Goretzka-Aus as a final warning
Nagelsmann puts the first big exclamation mark
By Tobias Nordmann & Sebastian Schneider
March 12, 2024, 2:50 p.m
Julian Nagelsmann only has one big task as national coach. He should make the home European Championship a success. What happens next doesn’t matter to the coach, his contract with the DFB ends. And so freely in the decisions there are supposedly the first surprises.
At the end of the German national football team’s next big year of crisis, Julian Nagelsmann has achieved something very remarkable. He took the team, which fewer and fewer people were enthusiastic about, out of insignificance and made it a topic of conversation again. In the ZDF “Sportstudio” the coach delivered the best cliffhanger for the period after the bitter disappointments against Turkey and Austria up to the upcoming international matches against France and the Netherlands. He declared an open duel for the places and paved the way for the return of world champion Toni Kroos.
The Real Madrid icon has now confirmed that he will play for the national team again. Everything else is open and has become the second major topic of speculation in German football for weeks – alongside the eagerly discussed matter of who will be the new coach of FC Bayern. However, looking back at the DFB team, this raises the quite explosive question of who is putting through all the squad information that is now leaking in the various media before the squad is officially announced on Thursday. Is it possible that the mole, who was a constant companion of Nagelsmann in Munich, is back?
As is often the case in this game, everything is connected to everything else. Thomas Tuchel, who will leave the record champions in the summer, feels free for his remaining time at Säbener Straße and can decide things without consideration. Nagelsmann also goes this route. The question arises about the chicken and the egg. Who first proclaimed the don’t-give-it mentality?
All Dortmunders out, except Füllkrug?
In principle it doesn’t matter. This week is the focus of Nagelsmann’s plans. And it’s like the legendary deadline day: the timelines are overflowing, wild reports are coming together faster and faster. On Monday it emerged that Stuttgart’s Maxi Mittelstädt, Waldemar Anton, Chris Führich and Deniz Undav had been nominated. And a day later the news hits that Bayern star Leon Goretzka is out. “Bild” reports about it, Sky also wants to know about it. There is no confirmation from the DFB, neither for the VfB four-pack nor for the alleged Goretzka exit. Later it was said via “Sport Bild”: With the exception of striker Niclas Füllkrug, the national coach is foregoing all other BVB professionals, including the three central defenders Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Süle and offensive player Julian Brandt.
There is no shortage of other rumors: Is there a possibility of a Jan Niklas Best sensation? The left winger shines at promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim in his first Bundesliga season with outstanding performances, set pieces, goals and assists. The qualities would be an asset for the DFB team’s often sluggish game. Maximilian Beier, the Hoffenheim talent, is also said to have Thomas Müller skills.
Nagelsmann checks off three things at once
But such a squad doesn’t have infinite space. The many rumors mean that there will also be prominent victims – Nagelsmann had recently announced this. And with Goretzka he is now apparently serious. The place of the Bochum player, who has been seeded for years, will be taken by his current partner in the club: Aleksandar Pavlovic. Nagelsmann would do three things by appointing the 19-year-old. He increases the pressure on Goretzka to stabilize his performance back to the level at which he has only been playing again for a few weeks. He signals to every other regular employee that only the performance counts, not the name. And he outdoes the Serbian association, which is said to have made a great deal of merit for the midfielder’s services.
But first and foremost, the national coach rewards the talent for strong performances in the club. In the gloomy months that the Munich team has had, Pavlovic was the big winner. How important he is for Tuchel is shown by the personality of Joshua Kimmich. FC Bayern’s driver now plays on the right. In the center, the youngster acts alongside Goretzka and impresses with his calmness – and almost even more important in a chronically tense DFB team: his carefree attitude.
“It’s nice to see that he can implement it in the game with the same self-confidence, with the same mentality and with the same quality, no matter who is on the other side and no matter what the situation is Cup game, a Champions League game or a Bundesliga game. He deserves the greatest compliment for that,” praised Tuchel recently. “You can just see the childlike joy in him being on the pitch,” said Tuchel: “His self-confidence comes through his game. He has always trained the way he plays.”
Goretzka’s problem: He can only do it in the center
In his first Bundesliga season, Pavlovic increasingly succeeded in driving away the heavy melancholy from the record champions’ midfield. In recent months, the two names Goretzka and Kimmich have stood for this. Once the celebrated and unassailable power house in midfield, they increasingly turned into the faces of despair. First in the DFB team, shortly afterwards in the club.
For Kimmich there is also a way out to the right in the national team. The position has been a major construction site for years. And for many people, Kimmich is the best solution for a long time. But because he was considered to be in the center, experiments were carried out, but without success. There is no way out for Goretzka, the center is his natural habitat – sometimes he can still fill gaps in the central defense. On his best days, he is an excellent driver between the penalty areas, has a brave passing game, impressive dynamism and is a goal threat. The 29-year-old is still a long way from those days, at least in terms of consistency, even if the path seems to be on the right track. The fact that he is now losing out after his best performance of the season against FSV Mainz 05 (8:1) is a particularly bitter point of Nagelsmann’s new course. However, the EM door is not closed and he still has 94 days.
The search for the painter
But Goretzka can no longer allow himself any creative breaks. Especially in midfield, the crowding for places is immense, made even worse by the return of Kroos. He doesn’t come as a challenger, but as the top dog. In addition, İlkay Gündoğan will continue as captain. There is also Thomas Müller, the eternally hungry sneaker and chief communicator, as well as the outstanding talents Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala.
For Goretzka (and Pavlovic too, by the way) there is another problem: Nagelsmann is still looking for a robust, strong fighter alongside Kroos. Someone like Pascal Groß or Robert Andrich. In the big “Spiegel” interview, Nagelsmann recently announced that he would primarily focus on the mentality of the team and influence it with appropriate nominations. “We will have more players in the squad like Pascal Groß, who sometimes throw themselves in for others and are less concerned with shining with a great pass.” And he had announced: “One or two people who many people think will definitely be there will definitely not be nominated.” Because Goretzka lacks polyvalence (!), he has to make himself indispensable in Munich if he wants to play a role at the European Championships – or even get an invitation.