Julian Nagelsmann described the return of former world champion Toni Kroos to the German national team as an “interesting thought”. In a quick question session on ZDF’s “Sportstudio”, the 36-year-old national coach initially didn’t want to say anything more about it and quickly pointed out that questions were against the rules of the game. But then he emphasized: “You have to think about all the players who have a German passport, I think that’s my job.”
Kroos ended his career in the DFB team after 106 international matches after the 2021 European Championship. Most recently, Kroos’ German teammate at Real Madrid, Antonio Rüdiger, fueled speculation about a comeback for the 33-year-old 2014 world champion.
Kroos recently commented on this after the Royals’ 3-2 win in the Champions League against 1. FC Union Berlin. “I had to think for a long time, he caught me off guard because I didn’t have that thought myself, it only came through him,” said Kroos on DAZN. “That made me think about it and give him an answer that I can’t give today.” But he was already smiling, said Kroos.
Will Toni Kroos return to the national team? The national coach indicated this
What: REUTERS
Nagelsmann, who took over the position last September, said he was in constant contact with Kroos, even long before his time as national coach. He sees Kroos as an outstanding player and outstanding person who is very reflective and selflessly has an opinion on many topics in football. Kroos has celebrated outstanding successes and is rightly one of the kings in Madrid because he does it outstandingly, Nagelsmann praised the highly decorated midfielder.
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“So far they have not spoken specifically about the option of returning. We talked about the national team in general. About his impressions,” explained Nagelsmann and then said: “I think every German footballer sees a certain appeal in playing a home European Championship.” The fact that it sounds as if he had already spoken to Kroos about it is an interpretation . They didn’t talk about the topicality. As far as he knows, Kroos also has a German passport and is warmly invited to show his best performance. “If he shows the best performance, I might call him again,” said Nagelsmann.
Neuer is probably number one
Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer can expect a return to goal for the national team in March. “If everything continues as it currently seems towards March, then it will come down to this,” said Nagelsmann. In preparation for the European Championship, Germany will play against runner-up world champion France on March 23rd and against the Netherlands on March 26th.
Neuer’s competitor Marc-André ter Stegen (31) from FC Barcelona will be out for a good two months after back surgery. Ter Stegen had already missed the DFB team’s two test matches against Turkey (2:3) and in Austria (0:2) because of back problems. Neuer (37) celebrated a strong comeback at FC Bayern after breaking his tibia and fibula. “I talk to him a lot. I think his performance is outstanding,” said Nagelsmann about Neuer.
Lucky draw for Germany – these are the national team’s group opponents
The German national team was drawn into a feasible group. National coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team will face Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland in the preliminary round of the European Championships in their own country.
Both are exceptionally good goalkeepers. But Ter Stegen is injured right now – we’ll see how he comes out of the injury. “In the end, football is about being successful together. If one of the two is clearly better than the other in March, then I will have the joy, but also the pain, of making decisions in both a positive and a negative sense,” said Nagelsmann.
Kimmich in defense
Nagelsmann also raised the prospect of Joshua Kimmich’s possible return to the right side of defense. “Through a small adjustment, it’s not a 180-degree change, Josh is also a candidate for this position,” explained Nagelsmann.
Nagelsmann emphasized that he had “of course” spoken to the FC Bayern professional about it: “I don’t think it would be wise for me to come here and say it without informing him about it.” Until now, it was actually the case that Nagelsmann was Kimmich Midfield sees. As a sixth man alongside captain İlkay Gündoğan, the 28-year-old wasn’t necessarily able to convince. However, the defense hasn’t always looked convincing in the games so far. Nagelsmann said he never ruled out that Kimmich would play in the right-back position.
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The national coach ended the experiment with Kai Havertz as a left-back. “He didn’t play at the back left. But that’s over. But not because it failed. He played two very good games in this position. I don’t say that because I want to defend myself, but because I am convinced of Kai Havertez in various positions,” said Nagelsmann. In the two defeats, the professional who plays for Arsenal FC was used by Nagelsmann as a left-back. Nagelsmann was criticized for the Havertz transfer.
The national coach also explained and qualified his statements about defensive work (“We are not defensive monsters”). The half-sentence was missing from his statement, “if we didn’t change anything about the squad structure,” said Nagelsmann. “That’s the crucial sentence that I haven’t said before. “Shortly after the game, you don’t have any thoughts about what the next squad might look like,” said the national coach. “We learned lessons from these games, good lessons. We have to change the squad structure a little to become more defensive monsters.”
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