Robert Huth

Robert Huth

200px Robert Huth playing for Middlesbrough in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Robert Huth
Date of birth	(1984-08-18) 18 August 1984
Place of birth	Biesdorf, East Berlin, East Germany
Height
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Leicester City
Number	6
Youth career
1999–2000	VfB Fortuna Biesdorf
2000–2001	1. FC Union Berlin
2001–2002	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2006	Chelsea	42	(0)
2006–2009	Middlesbrough	53	(2)
2009–2015	Stoke City	149	(13)
2015	→ Leicester City (loan)	14	(1)
2015–	Leicester City	20	(1)
International career
2003	Germany U20
2004–2005	Germany U21	4	(0)
2004–2009	Germany	19	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:25, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

Robert Huth (German pronunciation: [ˈʁoːbɛʁt ˈhuːt]; born 18 August 1984) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Leicester City.

Huth was signed for Chelsea from the youth system of German club Union Berlin in 2001 by Claudio Ranieri. He struggled to establish himself in the Chelsea first team and with the likes of John Terry, William Gallas, and Ricardo Carvalho ahead of him in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, he joined Middlesbrough in August 2006 for a fee of £6 million. He spent three years at the Riverside and after the club were relegated in 2009, Huth signed for Stoke City for a then club record fee £5 million.

After a successful 2010–11 season for Huth which saw him play in the FA Cup Final, he was named as Stoke's player of the year. Under the management of Tony Pulis Huth remained a vital member of the Stoke squad in 2011–12 and 2012–13. He also played regularly under Mark Hughes in 2013–14 before he suffered a knee injury which ruled him out nearly a year. He was unable for force his way back into the team and he joined Leicester City on loan in January 2015, helping them avoid relegation from the top flight, and then joined them permanently.

Huth was also a German international, earning 19 caps and scoring 2 goals between 2004 and 2009. He was part of the German squad which came third at the 2006 FIFA World Cup on home soil.

Club career

Chelsea

Huth was born in Biesdorf, East Berlin and played for local side VfB Fortuna Biesdorf and then the youth teams at 1. FC Union Berlin before joining English side Chelsea in 2001. Huth made his debut for Chelsea at the age of 17 in the last game of the 2001–02 season, coming on as a substitute at half-time for Jesper Grønkjær in a 1–3 home defeat against Aston Villa. In August 2003 Reading tried to sign Huth on loan for the 2003–04 season but their bid was rejected by Chelsea. He made twenty appearances during that season and Huth stated that he was happy to stay at Chelsea. In the 2004–05 season injury restricted him to 15 appearances for the "Blues".

When the 2005–06 season started, Huth's chances of becoming a first choice player at Chelsea in the near future seemed limited with John Terry, William Gallas, and Ricardo Carvalho ahead of him in the Chelsea squad. These were the preferred central defenders for Chelsea manager José Mourinho, who had succeeded Ranieri in the summer of 2004. Mourinho did, however, reject a bid for Huth from German club Bayern Munich in the summer of 2005. Huth scored twice for Chelsea, with one against MŠK Žilina in a Champions League qualifier and the other against Birmingham City in the FA Cup. At the end of the 2005–06 season Huth stated that he was unhappy with his lack of first team chances which led to Middlesbrough, Wigan Athletic and Everton making bids. He stated that he would join Middlesbrough after the 2006 FIFA World Cup after agreeing a five-year deal.

Middlesbrough

On 13 July 2006, a proposed transfer to Middlesbrough was scuppered when Huth failed a medical. Middlesbrough continued to track Huth and on 31 August he signed for the club for a fee of £6 million on a five-year contract. Huth had a tough start to his career at Middlesbrough as they lost 1–0 to Notts County in the League Cup. Manager Gareth Southgate stated that Huth was lacking in match fitness and decided to play him in a number of reserve matches. By mid October Huth had regained his fitness and played his first league match for Boro against Everton which they won 2–1. He scored his first Boro goal in a 2–1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on 5 December 2006. However his progress in a Middlesbrough shirt was halted when he picked up a foot injury in a training session. Scans later revealed that he had suffered a stress fracture and was out for six-weeks. He made his return in a 3–1 defeat against Aston Villa, but again picked up an injury.

Huth underwent ankle surgery in the summer of 2007 in order to fix his problem. However he consulted a specialist after failing to recover. He returned to training in November 2007 and made his comeback against Reading on 1 December. After the departure of Jonathan Woodgate to Tottenham Hotspur Huth was paired in central defence with David Wheater. On 3 February Huth scored against Newcastle United to earn a point against Kevin Keegan's team. He again struggled with injuries and missed the last two months of the 2007–08 season.

Huth recovered well and made a strong start to the 2008–09 season. However he again suffered an ankle injury He returned to the side in December time and by February the team had been enduring a tough season and were in deep relegation trouble. Boro failed to improve and they suffered relegation to the Championship as they lost 2–1 to West Ham United on the final day of the 2008–09 season. He played five league matches for Boro at the start of the 2009–10 season before he returned to the Premier League with Stoke City.

Stoke City

On 27 August 2009, Huth signed a four-year contract with Stoke City for £5 million. He made his Stoke debut in a 1–0 win over Sunderland on 29 August 2009, replacing goalscorer Dave Kitson. He celebrated his 100th League appearance by scoring his first Stoke goal on 4 October 2009 against Everton. On 17 October, Huth punched Matthew Upson in the face during a match against West Ham United, though he received no card from the referee. Huth was charged by the FA for the incident. He admitted his guilt the following day, and apologised for the incident. Huth was subsequently suspended for three matches by the FA. Huth scored a 90th-minute equaliser against Liverpool on 16 January 2010. He then scored his third Stoke goal in a 2–1 win over Portsmouth. He was given the captain's armband for Stoke's FA Cup quarter final tie at his old club Chelsea which he described as a proud moment for himself.

Huth in action for Stoke during the 2009–10 season

Huth opened his account for the 2010–11 season with a 93rd-minute winner against Aston Villa to help Stoke record their first win of the season. He followed this up with goals against Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and two against Sunderland. He also scored in the FA Cup quarter final against West Ham United helping Stoke to reach the semi-final stage for the first time since 1972, 39 years ago. He scored in the 5–0 FA Cup Semi-final victory against Bolton Wanderers becoming the first Stoke defender to score nine goals in a season. He played in the 2011 FA Cup Final against Manchester City as Stoke lost 1–0. After a successful season for Huth he was named as player of the year.

In the summer of 2011 manager Tony Pulis signed former England international centre backs Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson and Huth found himself playing at an unfamiliar right back position. However, after some poor defensive performances by Stoke, Huth returned to his centre-back pairing with Ryan Shawcross and he went on to score his first goal of the season against Everton. In a match against Sunderland, Huth was sent-off for tackling David Meyler although replays showed that he pulled out of the challenge. Sunderland took full advantage of the extra man and scored the only goal through James McClean. Stoke did attempt to get Huth's red card overturned but failed in their efforts. Huth scored twice towards the end of the season against Midlands opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa. His performances for the side prompted Pulis to open discussions with Huth over a new contract.

File:Robert Huth, Abou Diaby, Laurent Koscielny & Geoff Cameron.jpg

Huth and Geoff Cameron with Arsenal's Abou Diaby and Laurent Koscielny in February 2013

In June 2012 Huth signed a new three-year contract with Stoke keeping him at the Britannia Stadium until 2016. Huth fell ill at the start of August with viral meningitis. He made a full recovery soon after and played against Reading on the opening day of the 2012–13 season. Afterwards he explained that he caught the virus whilst in the United States on Stoke's pre-season tour. Huth scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 victory against Reading on 9 February 2013. Huth was given a retrospective three match ban after an off the ball altercation with Fulham's Philippe Senderos on 23 February 2013. He played 39 times for Stoke in 2012–13 as the side finished in 13th position and at the end of campaign Tony Pulis was replaced by Mark Hughes. Under Hughes, Huth remained a regular in the side but he suffered a knee injury in November 2013 which required surgery. Despite trying to make a quick recovery Huth required a second operation on his knee and missed the rest of the 2013–14 season.

Huth returned from injury at the beginning of the 2014–15 season, playing in League Cup matches against Portsmouth and Sunderland. However he then suffered another injury in training which ruled him out for a further two months. He played his first league game for over a year against Arsenal on 6 December 2014. Huth left Stoke in June 2015 after spending six seasons with the Potters, making 188 appearances, scoring 18 goals.

Leicester City

On 2 February 2015, Huth joined Leicester City on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut eight days later, playing the entirety of a 2–1 defeat away at Arsenal. His first goal for the club came on 11 April 2015, heading an equaliser as they came from behind to win 3–2 away at West Bromwich Albion. Huth's arrival at Leicester saw the Foxes embark on a run of seven victories in their final nine fixtures which saw them retain their Premier League status. Leicester manager Nigel Pearson admitted that he would like to sign Huth on a permanent basis.

Huth completed a permanent transfer to Leicester on 24 June 2015 signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £3 million. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

International career

File:Robert Huth 2005.jpg

Huth training with Germany.

From a young age, Huth was already a member of the German national team. He also played at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. Huth was first invited on 16 August 2004 in the senior national team of Germany, when he was nominated for the friendly match at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna against Austria. Two days later, he appeared as a substitute in this friendly match in the 86th minute for Andreas Hinkel.

Together with a young Per Mertesacker, he was the first-choice central defender for Germany at the 2005 Confederations Cup. On 29 June, he scored his first goal for Germany in a 4–3 extra-time win against Mexico during the third-place play-off.

His second goal for Germany came in a 4–1 defeat to Italy in a friendly game played in Florence in March 2006. During the World Cup on home soil, Huth lost his place to Christoph Metzelder as Mertesacker's first choice partner after being blamed for some defensive errors in several pre-tournament games and only started one game, the last group stage match against Ecuador.

He was recalled to the German national team for the first time since the 2006 World Cup in a friendly against Switzerland on 20 March 2008, because of his recent club form. He was later ruled out after suffering from a foot injury. He has scored 2 goals in 19 games for Germany.

Personal life

Growing up in Berlin, Huth decided to support Werder Bremen as Hertha BSC were rarely on TV. He was a ball boy at the 1997 DFB-Pokal Final at his city's Olympic Stadium.

In January 2015, the FA began an investigation into Huth after he took part in a game on Twitter in which users guessed the gender of people in sexually explicit photos. He deleted his interactions with the game and apologised. Later that month, he was fined £15,000 and banned for two matches by the FA for the interactions, which were deemed "an aggravated breach".

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 January 2016

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chelsea	2001–02	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2002–03	Premier League	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	5	0
	2003–04	Premier League	16	0	1	0	1	0	2	1	20	1
	2004–05	Premier League	10	0	1	1	0	0	4	0	15	1
	2005–06	Premier League	13	0	4	0	1	0	3	0	21	0
	Total		42	0	7	1	2	0	11	1	62	2
Middlesbrough	2006–07	Premier League	12	1	1	0	1	0	—		14	1
	2007–08	Premier League	13	1	3	0	0	0	—		16	1
	2008–09	Premier League	24	0	4	0	0	0	—		28	0
	2009–10	Championship	4	0	0	0	1	0	—		5	0
	Total		53	2	8	0	2	0	0	0	63	2
Stoke City	2009–10	Premier League	32	3	5	0	0	0	—		37	3
	2010–11	Premier League	35	6	6	3	3	0	—		44	9
	2011–12	Premier League	34	3	3	2	2	0	10	0	49	5
	2012–13	Premier League	35	1	3	0	1	0	—		39	1
	2013–14	Premier League	12	0	0	0	3	0	—		15	0
	2014–15	Premier League	1	0	1	0	2	0	—		4	0
	Total		149	13	18	5	11	0	10	0	188	18
Leicester City (loan)	2014–15	Premier League	14	1	0	0	0	0	—		14	1
Leicester City	2015–16	Premier League	20	1	0	0	0	0	—		20	1
	Total		34	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	34	2
Career total			278	17	33	6	15	0	21	1	347	24

International

As of match played 2 June 2009.

International statistics

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Germany
	2004	4	0
	2005	10	1
	2006	3	1
	2009	2	0
Total		19	2

Honours

Club

Chelsea

• Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06

Stoke City

• FA Cup Runner-up: 2010–11

International

Germany

• FIFA Confederations Cup Third Place: 2005
• FIFA World Cup Third Place: 2006

Individual

• Stoke City Coaching Staff's Player of the Year: 2010
• Sir Stanley Matthews Potteries Footballer of the Year: 2011
• Stoke City Player of the Year: 2011
• Stoke City Players' Player of the Year: 2011

External links

• Robert Huth career statistics at Soccerbase