One or two might have rubbed their eyes in surprise at first on Friday evening. Where Sascha Burchert had almost always been listed on the SpVgg Greuther Fürth line-up sheet as the starting eleven goalkeeper since October 2017, the name of Marius Funk was there for the away game in Cologne.
And not because Burchert was stricken, but because Stefan Leitl wanted to “set a new stimulus”. “I wasn’t unhappy with Sascha, but his luck in the game left him a bit,” the coach explained his measure. “He had many situations where the first shot was already in.” Although Burchert had not made any decisive mistakes recently, he had also failed to prove that he was a confident back-up for the Cloverleaf in the top flight.
Burchert didn’t disappoint the confidence, but couldn’t justify it either
From the first six league games of this season, in which the 31-year-old was in goal and conceded 16 goals, a kicker grade average of 3.50 is noted for the Berlin native. Not good, but at least a solid value for a keeper. Nevertheless, the change in goal does not come as a complete surprise, because Leitl had already left it open at the end of the summer preparation whether he would start the new season with Burchert or Funk as number 1.
In the end, the decision was made in favour of the veteran with the experience of 13 Bundesliga and 132 second division games. Burchert did not disappoint this confidence in the long run, but could not really justify it either. In the previous years in the lower house, he usually did his job reliably, but could hardly shine and was seldom the decisive factor for victories.
Even in the game with the ball Funk has advantages
Funk, who has been with the Spielvereinigung since July 2016 and has advantages over Burchert especially in build-up play thanks to his passing accuracy, is now expected to provide new impetus in and out of goal. “Marius has been showing good performances in training for months,” Leitl praised. The 44-year-old was also pleased with the 25-year-old’s performance in the 1-3 loss in Cologne, with the Aalen native blameless for the three goals conceded.
“I was delighted, but of course I would have liked a different result on my debut,” said Funk, looking back on his debut in the top flight and only his ninth professional game in a Kleeblatt shirt. Leitl did not want to commit himself permanently to Funk as the new number 1 at the weekend – but a direct or quick departure from the changing of the guard in goal seems unlikely. No one should be surprised if Funk’s name appears at the top of the line-up for the upcoming home match on 16 October against fellow promoted Bochum.
