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5. Mathias Ginter ( ? 8 )Age: 19 | Club: Freiburg | Nationality: German | Position: Defender | Bundesliga Appearances: 17
Ginter is a player that is very well rated by followers of the Bundesliga. After putting in some solid performances at the U21 Euros, Ginter has risen and done well for his club side, Freiburg. The player is quite versatile, and is capable of doing a job at both centre back, and as a defensive midfielder.
Ginter has made 25 appearances for Freiburg this season, all starts. he hasn’t scored in the League, but has contributed 3 goals, with 2 coming in the cup, and 1 in European competition. The player’s consistency has been impressive, and has contributed from centre back and defensive midfielder. He has completed 1.8 tackles, and 2 interceptions a game so far this season, and astonishingly made only 4 fouls so far this campaign.
Ginter will be looking to keep the flag flying high in the second half of the season with more consistent performances for his side. Chances of earning a call up to the senior side look slim at the moment as Germany are well stocked in defence and midfield, so he will have to continue performing for the U21?s for now.
4. Granit Xhaka ( ? 4 )Age: 16 | Club: Monchengladbach | Nationality: Swiss | Position: Midfielder | Bundesliga Appearances: 16
The young Swiss maestro has had a terrific first half of the season, leading Gladbach to a very impressive third place during the winter break, above last seasons Champions League finalists, Dortmund. He has been rated very highly by a lot of people for a long time now, and showed just why.
The midfielder, who has been likened to German legend Bastian Schweinsteiger due to his style of play has played mainly in a central midfield role. He’s started in every single one of his 16 appearances, missing only 1 game due to a yellow card suspension. In his appearances, he has only chalked up 1 assist, and scored no goals, but these numbers don’t really do justice to his immense contribution to the team. Defensively, the man averages around 3 tackles, 2 interceptions and 2 clearances a game. His passing too has been phenomenal. A completion rate of 88% overall is quite fantastic in itself, but the fact that he completes around 78 passes a game, and plays around 10 accurate long balls on average really tells you about how good Xhaka has been at the heart of the Gladbach midfield.
He has been linked with teams like Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton in the recent past, but if he can keep up this level of performance, these teams will be falling all over themselves to get his signature on the dotted line.
3. Bernd Leno ( ? 5 )Age: 21 | Club: Leverkusen | Nationality: German | Position: Goalkeeper | Bundesliga Appearances: 17
The young keeper has had stiff competition for his spot at Leverkusen from Andres Palop, but has managed to retain his place in the squad due some good performances. The keeper is still young, and just one among a whole host talented young German keepers.
Leno has performed well for the high flying Leverkusen this season, and his solid keeping has been the bedrock for their defensive success. His ability to co-ordinate with his defence, and keep goals out is important to Hyppia and the counter attacking game plan that Leverkusen utilise. He has a claim success of 100%, and this just goes to show how accomplished the keeper is in commanding his area and communicating with his defenders. He’s also made around 2.88 saves for every goal conceded, a fairly healthy average. A personal high for Leno was the match against Bayern Munich, which ended 1-1. Leno made a series of astounding saves (8) as he and the Bayern forwards conspired to somehow ensure that both teams ended up sharing the points.
Leno will look to keep up this form, and try to make it to the World Cup squad as a back up to the undisputed No.1, Neuer. At club level, he will be hoping to put on some better performances in the Champions League knock out rounds, and try to help his club to win the race for second place in the Bundesliga.
2. Kevin Volland ( ? 2 )Age: 21 | Club: Hoffenheim | Nationality: German | Position: Striker | Bundesliga Appearances: 16
Volland had moved to Hoffenheim at the start of the season, and we expected him to make his mark on the Bundesliga with some strong performances there. Volland has done just that, impressing one and all with some excellent play.
The 21 year old has 7 goals and 4 assists in his 16 appearances, missing just one game due to a muscular problem. What’s impressive about the youngster is his consistency. His 7 league goals have all come against different opponents, and the same applies for his assists. A player who scores 1 goal each for 3 games is obviously more valuable than one who scores a hat-trick in one and is quiet for the other two. Volland falls under the former category. Most of his goals have also been crucial to his team, with only 1 making the score 3-0, the rest being in close match situations. His overall play has been quite good, making around 2.8 dribbles per game, and being successful with 65% of his dribbles.
Volland has put in some positive performances for Hoffenheim, and these have seen him linked even with the likes of Chelsea at times. While a transfer may take place at some point in the future, for now, Volland will do well to stay focused and churn out the performances.
1. Pierre-Michel Lasogga ( ? 9 )Age: 21 | Club: Hamburg (on loan from Hertha Berlin) | Nationality: German | Position: Striker | Bundesliga Appearances: 13
At the start of the season, when we compiled a list of Top 10 Bundesliga talents, Lasogga was listed as a Hertha BSC player, but he has since moved to Hamburg. Initially, the player was injured, and missed the first month of the season due to injury. He has been fantastic after his return though.
He made 2 subsitute appearances to start off with, as he was being eased into the team, but has started every game after that. All in all, he has 13 appearances to his name, scoring 9 goals in the period. He has an excellent goal rate of 1 every 110 minutes. The big striker has been very consistent across the first half of the season. He averages around 3.7 shots a game, and is the main man when it comes to the HSV strike force. A particular highlight was the hat-trick he scored in the domineering 0-5 win at Nurnberg. The brace against Leverkusen also showed his strengths, but unfortunately for him, his side lost the game 5-3. In the cups too, he’s got 1 goal in just 2 appearances. Most of his goals have been right footers. Playing as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation has meant that he has a whole lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and the youngster has carried his team well.
Lasogga needs to keep his scoring record up and keep working hard over the second half of the season. If he does so, he might be in contention to go to the World Cup as well, especially when you consider Low’s refusal to trust Stefan Kiessling.
