A Star in the Making’ – Liverpool’s Christopher Buchtmann
One of the most important pillars of Rafa’s reconstruction project of the Liverpool youth academy, Christopher Buchtmann is a fast rising talent both at Melwood and at international level. A left back/left winger with a wonderful left foot, Buchtmann has a fantastic ability for placing pin point accurate crosses. One of the great achievements of Benitez’s new youth policy is a scouting system which has been able to pick up players from abroad such a Buchtmann, Lauri Dalla Valle and Dani Pacheco. Buchtmann was taken from Borussia Dortmund’s youth system and impressed everyone with his raiding runs from the left hand side.
Like his young counter-part Dalla Valle, he impressed so much during his season at the academy, helping Liverpool’s U-18s to the FA Youth Cup final for the third time in four years, that he has been quickly promoted to the reserve side at Melwood, this season playing a role for John McMahon’s league leaders. All has not been plain sailing however since his move from Germany to Liverpool at such a young age. He joked when he first arrived at his new club in an interview with RevierSport:
My whole life I have had enough English to survive, but if I had known I would need a Liverpudlian accent, I would probably have been more attentive at school!
He struggled to settle in during his first few months at the club, the language, lifestyle and being away from his family all took their toll:
To be honest, the first three months were awful. I was far from my family and friends, I couldn’t speak the language very well – it was really tough. But I’m staying with a host family and they’re really great.
Things really picked for the German winger during his first year at the club, along with Liverpool’s successful run to the FA Youth Cup final, he played a starring role in Germany’s run to win the European U-17 championships last summer. He was named after the tournament in the top 10 stars of the future by UEFA along with Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere. His assists were crucial to Germany’s success in the competition as he crossed from a free kick to create an equaliser for the Germans against Holland; in a match they won 2-1 to win the trophy. He also assisted a goal in the 2-0 semi-final victory against Italy, but his biggest moment came against England when he provided three superb assists in a 4-0 thrashing of the English youngsters.
Buchtmann presently plays at left back for Liverpool, but has on many occasions played as a left winger for Germany, including games during the European U-17 championships. It is a curious thing about German players these days that a country that has been so known for their defensive attributes; they are now producing more attacking minded players in all positions than ever before. In an interview with FIFA.com, his friend and German team-mate Mario Goetze commented on the pair of them:
Christopher is very strong going forward – he could even play as a left winger. As for getting back to defend…well, let’s say it’s not our strong suit.
So in the future, Buchtmann may well be transformed into a left winger rather than a left back, but with his ability to cross the ball with such fantastic skill and accuracy that could not be a bad thing. The young German is already excited about training with the first team this season:
Training sessions with the likes of [Fernando] Torres and [Steven] Gerrard are on another level – the pace is much quicker and the standard much higher. But they’re all really nice: Jamie Carragher explains things very well, and Dirk Kuyt, who knows German, talks to me
He will no doubt belong in the same team as them in the not too distant future if he continues to show the same enthusiasm he possesses at the moment, and progresses at the same rate, which has seen him rise from the Dortmund youth academy to Liverpool first team training in only two years ago
One of the most important pillars of Rafa’s reconstruction project of the Liverpool youth academy, Christopher Buchtmann is a fast rising talent both at Melwood and at international level. A left back/left winger with a wonderful left foot, Buchtmann has a fantastic ability for placing pin point accurate crosses. One of the great achievements of Benitez’s new youth policy is a scouting system which has been able to pick up players from abroad such a Buchtmann, Lauri Dalla Valle and Dani Pacheco. Buchtmann was taken from Borussia Dortmund’s youth system and impressed everyone with his raiding runs from the left hand side.
Like his young counter-part Dalla Valle, he impressed so much during his season at the academy, helping Liverpool’s U-18s to the FA Youth Cup final for the third time in four years, that he has been quickly promoted to the reserve side at Melwood, this season playing a role for John McMahon’s league leaders. All has not been plain sailing however since his move from Germany to Liverpool at such a young age. He joked when he first arrived at his new club in an interview with RevierSport:
My whole life I have had enough English to survive, but if I had known I would need a Liverpudlian accent, I would probably have been more attentive at school!
He struggled to settle in during his first few months at the club, the language, lifestyle and being away from his family all took their toll:
To be honest, the first three months were awful. I was far from my family and friends, I couldn’t speak the language very well – it was really tough. But I’m staying with a host family and they’re really great.
Things really picked for the German winger during his first year at the club, along with Liverpool’s successful run to the FA Youth Cup final, he played a starring role in Germany’s run to win the European U-17 championships last summer. He was named after the tournament in the top 10 stars of the future by UEFA along with Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere. His assists were crucial to Germany’s success in the competition as he crossed from a free kick to create an equaliser for the Germans against Holland; in a match they won 2-1 to win the trophy. He also assisted a goal in the 2-0 semi-final victory against Italy, but his biggest moment came against England when he provided three superb assists in a 4-0 thrashing of the English youngsters.
Buchtmann presently plays at left back for Liverpool, but has on many occasions played as a left winger for Germany, including games during the European U-17 championships. It is a curious thing about German players these days that a country that has been so known for their defensive attributes; they are now producing more attacking minded players in all positions than ever before. In an interview with FIFA.com, his friend and German team-mate Mario Goetze commented on the pair of them:
Christopher is very strong going forward – he could even play as a left winger. As for getting back to defend…well, let’s say it’s not our strong suit.
So in the future, Buchtmann may well be transformed into a left winger rather than a left back, but with his ability to cross the ball with such fantastic skill and accuracy that could not be a bad thing. The young German is already excited about training with the first team this season:
Training sessions with the likes of [Fernando] Torres and [Steven] Gerrard are on another level – the pace is much quicker and the standard much higher. But they’re all really nice: Jamie Carragher explains things very well, and Dirk Kuyt, who knows German, talks to me
He will no doubt belong in the same team as them in the not too distant future if he continues to show the same enthusiasm he possesses at the moment, and progresses at the same rate, which has seen him rise from the Dortmund youth academy to Liverpool first team training in only two years ago
