National coach Julian Nagelsmann dreams of the world championship title – and announces a rethink. One could benefit from someone who is with the German national team for the first time.
A few weeks ago, Julian Nagelsmann was in the Allgäu, with his coaching team he had rented a hut there. They had not come to enjoy the landscape, the valleys and the mountains that Nagelsmann likes. They had come to talk about football. About the Nation’s League final tournament in June, which was a disappointment for Germany, and the World Cup next summer, which should not be disappointed.
Since then, national coach Nagelsmann has sometimes been asked about the findings of this closed conference. About last week when the squad announced for the World Cup qualification games in Slovakia (Thursday, 04.09.2025, from 8:15 p.m. in the livestream, in the audio stream and in the live ticker) and against Northern Ireland (Sunday, September 7, 2025, from 8.45 p.m. in the audio stream and in the live-ticker). “We must not make the mistake of wanting to be Spain 2.0”said Nagelsmann. “We have to try to get to an attractive football over German virtues.”
He recalled the international match against Italy in the Nations League at the end of March when Germany led 3-0 during the break, but then made simple mistakes and only lost the stability and then the three points believed. “We have to adapt a few things”said Nagelsmann. “We will have a different structure, defensive and offensive.”
Kimmich – six, Right -back and back
Nagelsmann, 38, will soon be a national coach. He knows about adjustments. He had a triple chain defended and with four players on a line, and there was a time when the offensive player Kai Havertz was a kind of left -back. That didn’t work.
After everything you know, Nagelsmann will not put a player in a position that is new to him before starting the World Cup qualification. However, there will be changes: Captain Joshua Kimmich, 30, is assigned a different role, which Nagelsmann announced at the end of July. The national coach Kimmich once moved from the six to the right -back position, now he would rather use it again in a central role.
Nagelsmann would probably have no objections, would one offer him to clone the player Kimmich. At the moment he can only use Kimmich in one position at the same time, for the national coach this is annoying. Finally he recently called his captain “The best right -back in Germany“, only to make its change to the new, old position. This in turn only allows one conclusion: Nagelsmann also considers Kimmich to be the best six in the country.
Julian Nagelsmann (right) and Joshua Kimmich (m.) After the Nation’s League game against France
The six position is that “The heart of every team”says Nagelsmann. In this respect, it is only logical that he also wants to use his perhaps the most important player there. For strategists like Aleksandar Pavlovic or Angelo Stiller, these are probably not good news. Rather, a clearer like Robert Andrich or the “box-to-box” player Leon Goretzka should play next to Kimmich in important games.
Neuling Collins – a hybrid player with Startelfchancen
On the other hand, Kimmich’s old place is released on the defensive, one could benefit from one who is with the national team for the first time: Namdi Collins, 21, has become Vice European Champion in summer, where he played right-back. At his club Eintracht Frankfurt, he was mostly used as a central defender. It is also this flexibility that makes collins so interesting for the national coach. “I don’t tell us what he plays with us yet”says Nagelsmann. “Maybe a mix of both things.”
nniindin is be dary 21
The question is therefore no longer whether Collins will celebrate his debut for the national team, the only question is when he is playing for the first time. Tendency: starting eleven against Slovakia. For Collins, the emergency at the right -back position, which Nagelsmann had prompted a year and a half ago, initially speaks to postpone Kimmich there. For him, however, the image of an ideal right -back also speaks indirectly outlining the national coach.
The goal of the national coach Nagelsmann: become world champion
Nagelsmann said he wanted to have the right -back position interpreted differently in the future than Kimmich did the one, how exactly, he left open. He preferred to praise Collins, he mentioned his speed and something he called “defense genes”. It seems that the coach Nagelsmann is looking for a successor for Kimmich, whose football work mostly took place in forward gear, on stability and security. That could work. Sometimes a team can also bring the reverse gear forward.
The national coach Nagelsmann uses the start of the World Cup qualification to set new impulses. He has done this before: Shortly before Christmas 2023, he spoke in an interview with the ZDF sports studio of “Defense Monsters”, which he missed. He announced a changed role for Kimmich, who from then on was planned as a right -back. And he flirted with a return from Toni Kroos for the home European Championship. The rest is known.
Nagelsmann formulated a goal for the World Cup weeks ago: becoming world champion. Not everyone liked this, so shortly after the disappointment at the Nations League final tournament and before the start of the World Cup qualification. Nagelsmann could not be dissuaded. Last week when he presented his squad for the first two games, he said: “What else should I say to the players: they should be happy if they survive the group phase?”
