.Eibner press photo/Imago
However, this does not rub off on 1. FC Union Berlin. Even in this respect, the Iron Men like to be a slightly different club. They have been voting for their Unioner of the Year in Köpenick for 42 years. The offensive players probably hold most of the first places here too, but nowhere near as frequently as elsewhere. They took first place in 18 rounds; Olaf Seier, captain at the end of the 1980s, Steffen Baumgart and Steven Skrzybski achieved it twice. Also included are Joachim “Bulle” Sigusch, Uwe Borchardt, Sergej Barbarez and Christo Koilov, Daniel Teixeira, Bobby Wood and, of course, the indestructible Torsten Mattuschka.
On the other hand, you will look in vain for Karim Benyamina, who leads the list of iron scorers in competitive games, albeit in lower divisions, with 87 goals. The goalkeepers from Wolfgang “Potti” Matthies to Jan Glinker (both were honored four times each), Oskar Kosche (2), Sven Beuckert, Marcel Höttecke and Daniel Haas are almost overrepresented. The not so small remainder are actually defensive players: Lutz “Meter” Hendel (2), Mario Maek, Jens Härtel, Steffen Menze and Fabian Schönheim (he was also the best twice).
The best striker at Union only scores four goals
This trend is confirmed by the awards received in recent years. With the year of promotion to the Bundesliga, the following came first in this order: Rafal Gikiewicz, Christopher Trimmel, Max Kruse, again Christopher Trimmel and Frederik Rönnow. There are two goalkeepers, with the captain twice a defender and Kruse only one attacker – no Sebastian Andersson, the best iron shooter in his first season in the Bundesliga with twelve goals; no Taiwo Awoniyi, the best Köpenick shooter to date in Germany’s upper house with twenty goals; no Joel Pohjanpalo, who once scored the first flawless hat trick by a Union player against Bremen in the showpiece league; no Marius Bülter, no Sebastian Polter, no Sheraldo Becker…
This time, the men from the southeast of the capital are having an even harder time with and on the offensive than usual. Bayern’s Harry Kane has scored 21 times alone, which is significantly more often than the Iron Men combined, and Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy is exactly on par with 17 successes . Kevin Behrens and Robin Gosens lead the club’s list of top scorers, albeit with a paltry four goals. In the top scorers list there are 27 (!) players ahead of the best Union player.
So in Köpenick there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the number of hits. Kevin Volland and Benedict Hollerbach demonstrated their ability to score at least in the final phase of the fall. However, that should only be the beginning. At least Volland admitted during the week that he is a player who “needs a little longer to get in and get used to the new environment” at a new club. He also spoke of a personally “difficult phase” and that he was self-critical enough to admit “that I didn’t perform as well as I could.”
Benedict Hollerbach could be the crowd favorite in Köpenick
The fact that Hollerbach, at 22, nine years younger than Volland and only at the beginning of his time in the Bundesliga, also has two goals to his name is actually a bonus for coach Nenad Bjelica. With Hollerbach, who initially hardly played a role, still sometimes wants to hit his head against the wall and too often only relies on his enormous basic speed, the Iron Men also have someone who, because he doesn’t protect himself or his lungs that seems to come out of his body, is a crowd favorite.
If things continue like this with Volland and Hollerbach, then the ex-national player and the possible shooting star could replace the originally placed Becker (still without a goal in league games this season and always thinking about changing things, and his contract expires at the end of the season) and Behrens ( unless he gets the turn) replace him as a double leader. If the goals and the salt in the football soup continue to work, the attackers could definitely get some growth in the “Unioner of the Year” category in the summer.
2024-01-05 15:43:23
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