The players to watch of the 2021/2022 season

The Bundesliga starts the 2021/22 season on Friday evening. Then the focus will not only be on the newcomers to the clubs, other players will also come into focus for various reasons. An overview.

Kevin-Prince Boateng (Hertha BSC)

Old: 34
Position: central midfield

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16 years after his debut for Hertha, Boateng is back in Berlin and immediately the new leader of the team. In the poor cup game in Meppen (1-0), Boateng acted as clearer in front of the defense, but after 60 minutes it was over for him. But a lot would have to happen in the future for coach Pal Dardai to voluntarily refrain from Boateng for longer than these 30 minutes.

Because Boateng in Berlin, it is also about signals to the outside world. The 34-year-old should help to give Hertha a clear identity and to bind the club even more closely to the city. So he could not only turn out to be a reinforcement in terms of sport. In this regard, his qualities are known anyway: Boateng should bring personality, body language and mentality to lead the team.

Elected or determined? These are the BL captains for the 2021/22 season

1/19

A few days before the start of the Bundesliga season, the captains of the 18 clubs have been determined. But not all of them were chosen by the coach, in two and a half cases the team voted. SPOX gives an overview.

2/19

GREUTHER FÜRTH – Captain: Branimir Hrgota – Deputy: Sascha Burchert. Trainer Stefan Leitl has determined the two. Hrogta had already taken over the office from predecessor Marco Caligiuri last year.

3/19

VfL BOCHUM – Captain: Anthony Losilla – Deputy: Manuel Riemann. Both were determined by coach Thomas Reis.

4/19

1. FC COLOGNE – captain: Jonas Hector – deputies: Rafael Czichos, Timo Horn. Coach Steffen Baumgart went two ways: first he had the team selected and then the coach chose his captain from the seven players with the most votes.

5/19

ARMINIA BIELEFELD – Captain: Manuel Prietl, Fabian Klos (picture) – Deputy: Fabian Klos, Manuel Prietl. Coach Frank Kramer has opted for two captains with equal rights. Last year’s Captain Klos remains in office, but receives support.

6/19

HERTHA BSC – Captain: Dedryck Boyata – Deputy: Niklas Stark. Democracy prevails in Berlin, where the team has chosen Boyata as captain. He already held the office in the previous year.

7/19

FC AUGSBURG – captain: Jeffrey Gouweleeuw – deputy: open. The Dutchman remains captain, that’s what coach Markus Weinzierl wants, to whom the existing hierarchies in the squad are important.

8/19

1. FSV MAINZ 05 – Captain: Moussa Niakhate – Deputy: open. Coach Bo Svensson has decided on captain Niakhate. He succeeds Danny Latza, who has switched to Schalke.

9/19

TSG HOFFENHEIM – Captain: Benjamin Hübner – Deputy: Oliver Baumann. Hübner is back after a long injury break and keeps his captaincy at the will of coach Sebastian Hoeneß.

10/19

SC FREIBURG – Captain: Christian Günter – Deputy: Jonathan Schmid, Nils Petersen, Vincenzo Grifo. Im Breisgrau is elected by the team and Günter is confirmed in office.

11/19

VFB STUTTGART – Captain: Wataru Endo – Deputy: Waldemar Anton. Coach Materazzo has chosen the Japanese to succeed Gonzalo Castro, who has left the club.

12/19

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH – Captain: Lars Stindl – Deputy: Yann Sommer. Even under coach Adi Hütter, Stindl remains the captain, Hütter saw no reason to change anything.

13/19

UNION BERLIN – Captain: Christopher Trimmel – Deputies: Marvin Friedrich, Grischa Prömel. Trimmel remains captain and was appointed by Urs Fischer.

14/19

BAYER LEVERKUSEN – Captain: Lukas Hradecky – Deputy: Charles Aranguiz, Julian Baumgartlinger, Jonathan Tah. New trainer Seoane makes a change: Hradecky gets the armband, Aranguiz moves into the second link. He was a captain for a year.

15/19

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT – Captain: Sebastian Rode – Deputy: Makoto Hasebe, Martin Hinteregger. Oliver Glasner has chosen Rode as the new captain. Finally, Hasebe wore the bandage after parting with Abraham.

16/19

VfL WOLFSBURG – Captain: Koen Casteels – Deputy: Maxi Arnold, Josuha Guilavogui. Mark van Bommel has chosen Casteels as the new captain. He takes over for Guilavogui.

17/19

BORUSSIA DORTMUND – Captain: Marco Reus – Deputy: Mats Hummels. Marco Rose saw no reason to change.

18/19

RB LEIPZIG – Captain: Marcel Sabitzer – Deputy: Peter Gulacsi, Yussuf Poulsen. In the previous year, Sabitzer was elected captain by the team and Jesse Marsch is maintaining this.

19/19

FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN – Captain: Manuel Neuer – Deputy: Thomas Müller. Julian Nagelsmann saw no reason to shake the established hierarchy at the master’s office, so it’s the same as before.

Jan Thielmann (1.FC Cologne)

Old: 19th
Position: striker

In 2017, Thielmann moved to Cologne’s youth team and, at the age of 19, has already played 36 Bundesliga games (two goals / four assists) under his belt. He could really take off this season.

In any case, Thielmann has very good cards to be permanently deployed under the new Cologne trainer Steffen Baumgart. Thielmann can be used variably, in addition to the central part in the storm, he can also storm on the outside or play hanging point.

The 19-year-old has an excellent basic speed and was able to collect plus points in preparation for his pressing behavior. In the 3-2 win against FC Bayern, he also scored 1: 1 and prepared the 2: 1 with a great cross.

Even with the troublesome cup success in Jena after a penalty shoot-out, Thielmann was allowed to play the entire 120 minutes and then scored from the point. “We want to play courageously, we want to be a cheeky squad and set accents. I like this style of play,” he said at the Cologne city gazette with a view to the new season.