“I need to rest”. Marc André Ter Stegen called the German manager, Hansi Flick, and asked him not to call him up last summer to play in the Nations League. Before him he had already discussed it with his coach, Xavi Hernández: “It will do me good for a while without competing or having to work to recover from an injury.” Then, with the approval of his two coaches, Ter Stegen forgot about football. The German has planned a break near Barcelona. I didn’t want big trips or too busy destinations. With his wife, Dani, and his son Ben, Ter Stegen visited his family in Germany, toured the south of France and spent a few days at his home in Ibiza. He practiced yoga, read business and investment books, and cooked on the grill. The result? Ter Stegen met Ter Stegen again: “My season is good and the fans are aware of it.”
“I don’t know how long it had been since Marc had so much time to rest”, remark from the German’s background. Having crossed all the lower categories of the Mannschaft, Ter Stegen moved up to the absolute in 2012. Since then, whenever he was not with his team, he has dedicated his summers to recovering from an injury, especially painful ones in 2020 and 2021, when he wanted to forget his right knee. After the absurdity of Lisbon (2-8 against Bayern in the Champions League), the German went to Ramon Cugat’s operating room to have an operation on his patellar tendon. A year later, he traveled to Sweden, this time under the command of Hakan Alfredson, to eliminate the discomfort that still persisted in his knee.
The stress of the operations, coupled with the lack of rest, undermined the German’s confidence. His stoppage rate in Ronald Koeman’s first season, after the first operation, was 67.74%. Ter Stegen was on an emotional slide. At the start of the 2021-2022 campaign, their number dropped to 62.16% (Koeman) and 55.56% (Sergi Barjuán). In any case, he defended himself. “People always have opinions and have more knowledge than others, there are also people who know more than me. I have a responsibility with the team, with myself and with the club “, the goalkeeper publicly justified. In private, he was more energetic.” If I play it’s because I’m fine. If not, I would ask not to. I won’t hurt my teammates, “he explained. His stats were far from what had been his best run up to that point: 76.51% saved in 2017-2018, with Valverde on the bench.
But when everything was getting dark for Ter Stegen and, also, when some members of the sports management welcomed his departure – “he is one of the few players who has a market”, they said -, Xavi appeared at Barcelona. “He has very clear ideas and we haven’t done it for years. He got what we wanted. He does it spectacularly, ”the German praised his coach. Barça have changed the way they defend and the goalkeepers have changed the way they train. “Now, while one of the three goalkeepers works with Dela [José Ramón de la Fuente, entrenador de arqueros del Barça], the other two do strength work with the physical trainer. With weights and rubber bands they exercise trunk, buttocks … All the stabilizers that goalkeepers need ”, explains a coach from Ciudad Deportiva.
“Marc was aware that we had to improve on goal,” said Xavi. And Ter Stegen responded this season with a career-best 77.14% save rate. In the league he has conceded a goal in eight duels. “Let’s see if Zamora wins”, enthused a Barça employee. “He is not interested in individual awards; he wants titles “, Marc’s entourage counterattack. Not even the defensive disaster in Europe (seven goals in four games) detracts from Ter Stegen’s confidence.” We need to improve, “he asks.
The key, for the goalkeeper and his group in the locker room – De Jong, Lewandowski and Memphis – is to consolidate the group. “You don’t have to be friends, but you have to have unity on the pitch. Grow as a team, not just in football ”, they underline. “It seems that it was a question of making him rest,” they conclude at Barça. At 30, 339 games and a contract until 2025, the German wants to forge his Barça legend. The challenge passes through the Bernabéu.
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