No more “youth researches”.
Nagelsmann simply reverses the age pyramid
October 11, 2023, 5:09 p.m
While Hansi Flick used his last months as national coach primarily to experiment, his successor is turning the project on its head. 12 of the 26 national soccer players nominated by Julian Nagelsmann are over 30 years old. There is no time for wrong decisions.
İlkay Gündoğan and Thomas Müller finished the first training session under Julian Nagelsmann first. Sitting on two balls in the penalty area, the duo then watched their younger colleagues and chatted in a relaxed manner about personal matters. The new national coach was happy to allow his captain Gündoğan and joker Müller to end the working day early. Nagelsmann is aware of the importance of veterans for the national soccer team and is therefore relying on a lot of experience for his debut.
While predecessor Hansi Flick promoted the “Jugend forscht” project more, 12 of the 26 professionals nominated by Nagelsmann are 30 years old or older. “For me there is only good and better, no old or young. The best players should be on the pitch,” said Jonas Hofmann, who at 31 is already part of the old guard.
He has experienced the fact that a good mix is important for success with Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen. “Experience is good for a team and can give a lot, you can see that especially at Leverkusen. But we can also learn something from the younger ones, be a little freer in our heads and more enthusiastic about playing,” said Hofmann.
Gündoğan should have a key role
Nagelsmann sees it that way too. The 36-year-old was brought in for the international matches on Saturday (9 p.m. CEST/RTL) in Hartfort/Connecticut against host USA and four days later in Philadelphia against Mexico (2 a.m. CEST/ARD and in the live ticker at ntv.de) 34-year-old Rio world champion Mats Hummels returned to the DFB team after more than two years. “Due to his experience,” the former Bayern coach is certain, “he is also good at coaching.” Hummels should “lead the other guys with his tactical understanding.”
Gündoğan should also play an absolute leadership role. That’s why the Champions League winner remains captain of the four-time world champion under the new coach. The soon-to-be 33-year-old wants to pass on his vast experience to his younger teammates.
“I know that when you’re young, if you don’t have the feeling for certain situations on the pitch, then sometimes you make decisions that aren’t well thought out,” said Gündoğan after training at the New England Revolution grounds Foxborough. Sometimes you need “a little calm, a little patience,” Gündoğan continued: “And there is a risk, when you are younger and have not been in these situations so often, that you make the wrong decision.”
The DFB team can no longer use wrong decisions eight months before the home European Championship. Gündoğan believes the squad has been carefully put together. “The balance often makes the difference,” said Gündoğan and later continued his humorous conversation with Müller with the younger players Leroy Sané and Jonathan Tah.