Joshua Kimmich has always been an important contact for Julian Nagelsmann (r.), and now he is the “logical” choice as captain for the national coach.
Photo: imago/Jan Huebner
The opponents are secondary when the German footballers make their first appearances after the home European Championship. For the DFB team with national coach Julian Nagelsmann, it is more about continuing to advance their own development. The framework, on the other hand, is helpful: While the Nations League is still not very highly regarded as a competition by the general public, it is definitely popular with coaches. Many fans no longer miss the time of the many friendly games, when football professionals canceled their participation in droves and those who were on the pitch often just went about their work.
In the Nations League, competing against good opponents is about points and ultimately a title. The DFB team starts in Group 3 of League A this Saturday in Düsseldorf against Hungary, three days later the game against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. In October the German footballers will meet their third group opponents Bosnia-Herzegovina for the first time in Zenica. “It can be good,” says striker Niclas Füllkrug, who is motivated by the “competition.”
The route for the DFB was described in the days of preparation in Herzogenaurauch by sports director Rudi Völler: “We want and will continue to live out this special team spirit that Julian Nagelsmann and his coaching team created during the Euros and use the unity with you fans to achieve the next one big goal to tackle: the 2026 World Cup.” There are no clear guidelines from the association for the Nations League.
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The desire to maintain the enthusiasm for the national team that has been rekindled after years of tragedy plays an important role. Above all, however, is the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. That’s why it’s right to take some pressure off the Nations League – because it’s also a new start for Julian Nagelsmann and his team. A successful home European Championship was a task of limited duration for the national coach, and was even contractually stipulated as such by the DFB at the time. After the short-term and radical restructuring of the team, including a “simple game idea” for quick success, Nagelsmann is now concerned with further developing the team in the long term. In this certainly not easy path, setbacks and defeats should be allowed, even in a competition like the Nations League.
Although the national coach has only brought one new player into his squad, Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller, the team also has to find itself again. After the departure of Toni Kroos, who was a key success factor at the European Championships as a returnee, the German team’s game needs a new center. And the team has a new hierarchy: after the resignations of Manuel Neuer, İlkay Gündoğan and Thomas Müller, important leadership figures are missing. And so, for example, Niclas Füllkrug experienced “a drastically changed team” in the days of Herzogenaurach.
Nagelsmann decided this week who should take on more responsibility in the future. Joshua Kimmich is a role model for the entire group, said the national coach: “He leads the way with his mentality.” And therefore he is a logical successor to İlkay Gündoğan – as the new captain. “Marc-André ter Stegen is number 1. He put in an outstanding performance at Barcelona for many years,” said Nagelsmann on the goalkeeper question. The changed team behind the team should help with the rebuilding. After 20 years, Philipp Laux replaces Hans-Dieter Hermann as sports psychologist. After stints at FC Bayern, Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart, the former Bundesliga goalkeeper and qualified psychologist has been responsible for the mental state of the players in Dortmund since 2020 – not necessarily BVB’s greatest strength in recent years.
Groundbreaking decisions have been made, now what counts is what comes out on the pitch. Because the national coach implemented his “basic idea” before the European Championship, “the German game will now only change minimally.” He himself remains consistent and, for example, continues to see Captain Kimmich as a “right-back.” The coach and team can approach the new tasks with confidence – with the lesson from the European Championships of relying on their own strengths. Nagelsmann had incomprehensibly abandoned this path in the first half of the quarter-final against Spain, only to then correct himself and from then on play on an equal footing with the European champions.
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