Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann on the plan for the international break: “We will consolidate the things we did at the Euros rather than try out a lot of new things.”
Speaking at his first press conference ahead of the September international break (via @iMiaSanMia), Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann addressed the lack of new players in the squad, and if any changes can be expected in play style.
After announcing that Joshua Kimmich would be Germany’s new captain, Nagelsmann addressed the retirements of Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer and Ilkay Gündogan, leaving the door open for a potential return:
“Four important players have retired, all of whom have a great history with the DFB and played a key role at the Euros. We gave them the space they needed to think. You could also tell from the statements that they had thought about what was right. But I had very good discussions with them. First with Thomas, then with Manuel and Ilkay. It was not easy for the players. It was very transparent and emotional. I accept and understand the decision. But the door is never closed. If the three show outstanding performances at their clubs, they can always come back”
Nagelsmann then addressed if there will be any changes in the style of play that was seen at EURO 2024 where Germany were knocked out in the quarter-finals. First with the roles for personnel:
“We haven’t made many changes compared to the Euros. There are still roles, but it is no longer assigned to one player. There will be a role where a player plays a certain position for one game and other players are planned as substitutes. Then there will also be a role where someone is not used at all in a game. But of course we want to have a core team and not experiment too much. Everyone knows that there are no longer extremely predefined roles, but that the whole thing is more open. That helped us during the Euros and must stay that way. The profile of the role will remain the same, even though the players will alternate.”
Then with the greater team style:
“We will consolidate the things we did at the Euros rather than try out a lot of new things. Also because many players are a bit overwhelmed in the first few weeks at their clubs. We want to be a bit more variable in the way we build up the game. But we don’t want to complicate things. What we want to improve on is the faster, more straightforward game going forward after winning the ball back. That’s something we didn’t do so well. We also want to improve on set pieces. These will be important points.”
Finally, when the squad was announced last week, there was only one debutant in the squad with VfB Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller receiving his maiden call-up. Stiller’s teammate Alexander Nübel and Bayern Munich’s Aleksander Pavlovic are the only other players yet to make their debut for the national team. On why he called up only one new player, Nagelsmann said:
“Toni Kroos’ successor is a big job to do. I don’t want to burden him with that at the beginning. There are currently few assessments from the current season because not much has been played yet. That’s why the Euros squad is largely staying together. There may be changes in October if a few others players are in good form. Angelo did very well in Stuttgart. He was very close to the national team last year. That’s why he deserves to show what he can do.”
Germany play two games in the September international break. On Saturday they host Hungary in Düsseldorf, a rematch of their EURO 2024 group game which Germany won 2-0 before travelling west to face rivals the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
