German newspapers rip Thilo Kehrer to shreds after West Ham United defender endures horror show v Spain
Thilo Kehrer was handed a start for Germany’s crunch clash against Spain, but the West Ham defender was hooked off in the second half after a poor performance.
Kehrer looked to be a certain starter for Germany in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup, but the 26-year-old endured a torrid few months at West Ham that saw him fall out of favour at his national team.
Low on confidence and under a lot of pressure, Kehrer started for Germany v Spain on Sunday evening, but manager Hansi Flick hooked him off in the second half after another fragile display.
German newspapers didn’t hold back in their judgement of Kehrer’s performance…
Bild‘s post-match ratings saw Kehrer handed a damning 4/10 for his performance.
Welt echoed the rating of Bild by handing Kehrer a 4/10 grade, adding: “Started solidly at right-back, then had a poor touch with the ball and had to make up for a mistake with a foul that resulted in a yellow card. He didn’t bother Jordi Alba with enough determination when he crossed.”
Zeit pinned blame on Kehrer for Spain’s goal, suggesting he “arrived too late” to block Jordi Alba. They added: “Hansi Flick is looking for chaos with his teams. But sometimes there is too much of it.”
Confidence crisis
West Ham could have done with Kehrer either having a big break from football or building up some confidence at the World Cup.
It currently seems like he’s doing neither, and all that the World Cup has done is lower his performance levels even more.
With Kurt Zouma injured and Craig Dawson’s future up in the air, Kehrer has a crucial role to play in this Hammers side when the Premier League returns in December. However, David Moyes can’t afford for Kehrer to be making as many mistakes as he has been doing.
Hopefully things turn around for the German international in Qatar and he can start building momentum. If not, being knocked out and taking an extended rest might be the best thing for him.
He’s really struggled to settle down in the Premier League and this certainly won’t help. Germany’s World Cup campaign now solely lies with their clash against Costa Rica on Thursday evening.
It’ll be intriguing to see whether Flick sides with starting Kehrer again or whether he’ll drop back to the bench.