Five to Watch

With the Bundesliga starting this week, here is a list of 5 youngsters who I tip to make a big impact this year. Keep an eye out for them.

1) Ivan Rakitić – Schalke 04

The 19 year-old Croatian international has been brought in to replace the Brazilian Lincoln, who left for Turkey in the off season. He is a gifted attacking midfielder who is comfortable with both feet. It will be Rakitić’s job to link the defence with Kevin Kuranyi and if he proves to be as good as he was with FC Basel, who he led to a Swiss double scoring 11 goals, then Schalke may end their 50 years of misery.


2) Mario Gomez - Stuttgart

The 22 year old forward was recently voted the best player in the league by a polling of journalists. He scored 14 goals in 25 games last year for the Bundesliga champions and it was his return from injury that spearheaded the Swabians run of 8 on the trot at the end of the season. His early season form saw him garner a call-up to the national team and he has an impressive 3 goals in 3 games. He will once again be the catalyst for Stuttgart’s counter-attacking tactics, and his form this year will be crucial to their chance to repeat. His father is Spanish and his mother is German, in case you were confused.

3) Aaron Hunt – Werder Bremen

The 20 year old forward and German U21 international might fly under the radar for high-scoring Werder Bremen. While Markus Rosenborg will be expected to shoulder the burden of replacing Mirroslav Klose, Bremen’s other forward position will be up for grabs. And the speedy left-footed Hunt, who can play in the hole or as a striker, might be more suitable playing with target man Rosenborg than Hugo Almeida, whom he will share time with. After recovering from a knee injury in 2006/7, he may have shown his potential when he scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Bochum last March.


4) Jan Rosenthal – Hannover 96

Hannover flirted with relegation last year until Dieter Hecking changed his tactics and implemented a 4-2-3-1 based around playmaker Arnold Bruggin. Szabolcs Huszt and 21 year-old Rosenthal were placed along side the Dutchman to provide support and Hannover moved from 17th to 11th. Rosenthal was an unlikely hero, as he had spent the previous season dealing with a career threatening knee injury. His six goals and tireless running helped Hannover avoid relegation and with a new signings in front of this trio, Hannover could be pushing for a UEFA spot this campaign.

5) Vincent Kompany - Hamburg

The 21 year-old defender was the hottest defensive commodity in the world at this time last year. But a serious Achilles tendon injury during a 3-1 Champion’s League defeat to Porto ended his season after six games. He is back and Huub Stevens is hoping he can start to live up to expectations. Stevens plans to move him up to holding mid to take the pressure off the young Belgium international and provide a cushion in front of the more experienced Bastian Reinhardt and Joris Mathijsen. Last week, he, indeed, showed some promise, helping Hamburg through the Intertoto Cup in a 4-0 win over Chişinău, where he scored the first goal.