Günter rallies to Atubolu's defense: "We have a very talented and hard-working keeper."
The young prospect continues to catch heat for his mistakes at the highest German level, but remains one of the Bundesliga's better keepers and the normal #1 at Germany U21 level.
In his four matches back since returning from injury, SC Freiburg #1 Noah Atubolu has managed to keep two clean sheets thus far this year. The 22-year-old nevertheless finds himself (as has often been the case) at the center of a critical storm amid club supporters. In an age in which every last mistake a keeper makes lies under the harsh glare of an intense magnifying glass, Atubolu caught a significant amount of flak for his mistakes in last week's loss to St. Pauli.
Squad captain Christian Günter addressed the criticism in his post-match interviews after Saturday's away win at SV Werder Bremen. The skipper made clear that he felt the young talent remained unfairly maligned. Günter emphasized that it's abnormal for a player so young to be handed the #1 role at such a high level club. Atubolu's potential cannot be questioned. German football watchers assume that he'll reprise his Germany U21 starting role over the coming break.
“People need to know that we have a lot of young players who need to develop and who will make mistakes," Günter told Sky Germany, "It's all part of the process, and as a club we're all in this together. I hope people respect that and stop the hate comments. You can criticize, but why hate? That doesn't help us, it doesn't help Atu, and it doesn't help those who spread the comments either.“
“[He] is not the reason we lost last week," Günter continued, "We all fell short against St. Pauli, but now all of us - including [him] have shown the proper reaction in Bremen. We have a very, very talented goalkeeper who is very reflective and also knows when he can do better. And someone who works very hard. That will always prevail in the long run.”