Niemeyer endorses Zetterer for German national team
Injuries to German keepers Kevin Trapp and Marc André ter Stegen - in conjunction with the recent retirement of German national team #1 Manuel Neuer - leave the goalkeeping position in the German Nationalmannschaft open for the taking.Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann has some interesting decisions to make ahead of the coming international break. Nagelsmann's squad nominations are already scheduled for next week.
VfB Stuttgart's Alexander Nübel remains the presumed #1. Hoffenheim's Oliver Baumann, part of Nagelsmann's Euro 2024 roster, could also get a look. As to who will serve as Nagelsmann's #3 for the coming Nations League matches, Bremen's Michael Zetterer is picking up significant traction in German footballing circles. Bremen personnel chief Peter Niemeyer recently spoke on Zetterer in an interview with Tim Lüddecke of Germany's Kicker Magazine.
"I'm fairly certain our colleagues on the [DFB] Frankfurt campus are thinking about it," Niemeyer told Lüddecke, "And I also assume that they're probably well aware that there's a German keeper doing very well at the Osterdeich right now!"
The 29-year-old Zetterer - promoted to Bremen's number #1 permanently last autumn - has been capped five times at Germany U21 level and below. The Munich native is exceptionally strong at passing out of the back. Only Neuer has a better completion rate in the young campaign. Zetterer kept a clean sheet against Dortmund this year, brining his total number of league nil-matches to seven since he took over last year.
Bremen rewarded the Munich native with a new long term contract this past spring. Even though there are some statistical splits (aerial duel rate, for example) that indicate Zetterer has to work on some aspects of his game, Niemeyer made clear that he felt as if his keeper was a well-rounded player.
"I think Zetti's emergence [onto the Bundesliga stage] is a very positive development," Niemeyer said, "He not only brings a lot of strengths with his footballing ability, but is really the complete package."