2011-12 Bundesliga Season: Top 10 Youngsters to Watch Out For

When the likes of Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil and Marko Marin broke onto the German national team, there was a sense of optimism that the Bundesliga was seeing a recent growth in young talented players. The next question on everyone's mind was which new players would follow suit and announce themselves towards the German masses. 

There were many players predicted to break from their cocoons last season; some didn't but many did. Mario Goetze was one of the stars of the Bundesliga season and he led the pack with Andre Schurrle, Lewis Holtby and Oliver Baumann, among others, in following suit and becoming regular starters after beginning the season from the bench. 

In this article, a follow up to last year's, I'll post 10 players who I feel will likely become stars for their club sides this season and maybe break onto their respective national teams as well. 

10. Florian Trinks

Bremen were always one of the strongest teams in Germany, from winning the Bundesliga in 2003-04 to being part of the top three for the next four seasons and winning the DFB Pokal in 2009. Now that seems a distant reality as the side from the North of Germany slumped to a horrific low last season with relegation a possibility until only the very end of the season. 

This season is a new beginning of sorts, with old players going and new, younger players coming in. One of the players who has left is Germany midfield legend Torsten Frings, a player who patrolled the Bremen midfield with distinction for the past six years. That therefore leaves a place up for grabs in the middle of the park. That is were young Florian Trinks comes in. 

Trinks' first shot to fame was his superb goal against the Holland U-17 team in the 2009 European U-17 Championship final, which gave Germany a thrilling 3-2 victory at home. Not much was seen of Trinks after that since he returned to the youth division at Bremen and had little first-team action until last season, where he was one of the emergency players brought in to solve Bremen's midfield crisis. Unlike most of the players fashioned into central midfielders to fill the role, Trinks did surprisingly well. 

Showing some excellent passing abilities, Trinks was able to spread the ball like no other player at Bremen has been able to since Ozil left only a few months before. Trinks managed to play just eight matches in the season but displayed enough talent to leave Bremen supporters hopeful that there is a capable player waiting in the wings to come into midfield when the time needs. 

Still only 19, Trinks will have some fair competition for a place in midfield, especially since new signing Mehmet Ekici looks to be the successor to Mesut Ozil in the playmaker role. Tim Borowski and Wesley will be vying for the spot in midfield beside Philpp Bagfrede and it is with them that Trinks will have to compete in order to get his chance.  

9. Nils Petersen

Coming off a fantastic season in the German Second Division for Energie Cottbus, Nils Petersen scored 25 goals in 33 matches. As usual, many clubs were after his signature since Cottbus did not manage to win promotion. Wolfsburg looked favourite to sign the 22-year-old striker but were beaten to the punch, rather surprisingly, by Bayern Munich who were looking to replace Miroslav Klose. 

Much has made about the transfer, from question as to whether Petersen is even good enough to play for Bayern and whether he'd even get any playing time since he'd have one of the best strikers in the world, Mario Gomez, in front of him. Until the season starts and Petersen gets his chances, comparisons between his transfer and that of Hannover's Jan Schlaudraff (who left Bayern after one year) will continue to appear.

Having played consistently in the friendlies, it has become clear that Bayern Munich have a carbon copy of Mario Gomez in Petersen, something that isn't a bad thing given that Ivicia Olic is not a pure goal scorer himself. Being tall and physically strong, Petersen looks dangerous when attacking aerial balls but lacks technique when it comes to controlling the ball on the ground. If Petersen can show the same killer instincts in front of goal that got him the top goal-scorer award in the Second Division of the Bundesliga, then he will surely tally plenty of goals, given the playmaking talents within Bayern.  

8. Takashi Usami

While non followers of the Bundesliga might praise Bayern Munich for having possibly the best set of wingers in the world in France's Frank Ribery and Holland's Arjen Robben, the simple fact is that Robben has only played less then 40 Bundesliga matches over then past 2 seasons while Ribery himself has been injury prone over the past 2 seasons. 

With only Thomas Mueller as a natural winger besides the two, Bayern struggled when either one was injured, therefore it seemed necessary that Bayern get a winger to step up seamlessly in case of an injury to either player. Juup Heynkes, unlike Bayern Munich manager last season Loius Van Gaal, is a fan of rotating his squad when necessary so it would seem that Usami will get his chance to impress even without injuries to Bayern's top 2 wingers.

While coming initially on loan, Usami impressed during the pre-season, including a great performance against Barcelona in the Audi Cup highlighting his talent, therefore it would seem that Usami should be getting a permanent deal by season's end if he gets the proper chances.   

7. Kevin Trapp

Kaiserslautern have had an abundance of talented keepers of late, starting off with Roman Weidenfeller in the early noughties to Tim Wiese in the mid noughties, then followed a line of Florian Fromlowitz, Tobias Sippel and now Kevin Trapp.

Tobias Sippel come into the 2010-11 season as a firm No.1 within the Kaiserslautern squad and soon began to prove why with some good consistent performances. With few errors, Sippel was able to keep Kaiserslautern away from the relegation spots for much of the season. 

An illness promoted young Kevin Trapp into the first team and while the illness was mysteriously keeping Sippel away from first team action, Trapp's reputation began to grow more and more with some solid performances. Suddenly, it seemed that Sippel was no longer Kaiserslautern's No.1 as coach Marco Kurz continued to persist with Trapp even after Sippel managed to regain full fitness. Sometimes football works in funny ways for some players. 

Since the end of last season, Trapp's rival for the goalkeeping spot, Sippel, has proceeded to throw himself into trouble with a drunk driving charges and further disciplinary issues so it seems that Trapp will enter the new season as the No.1 for Kaiserslautern as they try to go one position further from their seventh position in the Bundesliga last season and qualify for Europe. 

6. Gokhan Tore

The coming of Frank Arnesen as director of football, the man who discovered talents such as Ronaldo, Arjen Robben and Ruud Van Nistelrooy while at PSV Eindhoven before leaving for Chelsea, is thought to be a new beginning for Hamburger SV, a club always in the periphery of the UEFA Champions League position, managing to qualify last in 2006. Arnesen's time at Chelsea was less of success with few young players managing to break into the first team and be successful.

One of those players is Turkey's and former Bayern Leverkusen winger Gohkan Tore. Rated very highly within Chelsea, Tore was still rarely given opportunities to shine for the first team despite having impressive seasons for the U-18 and reserve squad. He was one of the first players brought in by Frank as part of his 'new' project in Germany. 

His appearances in the Liga Total Cup, where Hamburg beat Bayern before losing to Dortmund, showed a lot of promise as he was stationed at the right side of the 4-2-3-1 set up by new permanent coach Michel Oenning. Part of the new breed of wingers who play on sides opposite to their favoured foot, Tore's most prominent ability was his dribbling and ability to cut in and create openings. 

Of course, still being of the age of 19, Tore has much to learn, especially when it comes to playing within a team and not as an individual. He will be competing most likely with Anis Ben Hatira for the right winger spot and that should prove to be an interesting battle since Ben Hatira himself is not an established star.

5. Julian Draxler

Schalke had a bit of an indifferent 2010-11 season, will there were huge positives in their Semi-Final appearance in the Champions League and their DFB Pokal, their Bundesliga campaign never reaches the peaks of the previous season when they came second. With that, there were negatives throughout the season along with some positives.

One of those positives was the emergence of then 17 year old Julian Draxler. Talked up during the 2010-11 winter break by Felix Magath, Draxler was given his first professional contract and soon enough got his first senior appearance against Hannover and it wasn't soon after that that Draxler put his name under lights. Coming on as a sub as Schalke were struggling at 2-2 in extra time against Nurenberg in the DFB Pokal quarter-final, Draxler scored a brilliant winner after cutting in from the right wing and shooting from 25 yards.

Having already become a darling of amongst the Schalke fans, Draxler continued to make appearances from the bench throughout the rest of the season, even starting some matches and completed a fairytale first season by scoring another great goal, this time in the final of the DFB Pokal.

An allround midfielder, Draxler looks to be played more as a winger in the 4-2-2-2 system employed by both Magath and his successor, Ralf Rangnick. Able to play on both wings, Draxler's strength is in his technique with the ball and his passing rather then speed or crossing but with Schalke playing a narrow, short passing system rather then with width, Draxler's ability with the ball is made to good use.

A regular starter in the pre-season, with seems that Draxler will get his fair share of chances to impress the fans, some of whom have already been won over. The midfield is where Schalke's strength lies, especially with the return of Holtby so Draxler will face a lot of competition.  

4. Moritz Leitner

After last season, it seems that any youngster picked up by Borussia Dortmund, and in particular their manager, Jurgen Klopp, is being hailed as a potentially great player. Therefore it is no surprise that much is being expected from Klopps latest creative midfielder, Mortiz Leitner. While some players are obviously being overrated, any praise would not be enough for this young talent.

It didn't take Klopp very long to spot Leitner's potential, after playing a few matches for his hometown club, and Bayern Munich rivals, 1860 Munich, the young midfielder was bought by Dortmund and allowed to spend the rest of the season on loan in the 2nd division with FC Augsburg, whom he helped promote.

He has also already made his name in the national youth circuit, for the German U-19 team where he has played the role of both hero and villain. Having scored plenty goals in the group qualifiers for the European U-19 tournament, Leitner failed in the pressure situation by missing a crucial penalty in the final match against Turkey as Turkey went through ahead of their rivals.

Non the less, the group encounters were the stage for Leitner to show his playmaking abilities. Playmaking abilities that will be much in demand given the much publicized gap in the playmaking role left by last season's start, Nuri Sahin. 

Leitner has been played both as the deep playmaker in Klopp's 4-2-3-1 formation and as a winger so Klopp is already looking to use his versatility to good effect, like he did with Mario Goetze last season. Klopp is not afraid to throw his young stars amongst the pigeons if need be so with the extended games brought upon by Dortmund's qualification for the Champions League, Leitner is sure to get his chances, in either the playmaker role or winger role, to test his skills.  

3. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

Borussia Monchengladbach were once one of the greatest European Club sides in the 1980s, but lately it's been enough trouble trying to stay in the German top flight. Despite being perennial strugglers, Monchengladbach have been one of the most exciting teams to watch, mainly due to their sometimes brilliant attack and horrible defense. One of the main reasons for that horrible defense has been a lack of a consistently good keeper between the sticks. 

After two years of persisting with the young and eccentric Belgian, Logan Baily, and a few other keepers in between, Monchengladbach finally decided to give their 18-year-old, German U-19 keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen a go. It turned out to be a great decision and one that in retrospect should've been made earlier since some of the 18-year-old's superb performances were catalysts behind Monchengladbach's incredible rise from sure relegation to survival through the playoffs.

His best performance came in arguably Monchengladbach's best result of the season, a 1-0 win against the champions, Borussia Dortmund. Performing acrobatic saves against Lewandowski, Goetze and Schmelzer, Ter Stegen announced himself as a talent to look out for in arguably his most difficult game yet. A true sign of a top young player, not only ability wise but mentally as well. That mental strength was tested further as Monchengladbach faced sudden death matches for their survival week after week and each time Ter Stegen never fell from the pressure.

This season is a new beginning for Ter Stegen and one that presents a great challenge, with Hans Jorg Butt being relegated as Bayern Munich's secondary goalkeeper, there is one spot available in Germany's squad for the rest of the European Championship qualifying campaign and the imminent finals adventure in 2012. A European Championship for a major footballing nation like Germany might be too early for a 19-year-old, but if he continues from his performances last season then Joachim Low would be a fool to ignore Ter Stegen.  

2. Pierre Michel Lasogga

Herta Berlin's relegation from the Bundesliga, the season after coming in fourth, was a huge surprise to people within Germany. Being one of Germany's biggest clubs, there wasn't much doubt that they would manage to find a way back to the Bundesliga sooner rather than later. That was the case in the end as Herta Berlin won the Second Division Bundesliga title with relative ease and were promoted back to the top flight last season. 

Much of the squad was the same from the one that was relegated. There was one literally huge exception, a young powerful striker in Pierre Michel Lasogga who had a large part in Berlin's sprint towards the title. Striking a fantastic partnership with fellow attackers Rafael and Columbia's Adrian Ramos, Lasogga finished the season with 13 goals in 25 appearances, a majority of them coming in the second half of the season when Lasogga managed to replace the experienced Rob Friend.

Lasogga was always known as a goalscoring talent even in his youth days after consistently scoring goals for Leverkusen's U-17 and 19 sides but was also regarded as not the most fit striker, thus he was given the nickname of 'Lasagna'. Now, after a season with Berlin, Lasogga strikes a much more powerful figure, rather than one of pure size. That size and athleticism was shown in abundance with his wide array of goals, from poaching strikes to powerful shots from the edge of the box and strong headers.

Lasogga must make heed that the Bundesliga presents a much more technical challenge and strength alone will not get him goals like it did in some cases in the second division. Being an integral part of a newly promoted team at this young an age is never easy since the pressures of survival will be high, even more considering the size of the club, but Lasogga is equipped with a team that is amongst the best to be promoted in recent years and therefore should be able to perform at a high standard throughout the season and continue to improve.  

1. Son Heung-Min

After a tremendous pre-season in 2010, including a winning strike against Chelsea, the 2010-11 season seemed the breakthrough season for the young Korean. That possibility was brought to a halt after Son received a terrible injury that would rule him out for the first 3 months of the season. Still, the Korean was able to announce himself to Bundesliga fans with a superb season debut outing in which he scored 2 goals, one being a goal that displayed his brilliant talent and ability:

Attacking a long ball over the defence, Son Hueng-Min showed exceptional awareness and techinque as he chipped the on rushing keeper and tapped the ball with a defender behind him, all with the casualness of a seasoned striker.

Son continued to make occasional appearances throughout the season and displayed sparks of talent ending the season with 3 goals in 13 appearances playing as either a winger or striker.

Son Heung-Min's abilities seem to be more suited to an attacking midfield role similar to that of Thomas Mueller at Bayern Munich and that seems to be Michel Oenning's thinking as well as he looks set to go in his first full season as Hamburg manager with Heung-Min playing behind the main striker in a 4-3-2-1. Technically fantastic and with the right awareness to be a good goalscorer, Son's ability to double-up as a winger or striker will cause much trouble for opposition defenders trying to mark him and thus will not only create openings for Son himself but also his fellow attackers.

After having had another tremendous pre-season, including a 2 goal effort against Bayern Munich in the Liga Total Cup, Son Heung-Min looks set to finally have the breakout season his talents deserve.