Interview with Timo Hildebrand: Being a goalkeeper “still has sex appeal”

Updated on 3/3/2022 at 2:26 p.m

• There are only two Germans between the posts in the top Bundesliga clubs.
• Do we have to worry about our goalkeeper future?
• Ex-national player Timo Hildebrand spoke to our editors about this – what gives him hope, where he sees room for improvement and why being a goalkeeper still has enough sex appeal.

Mr. Hildebrand, football thrives not only on its emotions but also on its clichés. One of them has always been that the Germans have the best goalkeepers. It doesn’t look that rosy at the moment, does it?

Timo Hildebrand: (laughs) Isn’t that the case anymore?

In our opinion, Germany currently has the best goalkeeper in the world in the form of Manuel Neuer, but they lack world class overall.

I don’t see it that dramatically. We have behind new goalkeepers who have had a difficult phase – like Bernd Leno at Arsenal FC or Marc-André ter Stegen recently at FC Barcelona – but it’s part of the game that things don’t always go smoothly. Other countries would probably be happy to have so many good goalkeepers.

Let’s take a look at the Bundesliga: In the established top teams there are only two Germans between the posts. New at Bayern, Kevin Trapp in Frankfurt. Is the quality lacking at the top?

Probably yes. It’s a fact that many goalkeepers from abroad occupy the number one spot in the Bundesliga. In the case of goalkeepers, it is usually the case that they have been with a club for several years and their position changes less than that of outfield players. That’s why you have to accept the situation at the top clubs – but I hope and believe that we have a lot of goalkeeping talents to come. However, I don’t have enough insight into the youth sector to be able to say anything more specific.

Alexander Nübel was considered the next great goalkeeping talent in Germany. After his move from FC Schalke to Bayern, he had to queue up behind Neuer and now plays on loan for AS Monaco. Little has changed since then: with the exception of Florian Müller (24) in Stuttgart, the youngest German goalkeeper in the Bundesliga is 26 years old. Where are the problems?

The core competency of goalkeepers is preventing goals. In contrast to the past, the focus is – and there too much – on the playful. It’s now standard that a goalkeeper has to be able to play football really well – that’s necessary, but his core task is different.

Is goalkeeping not as “cool” as it used to be? Would today’s kids rather be like Messi, Ronaldo or Neymar than Neuer?

Of course I can’t answer that one hundred percent, but at least I can’t share the impression. Of course it’s cool to score goals, I can see that with my own son, but there are always children and young people who think it’s great to be in goal.

I believe that children and young people today have many more opportunities to try things out than they used to and that the range of other activities on offer has increased enormously in recent years and that the lust for football has perhaps been lost a little as a result.

What or who makes you look positively into the future? Even if you don’t assess the situation as negatively as we do.

I believe that goalkeepers have always had and always will have a great tradition in football in Germany. Standing in the goal still has sex appeal.

However, it is also more difficult for goalkeepers to be in the right place at the right time and to gain enough match practice. If Neuer is number one and wants to play for a few more years, then that’s just the way it is. But as number two you also need match practice.

But against this background: Why did Nübel then switch to Bayern? Everyone knew that Neuer was number one there.

The transfer has been discussed many times. I didn’t understand it either, but it’s also important to mention here: He knew what to expect, maybe he was promised other things, I don’t know the background. But now he’s playing in Monaco, gaining his experience there and hopefully he’ll be able to use it again in the Bundesliga soon.

If you were the national coach, which three goalkeepers would you nominate for the German national team?

Neuer, Trapp and Ter Stegen.

However, as you mentioned, Ter Stegen recently had to take massive criticism in Barcelona.

FC Barcelona didn’t have an easy situation recently, but now things are going well again and you don’t hear anything negative about Ter Stegen anymore. He suffered a bit in the overall picture that Barça gave, but he definitely didn’t lose quality.

So we don’t have to worry about the German goalkeeper future?

No, we are still well stocked.

Personal details: Timo Hildebrand (42) is a former soccer professional. He played in the position of goalkeeper – including for FC Schalke and FC Valencia. In 2007 he celebrated the German championship with VfB Stuttgart. He was between the posts seven times for the German national team.

Also read: No chance for Nübel: Neuer sees a Bayern legend in goal for a long time

Updated on 03/02/2022 12:33 p.m

National coaches understand fun only to a manageable extent. Anyone who oversteps the mark is out. Many a promising DFB career ended prematurely and through their own fault. Kevin Kuranyi, for example, disappeared from the stadium in 2008 during the World Cup qualifiers and no longer answered the phone.