West Ham United: Thilo Kehrer trains alone as doubt cast over Germany place
West Ham United defender Thilo Kehrer could be a doubt for Germany’s final must-win World Cup match against Costa Rica.
The 26-year-old has played one of the nation’s two matches in Qatar so far as a right-back but was subbed off after 69 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Spain.
Fears of an injury have now grown, though, with Kehrer joining Bayern Munich star Leon Goretzka and full-back David Raum in training away from the rest of the German squad on Tuesday (29 November).
The announcement was made via the German FA’s official Twitter account with the nation required to beat Costa Rica in their final group game to advance to the round of 16 having been beaten by Japan in their opening fixture.
Kehrer did not play any part in that match but did manage over an hour against Spain and looked the part against a very good and technical attacking department.
Worrying
Whether he plays or not for Germany is not too concerning for West Ham and David Moyes but if this injury does get worse it could have serious effects on the Irons’ season.
Kehrer has been one of the standout players in claret and blue so far this season and one of the few summer recruits to properly hit the ground running along with Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta.
His ability to play both right-back and centre-half makes him incredibly useful for Moyes and opens up a lot of options for system changes and personnel switches too.
No other player offers that in defence for the Scot so he can’t really afford to lose the German international to injury and that might see him wish for him to be rested just in case against the Costa Ricans.
Hasni Flick won’t be bothered what Moyes thinks or wants, though, and he could be rushed back to play regardless of his fitness to do so.