Can the European Championship really work without Hummels?
BVB stars put Nagelsmann under enormous pressure
By Tobias Nordmann
May 8, 2024, 2:09 p.m
When the German national soccer team is resurrected in March, national coach Julian Nagelsmann is only relying on one BVB player: Niclas Füllkrug. The places in the DFB squad seem to be taken after the victories, and now several BVB stars are increasing the pressure.
Borussia Dortmund is passionately fighting its way to the final of the Champions League. Mats Hummels becomes a great hero twice, leading his team to Wembley as an unwavering gladiator and goalscorer against Paris St. Germain. Nico Schlotterbeck shines at his side. BVB’s outstanding central defenders form the great bulwark against the furious attacks of the star ensemble from the French capital. The fact that two protagonists at PSG, star striker Kylian Mbappé and speed dribbler Ousmane Dembélé, are also planned as pillars of their country’s national team and can therefore also be opponents of the DFB team at some point in the European Championship tournament this summer, gives hope for a déjà vu Jersey with the eagle.
The only problem is: While Mbappé and Dembélé have secured their places in the “Les Bleus” squad, the path to the team recently led past Hummels and Schlotterbeck. After his frustrating experiences last year, Nagelsmann reconsidered everything, including his nominations, and introduced the role principle in addition to the performance principle. Means: The national coach wants to have a core of eleven or twelve field players and behind them challengers who know how to assess their position and value profitably. In central defense, he is quite rightly relying on Real Madrid’s defense chief Antonio Rüdiger and Jonathan Tah, who is having an incredible season as leader with Bayer Leverkusen and has personally taken a gigantic step in development. Behind them are Waldemar Anton, captain of the Stuttgart sensation team, and Robin Koch from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Mats Hummels after the win against Paris Saint-Germain.
(Photo: dpa)
After the successes against France and the Netherlands, Nagelsmann sent a big declaration of love to his squad. Although he hadn’t slammed the door in anyone’s face, the national team could no longer be described as an “open house” after the coach’s announcements. The path to the team, he said, only leads back if players who are left out do their job so much better than those who were there and part of the outstanding community. Now this has happened: Hummels, with his great timing (except for a tackle on the edge of the penalty area against Dembélé, which resulted in a yellow card and almost caused a penalty) and the calmness of the bear, as well as Schlotterbeck at least overtook Koch. An advantage over the strong but still completely inexperienced Anton could also be easily argued. Is there enough for more?
Do self-image and role match?
So there is the question of role understanding. Munich’s Leon Goretzka, another one of those who was cast out, recently emphasized that he would accept any position for his European Championship dream. Does this also apply to Schlotterbeck and especially to Hummels, who has the “born leader” within him? If you take a Thomas Müller with you, who is no longer the first choice in the DFB team, you can also afford a Hummels. That’s how you can see it. But also like this: Hummels’ strength of opinion can directly shake up the new, newly developed hierarchy. A possible Champions League winner would probably not claim to be the first substitute.
And how many potential Henkelpott champions does Nagelsmann actually take with him? Striker Niclas Füllkrug should have his place secure. He has always been there recently, had strong games for BVB and shines in the national team with an outstanding rate and, thanks to his physicality, rare quality. There is no need to talk about other names at the moment, or no longer: Niklas Süle, for example, who is currently making a very colossal appearance and is not an undisputed regular. Or captain Emre Can, who simply remains too fickle. Or Marco Reus, who is simply Marco Reus and is enjoying his last days at BVB. The situation is different for Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt.
Adeyemi isn’t actually having a good season either, but he has returned to reliable form and is always an option when it comes to counterattacks because of his crazy pace. Like David Odonkor, the 22-year-old could also find his specialist role at the home tournament. Nagelsmann also attaches importance to something like this, to specialist knowledge. And then there is Julian Brandt, who occasionally drives the fans in black and yellow crazy with his speed, but can be a sensationally good footballer, always able to score a goal or one with his technique and his eye to play brilliant pass.
Out of defiance comes top form
The resurrection of the outcasts (as my colleague Stephan Uersfeld writes here) is quite an exciting story. Because it is directly related to Nagelsmann’s failure to comply. In the week in which BVB won the second leg of the round of 16 against PSV Eindhoven, many squad leaks emerged. One: All Dortmund professionals are out, except Füllkrug. There were good arguments for it. But the disappointment gave rise to defiance and then top form. Possibly even heroic Champions League winners soon.
Nagelsmann would face major problems in preparation if he changed his mind. At the training camp from May 26th to May 31st in Blankenhain in Weimarer Land, he will have to do without all the professionals who will be fighting for the handle pot at Wembley on June 1st. Regardless of all the possible BVB professionals, it is definitely either Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané from FC Bayern or Toni Kroos and Rüdiger from Real Madrid (both teams will play the second semi-final in the evening). “Of course it would be good if everyone were there,” Nagelsmann recently said. That would then speak against a rethink. However, the coach emphasized that for him too, “the joy outweighs it when players reach the Champions League final.” This ultimately offers “emotional highlight moments” for the players. The DFB team could also benefit from this. That would then suggest a rethink.