Janisch: Application letter for a regular place?

There were intense duels on Friday evening: FCN defender Tim Janisch (left) and Hertha captain Fabian Reese. IMAGO/Contrast

Miroslav Klose has often stressed that he wants to have competition in every position. The key word is double-occupancy. Ever since the 0:0 draw at Hertha BSC, this has also been the case on the right wing. Somewhat surprisingly, Tim Janisch was allowed to play there instead of Oliver Villadsen, who was relegated to the bench.

Janisch, the next talent from the Nuremberg NLZ, who has been officially named "ClubNachwuchs" for a few months, has been wearing the FCN kit since 2016. Before that, the 19-year-old winger played for the JFG Wendelstein, a club known in the region for its strong youth work.

Janisch was allowed to start in the 1-0 win against Braunschweig in December, but back then it was under different circumstances. His competitor Villadsen was out with muscular problems, but this time the homegrown player simply impressed with his performance and was rewarded for being in the starting eleven.

"I've already spoken to Oli (Villadsen, ed. ) two or three times to see if he sees what Tim is doing. He sees that too," said Klose at the start of training before the home game against Hannover 96 on Saturday (1 p.m., LIVE! on kicker). The 23-year-old summer signing from Denmark (FC Nordsjaelland) was previously considered a certainty, but has suffered a dip in form in recent weeks, the result of which has now been a place on the bench in Berlin.

And he had to watch as his four-year-younger competitor did a decent job. Hertha captain Fabian Reese rarely got through. Although Janisch was unable to make a big impact going forward and lost the ball during the build-up, he still received praise from Klose for his passionate effort (kicker rating 3). "The coaching team put their trust in me, I stuck to myself and I think I did quite well," said a delighted Janisch on Sky .

By the way: Janisch was partly responsible for a special fact. The FCN starting eleven was on average only 23.25 years old. It was the youngest starting lineup of a second division club since May 19, 2019, when HSV had a starting eleven aged 22.59 years. The last time the club had a younger starting lineup in the second division was on June 9, 1985, when the players in the 2-0 win against Hessen Kassel were on average only 22.63 years old.

And now ... everything is open. Klose does not want to commit to a regular player for the right wing, as that would contradict his concept of competition and his special focus on training performance. "He (Villadsen, ed. ) trained well again today, as did Tim. That's what we want. They know that anyone can play."

Preparations for 96 have begun, although two players were missing from the training ground. The injured Julian Justvan and Stefanos Tzimas completed an individual program, but are expected to return to team training on Tuesday. There is currently nothing standing in the way of them playing against Hannover.