Introduction:
The inclusion of Roman Neustadter in Leonid Slutsky’s squad rounded off what has been one of the most dramatic seasons of the last few years. Despite having two caps for Germany and being born in Ukraine, the Schalke 04 defensive midfielder is eligible to play for Russia through his father’s roots in the Soviet Union and having only appeared in friendlies for Der Mannschaft.
The “will-he, won’t-he?” speculation regarding his obtaining Russian citizenship was a welcome addition to the soap-opera that is Russian football. Somewhat typical of Russian bureaucracy, the naturalisation process was a painstakingly long one, with preliminary talks beginning in early 2015.
Following the filling column inches, assembly of dream teams, and a two-part Instagram video, the news broke in the end of May that Russia had successfully naturalised her second player in 2016.
Strengths and weaknesses
The modern day footballer carries with him a number of stereotypes. As well as being brash and decadent, he is often assumed to be lacking slightly in the intelligence department - needing instructions to be dumbed down for him to understand. Roman Neustader fits many stereotypes of the contemporary player – as a scroll through his aforementioned Instagram page will attest – but ignorance is not one of them. His positioning and intelligent use of the ball makes him a very useful player in the build-up, even if he is not exceptional technically. Defensively he shows great awareness to nullify attacks before they get the chance to develop into anything substantial. The extent of his self-awareness and game-intelligence can be seen in this fantastic interview.
As mentioned previously, Neustadter is not as technically gifted as some of his peers. His passing, while thoughtful and intelligent, is sometimes slightly wayward, which could make the side susceptible to counter attacks if they are not positioned well. In addition, he is not the quickest of players. He does well to compensate for this with his positioning, but he is definitely susceptible to being left behind by a quick opposition player. In this sense it will be interesting to see how Slutskiy deploys his new player – whether he plays him in midfield as part of a double pivot, alone in that position, or even as a centre back, where he has appeared for Schalke this season.
The 2015/2016 season:
Schalke’s first campaign under Andre Breitenreiter was a disappointing one. With a squad that, on paper, could have been challenging even for second place, the men from Gelsenkirchen weren’t able to achieve one of the four Champions League spots available. Neustadter was puzzlingly picked ahead of some great players at centre-back all season, despite his talents much better suiting a place in midfield. That being said, he had a solid season, forming a strong partnership with Liverpool-bound Joel Matip.
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