It took some time for the disappointment about the 4-2 defeat to Mainz 05 in the German Championship final to dissipate. “There are no losers after a game like this,” were the words Mike Tullberg chose to lift his dejected lads, whom he congratulated on an “outstanding season” before combatively stating: “We’ll have another go next year.”

But this memorable final, which was played in front of a magnificent crowd of almost 16,000 spectators at the Mewa Arena, will be the final appearance for this U19 side, which has represented BVB in sterling fashion on the national and international stage. The team will never play in this set-up again. The entire squad celebrated their farewell together with their coaches, support staff and parents. “The parents have invested substantially in the boys’ training and have had to make lots of sacrifices. It was therefore a matter of course to say thank-you to them too,” explained Mike Tullberg. Goalkeeper Marian Kirsch and outfield players Nnamdi Collins, Farouk Cisse, Hendry Blank, Tom Rothe, Jonah Husseck, Samuel Bamba, Vasco Walz, Michel Ludwig and Isaak Nwachukwu will now move up into the senior set-up. 

“We’ve totally fulfilled our development mandate,” said a satisfied Mike Tullberg. In addition to Youssoufa Moukoko, another U19 graduate Jamie Bynoe-Gittens has established himself with the pros, Tom Rothe has often made the Bundesliga squad and Nnamdi Collins has made his first appearances for the U23s. Samuel Bamba and Julian Rijkhoff joined Collins for the first-team’s recent trip to Asia and were delighted to get their first minutes alongside Mats Hummels, Emre Can & Co.

The 2004 cohort will depart the Youth Performance Centre, with the 2005 and 2006 cohorts to form the basis of the new U19s. There will also be at least one external addition. Attacker Nick Cherny, a standout performer for German B-Junior champions Arminia Bielefeld, will wear the BVB jersey going forward. “We’ve already managed to integrate four or five U17 players this season. This detrimentally impacted the success of the U17 team, which lost footballing substance and quality, but therefore made a contribution to the U19s’ outstanding performance,” explained Mike Tullberg.

The Westfalenpokal and the Special Round

Paris Brunner became a regular fixture in the U19 team after scoring 16 goals in the first five matches of the B-Junior Bundesliga campaign. Raul König, Kjell Wätjen, Cole Campbell, William Rashidi and Tyler Meiser (2007 cohort) got their first run-outs. Mike Tullberg even named Wätjen and Brunner in the starting line-up for the final against Mainz. They – along with current U17 international players Almugera Kabar, Charles Herrmann, Luke Rahmann and Gökdeniz Gürpüz – will form the core of the U19 squad in the coming campaign.

However, the final of the German Championship does not bring the curtain down on the 2022/23 season. BVB still have to go away to Schalke 04 in the Westfalenpokal semi-final and will commence the DFB special round next week. “Irrespective of the opponent, the lads who have had less playing time recently will play in the Westfalenpokal, and in the special round we want to field the majority of the team that will be available to us next year,” said Mike Tullberg, sharing an insight into his short-term planning.

After that, it will not be long until the 2023/24 Bundesliga season, which will again be played in a double round-robin format with 14 teams. The first matchday is 12/13 August. And then BVB will compete with the best once again. As they always have done in recent years.

(wiwi)