Without some long-standing supporters from Munich and Dortmund, but with the returnees Toni Kroos and Manuel Neuer as well as a new block from VfB Stuttgart: national coach Julian Nagelsmann is making a radical change in the German national football team three months before the start of the home European Championship.
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Six newcomers are among the total of 26 players for the games against France and the Netherlands at the end of March: Jan-Niklas Beste from Heidenheim, Aleksandar Pavlović from FC Bayern, Maximilian Beier from Hoffenheim and Stuttgart’s Waldemar Anton, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Deniz Undav.
However, eleven players from the squad from the last games in November were no longer taken into account, including stars such as Mats Hummels, Niklas Süle, Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry and Jonas Hofmann. Leroy Sané is missing due to suspension. The 2014 world champions, Neuer and Kroos, are making their comebacks after a 15-month or three-year absence. Frankfurt’s Robin Koch – like Kroos last at the 2021 European Championship – was also taken into account again.
The international squad at a glance
The squad at a glance
Tor: Oliver Baumann (TSG Hoffenheim), Bernd Leno (FC Fulham), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona)
Defense: Waldemar Anton (VfB Stuttgart), Jan-Niklas Beste (1. FC Heidenheim), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstädt (VfB Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfield: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Führich (VfB Stuttgart), Pascal Groß (Brighton & Hove Albion), İlkay Gündoğan (FC Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern Munich) , Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Attack: Maximilian Beier (TSG Hoffenheim), Niclas Füllkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (FC Arsenal), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (VfB Stuttgart)
With five professionals around the veterans Neuer and Thomas Müller, FC Bayern still has the largest block in the team. Nagelsmann nominated four players from Stuttgart, who were third in the Bundesliga, and three from league leaders Leverkusen. Niclas Füllkrug is the only Dortmund player in the squad.
“A little more difficult for defenders to get in”
The squad that has now been nominated should also be the basic structure for the home European Championship. “Of course we will normally have a majority of the players who are here now in the European Championship squad,” said Nagelsmann. The composition of the squad will not change completely until June. “But it’s not the case that the door isn’t closed for anyone who isn’t nominated now,” said the national coach. He also said that to those affected. If an offensive player “scores a lot of goals in the next eight weeks or has a lot of impact in his club, then a position can also be swapped,” he added. For the defensive players it is “a little more difficult to get in, but the door isn’t completely closed there either.”
The national coach also justified the waiver of former world champion Mats Hummels, whom he himself had brought back into the DFB team, with the role description. “We will build a little differently than last time,” said Nagelsmann. However, Borussia Dortmund’s central defender is “not the ideal choice” as a replacement. The former Bayern coach attested to Goretzka’s performance improvement, but he currently sees others in front for the roles behind the supposed starting eleven. It is “a crux” that you don’t always have to find the best players, “but rather the ones best suited to the respective role.”
New pink away jersey for the European Championships
Germany will face France in Lyon on March 23rd. Three days later we face the Netherlands in Frankfurt. Germany opens the home European Championship on June 14th with the game against Scotland. Other opponents in the preliminary round are Hungary (June 19th) and Switzerland (June 23rd).
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The DFB had already presented the jerseys for the home tournament, which will be worn for the first time in the next two international matches. The home jersey is classic and simple in white, and the shorts and socks are also white. The official away jersey is much more striking in pink-purple tones and a diamond-shaped pattern that is intended to resemble the look of an eagle’s wing. The shorts and socks are completely purple, while the two colors flow together in the jersey.
Nagelsmann is open to offers
Nagelsmann, whose contract ends after the European Championship final on July 14th, also commented on his future at the squad presentation. If he receives a contract offer before the tournament, “then there is a high probability that I will sign it before the European Championships,” said the 36-year-old. He hasn’t had an offer yet, but there is a chance “that something will happen before the European Championships,” he said.
Without some long-standing supporters from Munich and Dortmund, but with the returnees Toni Kroos and Manuel Neuer as well as a new block from VfB Stuttgart: national coach Julian Nagelsmann is making a radical change in the German national football team three months before the start of the home European Championship.
Six newcomers are among the total of 26 players for the games against France and the Netherlands at the end of March: Jan-Niklas Beste from Heidenheim, Aleksandar Pavlović from FC Bayern, Maximilian Beier from Hoffenheim and Stuttgart’s Waldemar Anton, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Deniz Undav.
