In this match, 1. FC Nürnberg defeated SC Paderborn 07 2-1 in a 2. Bundesliga battle where Paderborn finished a man down. Marvin Pieringer was booked a second time late in the match and that forced him off as Paderborn searched for a leveler. Nürnberg ran a 4-2-2-2/4-4-2 formation and scored a couple of long shots with beautiful finishes through center forward Kwadwo Duah. Despite picking up a yellow card, Lino Tempelmann defended well out of the double pivot and displayed good strength and aerial ability to overcome his stature. He and Jens Castrop each had nice flashes of creativity in and around the box, as well.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Jens Castrop
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Germany
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 29/07/2003
- Club: FC Köln
- Career: Lohausener SV (Y), FC Nürnberg (Loan)
- Position: Right Midfielder
- Secondary Position: Central Midfielder, Attacking Midfielder
- Preferred foot: Right
Castrop is a versatile midfield prospect on loan from FC Köln that played 63 minutes in this match at right midfielder. The right-footed 178 cm tall Germany U20 international has good not great pace and showed good hustle by keeping at least a jog throughout. He has an average build and is quite agile, too. The senior-level physicality can be a bit much at times for Castrop, but he makes up for it with technical ability.
On the ball, Castrop has some technical ability as a dribbler, as he dribbled past his defender a couple times in this match and did not just rely on his pace. He has good control, especially with his right, making him a confident ball carrier down the right flank and occasionally toward the middle. His confidence as a dribbler can lead to over-dribbling, though, so he must keep his head up and improve his decision-making, although Castrop his cool and collected while on ball most times. The over-dribbling can also be a consequence of him looking for fouls, as well.
As a finisher, Castrop had a few attempts cause some danger. His first was a two-touch power shot with his left at the top of the box that got deflected for a corner. The next attempt was a deflected cross toward the back post that troubled the keeper a bit and forced a save. Castrop’s other shot was on a run where he received inverting from the right and used a skill move past his defender onto his left foot for a powerful left-footed shot outside the box that missed low wide right. His creation was a valuable component to the team’s finishing, too. Although not accurate with all his through balls in the final third, Castrop had a few notable ones. He had a near hockey assist after collecting a loose ball in midfield and playing Lino through into the box with his right. On a run down the right, he received a through ball and tried to play his own on the next touch, but no one could reach the end of it. Early in the match, he had a wide right run toward the box where he received then played it through inside for another near hockey assist.
Off ball, Castrop played intelligently by moving into open space and filling in. This made him readily available for his teammates. Combining his pace with his football IQ also really stretched the right wing on his runs in support. His runs were usually wide, but he inverted at times, too. Castrop was available to provide a multitude of options for his teammates to push forward to.
On the press, Castrop was relentless but got too physical at times—it caused a foul on the boundary in one instance. Defensively, his duty was to get back in for extra support. His recovery speed to track back to defense was good always getting him back to position on time, and even allowing him to cover from his midfield role. Castrop was asked to man-mark and did that well, too, he stayed noticeably switched on on defense. His awareness and football IQ really impressed on both sides of the ball.
Rating – A2
Castrop played a good match despite being subbed off after only an hour. He displayed great intelligence and improving technical ability along with hustle. Combine these traits with his creation for himself and others and that is a promising player to keep an eye on in midfield. Castrop may not have a special trait that will take him to Champions League level football, but he showed all the potential against Paderborn to be a good attacking midfielder in Bundesliga in the future.