“Don’t push forward”
Suddenly the goal is empty – Nagelsmann is looking for a new goalkeeper
November 17, 2023, 8:43 p.m
One day before the duel against Turkey, the goalkeeper question arises for the DFB team. Keeper ter Stegen is out injured. Coach Nagelsmann doesn’t want to change the way he plays, even with a new goalkeeper. And the route remains unchanged.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann will have to do without goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen in the two upcoming test matches against Turkey in Berlin and in Vienna against Austria. The 31-year-old is suffering from back problems, can neither train nor play and will travel back to his club FC Barcelona, he said in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. There the DFB team will take on Turkey for the coach’s home debut tomorrow, Saturday (8.45 p.m./RTL). On Tuesday it’s against Austria. The 36-year-old made it clear that Manuel Neuer’s subsequent nomination was not up for debate. The Bayern goalkeeper had decided not to be nominated for the final European Championship tests in 2023 after his break of more than ten months.
Ter Stegen is likely to be replaced by Frankfurt’s Kevin Trapp. Nagelsmann announced that he would make the decision after the final training. Joshua Kimmich should play in the six position in midfield. Nagelsmann confirmed that he did not see the Bayern professional as a right-back. Benjamin Henrichs from Leipzig will be deployed there. His club colleague David Raum is likely to play as left-back.
Ter Stegen will “hopefully be treated so well in Barcelona that he will soon be 100 percent fit again.” The national coach said he could not yet give a forecast about the downtime. “The doctors in Barcelona will probably decide that.” The playing style of the DFB selection will not change as a result of the loss. “The others can also play good football,” said Nagelsmann about Trapp and the other goalkeepers Oliver Baumann and Janis Blaswich, who do not yet have any international appearances in the statistics. “We’re not going to start pushing things forward now, no matter who’s between the posts.”
For ter Stegen, the end of the international matches at the end of the year is a setback. After Manuel Neuer’s serious injury, he was the clear number one in the national team. If he stays fit, Neuer should return to the squad for the international matches in March. The 37-year-old had announced that he wanted to fight for the regular place in the German goal on the way to the home European Championship in 2024.
Best defense – “don’t lose the marble”
The national coach wants to be back in the Olympic Stadium in 239 days – July 14, 2024. European Championship final. He could hardly have wished for a better location for his first home game as DFB head coach. “It’s a long way to the final. We’ll try to take a small step tomorrow.”
A few hours after landing at BER, southeast of the city, we went to the final arena for the first inspection on Friday. Final training and final touches. Nagelsmann had already made his November motto clear during three days of practice on the DFB campus in Frankfurt. After the encouraging start with a new head coach in the USA in October, the national team now has to get the necessary tournament stability.
“We have to become more variable in defense. We are trying to develop our team tactics so that we allow less danger of scoring overall,” said Nagelsmann, explaining his second European Championship lesson for Mats Hummels and his colleagues, who were apparently relieved of their back pain just in time. The best way to defend is still to “not lose the marble.”
Just sport, just no politics
In nine international matches so far this year, Germany has only kept a clean sheet in the 2-0 win against Peru in March. In the eight other games, the average goals conceded was over two per game – too much for title ambitions. “Yes, of course we know that we still have to take a few steps forward by next summer, but I have full confidence in us doing that,” said Ilkay Gündogan. For the DFB captain, the first international match against the country of his ancestors is of course a career highlight. “I’m hoping for a great football festival. I’m sure that both teams will be extremely motivated and it will hardly matter that it’s not a competitive game. Both teams will want to show that they are ready for the European Championships next year,” said the 33-year-old.
Gündogan avoided any political connotations. The topics brought up from outside, such as the memory of the Erdogan photos a good five years ago or the current political explosiveness caused by the Gaza war, must not become the focus for all national players and especially not for Gündogan. “The focus is on sport. The honest, tough competition,” said Nagelsmann. Nobody says it officially, but the DFB is extremely happy that after his meetings with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Erdogan didn’t even extend his visit to Berlin and sat in the Olympic Stadium on Saturday evening, attracting media attention. That would have once again massively diverted the focus from the sport.
However, the expected away game crowd with tens of thousands of Turkish fans really spurs Nagelsmann on. Leon Goretzka also likes the special atmosphere. The Bayern professional called the passion of the visiting fans “extremely impressive.” Resistance is certainly good for the DFB team in the run-up to the European Championship. Nagelsmann has already eliminated comfort zones with a tight, tactically demanding training program.