Volleyball | Germany's volleyball players are playing the European Championships without their leader

Together, the German volleyball players want to fill the big shoes of the 41-year-old diagonal attacker. Photo: imago/Conny Kurth When it was clear that he wouldn't make it to the European Championships, Georg Grozer said a few words to his team. By far the most successful German player of the past two decades at club level, the German national team swore that they would have to do without him as a fixture at the European Championship tournament from September 9th to 26th for the first time in years. After all, the 41-year-old is like a big brother to many in the team. His presence alone takes many players to another level.

But Grozer can't be there this time because of a pinched nerve. »We checked the whole time whether he was able to help the team. Ultimately, I am sad to have to make this decision because he is an important part of the history of this national team," explained new national coach Massimo Botti.

Given the injury that Grozer brought with him from the club season to the national team, it makes no sense to bet on the top scorer. »It was necessary to make this decision for the team. In my opinion, the best solution is to call Yann Böhme into the squad because he helped us throughout the summer," said the national coach.

The 2.04 meter tall Böhme is a late starter. He only started playing volleyball at the age of 18 and has worked his way up station by station over the past ten years. Böhme is already 29 years old and most recently played in the strong Turkish league for Gaziantep Gençlik Spor.

But with 49 international matches, he lacks experience compared to Grozer's 218 appearances - especially in major tournaments. Botti also knows: “Nobody can replace Georg Grozer one-on-one, because he is one of the best diagonal players in the history of volleyball. No one can take full responsibility.”

Therefore, in addition to the only nominal diagonal attacker Böhme, Botti also counts on Erik Röhrs. Due to his athleticism and hardness, the nominal outside attacker has the potential for the king's position from which the most points are often scored. But Röhrs has to relearn specifically for this, train other movement sequences, especially in the backfield attack, and coordinate with the setters Johannes Tille and Jan Zimmermann. 

And of course it is also an opportunity for the German team to develop new hierarchies without the leader. "It's also a chance to deal with this not just with one personality, but with several," said the 33-year-old Zimmermann before the start of the tournament. "I believe that we have enough players who are now of an advanced age and have enough experience to compensate for this."

In fact, the middle blockers Anton Brehme, Tobias Krick and Florian Krage-Brewitz, the outside attackers Tobias Brand and Moritz Karlitzek, libero Ruben Schott and team senior Zimmermann have plenty of maturity to at least cover up Grozer's absence - even if none of them have the aura of exceptional players. Karlitzek's personality is particularly exciting because the outside attacker from the Polish top league was missing the entire summer for personal reasons and was actually already on the verge of being eliminated from the national team. But because Röhrs is now needed in the Grozer position, Karlitzek is indispensable again with his punch in the fourth position.

In the demanding preliminary round group with opening opponents Turkey, Latvia, hosts Romania, Switzerland and France, the DVV men at the preliminary round venue in Cluj, Romania, are about getting the best possible starting position for the round of 16, where Poland, Bulgaria and Ukraine, among others, could then be waiting in Sofia. The top favorites for the title are co-hosts and world champions Italy, Olympic champions France and Poland and runner-up world champions Bulgaria.

Against the better-placed teams in the world rankings, his team was “certainly not the favorite, but I believe in the potential and the attitude of my team to get the best out of themselves at the right moment,” emphasized Botti. “We are in good shape.” And veteran Moritz Reichert added: “Of course our goal is the quarter-finals and then to see how far we can go. But first we have to concentrate on the group games. If you work out a good starting position, a lot can develop in a tournament like this.« Even without Grozer as a fixed point.

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