Interjection: The Goretzka Case - A Hostile Environment!

The Goretzka Case - What Does It Mean for Our Talents

“Goretzka? Kimmich understands Tuchel,” read the headline of Kerry Hau's article on Leon Goretzka's current situation at his club, FC Bayern Munich.

For me, that's both an occasion and a provocation to publish an interjection in my column “My Opinion,” since this example also shows the kind of environment German talents move in.

In the interest of transparency, I should say up front that I've been an enthusiastic FC Bayern Munich fan since 1974. As is the way with us fans, you stay loyal to your club even when things happen at the club and around it that don't fit one's own ideal picture.

But this belongs to the truth too: I don't hate any other club; on the contrary, I wish every team success and enjoy good football.

Now to the topic at hand: Leon Goretzka, who has worn the FC Bayern Munich shirt since 2018 and has since made 124 appearances for the club, scoring 25 goals and playing a significant part in the 2020 treble win, currently finds himself facing criticism of his performance both at his club and in the national team, which illustrates a development in professional football that also shows the kind of environment our talents are allowed to grow up in — a hostile environment!

A deserving player who has been a fixture of the national team since the U16 level and has played 53 senior international matches suddenly finds himself under discussion, both at his club and in the German team, after a mixed second half of the 22/23 season.

All the mechanisms of professional business kick in here. The media sniff out and spread every last interpretable snippet of news with “sensationalist” headlines, to the point where a player feels forced to publicly reaffirm his loyalty to the club several times over. And this at a time when the club's own leadership is publicly distancing itself from “mercenary behavior.”

We're all aware by now that professional football has long since stopped being something for nostalgics and has become a “brutally tough” business.

But if trust and “second chances” are nothing more than empty phrases, the question for me becomes: how is trust supposed to be justified? Every rough patch, every missed scoring chance, every misplaced pass, and every lost duel is documented and blown out of proportion by journalists who, one gets the impression, play table football at best. Coaches and officials have to watch their words exactly, choosing precisely how and when they use certain phrasing. Sure, some players also make skillful use of this and generate public pressure themselves. But isn't that a sign of weakness in itself? Are coaches and officials living up to their responsibility when players become mere “player material”?

Are players swapped out, or sidelined altogether, if they can't be integrated 100% into the coach's playing idea?

Here I wish for more leniency, more trust, and a more humane way of dealing with people. Our talents in particular would benefit from a greater tolerance for mistakes. Of course, titles earn bonuses and help refinance the business model. Yet I'm firmly convinced that many fans — and these events are put on for them, after all — want more tolerance and club loyalty.

Wouldn't talents who developed and were nurtured at their own club over many years also identify with it far more, and become figures the club's fans identify with too?

In the interest of talent development and football nostalgia, I wish for all of us braver coaches — coaches who, for example, integrate a box-to-box player with a nose for goal into their idea, and who, where needed, encourage or coach him to think more broadly at times rather than immediately sidelining him. Coaches who also forgive mistakes made by talents and young professionals. Coaches who enjoy the backing of the club leadership even in difficult times!

I look forward to addressing another topic in talent development with you next week. Until then! Stay healthy, and always a good ball!

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