The support staff for the U19 national team have been in place since the weekend to ensure the best possible preparation for the U19s and now the players have arrived for the training camp ahead of the European U19 Championship, which will run from 11th until 24th July. Fit, rested and ambitious – this is the impression the players gave off as they arrived at the Falkensteiner Hotel in Schladming.
Guido Strechsbier called up Gökhan Gül from VfL Bochum to complete his 24 man squad after only picking 23 when he originally announced it on 15th June, because of transfers and players recovering from injury. “We are lacking a bit of depth in the centre of defence,” explained Streichsbier when explaining the selection of his third player from the 1998 age group. He continued: “Gökhan has some experience in tournaments as he played in the European Championship and World Cup for the U17s last year.”
The U19s’ head coach wants to work intensively with these 24 players over the next eight days, in order to prepare the team as well as he possibly can for the home European Championship. “We have to get to know each other again as we haven’t seen each other since March,” said Streichsbier. “Meanwhile, we will be getting to know our group stage opponents and the playing styles we will come up against, so that we can adjust. We will obviously also be working on our fitness as well so that the boys will be able to compete at the highest level after the break and following their individual programs. These are our three main goals for the next few days.”
Six players still to be left out
Our target is to bring the players all up to the same level in the first few days. Some played in the U19 Bundesliga while others played between the Bundesliga and the 3. Liga. Due to the players turning out in a variety of different leagues last season the expectations are extremely variable. Some players have also had no matches or training for a month. “It is something we will be working on through the individual training plans,” explained Streichsbier.
There will be two friendlies behind closed doors during the training camp and at the end of it, the U19s coach will have to make the difficult decision about who to bring with him to the UEFA European U19 Championship and who to leave at home, as UEFA will only allow each country to select 18 players for the tournament.
“There were two reasons for having a 24 man squad for the training camp; firstly, it helps us to guarantee better training sessions and secondly, we want to give all the players a week to have the chance to put themselves forward for selection after a long time away,” explained Streichsbier, he continued: “We will have to make a couple of unpleasant decisions at the end of the eight days. It is still better to name a bigger squad overall though, as some players could still drop out.” Ideally that shouldn’t be the case if the team wants to turn up to the sold-out arena in Stuttgart with the strongest possible squad to face Italy in the first match of the tournament on 11th July.
The support staff for the U19 national team have been in place since the weekend to ensure the best possible preparation for the U19s and now the players have arrived for the training camp ahead of the European U19 Championship, which will run from 11th until 24th July. Fit, rested and ambitious – this is the impression the players gave off as they arrived at the Falkensteiner Hotel in Schladming.
Guido Strechsbier called up Gökhan Gül from VfL Bochum to complete his 24 man squad after only picking 23 when he originally announced it on 15th June, because of transfers and players recovering from injury. “We are lacking a bit of depth in the centre of defence,” explained Streichsbier when explaining the selection of his third player from the 1998 age group. He continued: “Gökhan has some experience in tournaments as he played in the European Championship and World Cup for the U17s last year.”
The U19s’ head coach wants to work intensively with these 24 players over the next eight days, in order to prepare the team as well as he possibly can for the home European Championship. “We have to get to know each other again as we haven’t seen each other since March,” said Streichsbier. “Meanwhile, we will be getting to know our group stage opponents and the playing styles we will come up against, so that we can adjust. We will obviously also be working on our fitness as well so that the boys will be able to compete at the highest level after the break and following their individual programs. These are our three main goals for the next few days.”
Six players still to be left out
Our target is to bring the players all up to the same level in the first few days. Some played in the U19 Bundesliga while others played between the Bundesliga and the 3. Liga. Due to the players turning out in a variety of different leagues last season the expectations are extremely variable. Some players have also had no matches or training for a month. “It is something we will be working on through the individual training plans,” explained Streichsbier.
There will be two friendlies behind closed doors during the training camp and at the end of it, the U19s coach will have to make the difficult decision about who to bring with him to the UEFA European U19 Championship and who to leave at home, as UEFA will only allow each country to select 18 players for the tournament.
“There were two reasons for having a 24 man squad for the training camp; firstly, it helps us to guarantee better training sessions and secondly, we want to give all the players a week to have the chance to put themselves forward for selection after a long time away,” explained Streichsbier, he continued: “We will have to make a couple of unpleasant decisions at the end of the eight days. It is still better to name a bigger squad overall though, as some players could still drop out.” Ideally that shouldn’t be the case if the team wants to turn up to the sold-out arena in Stuttgart with the strongest possible squad to face Italy in the first match of the tournament on 11th July.
