A new season of international football begins for Germany with September’s first UEFA Nations League fixtures. As the team kicked off preparations in Herzogenaurach ahead of the upcoming games against Hungary in Düsseldorf on Saturday (20:45 CEST) and the Netherlands next Tuesday in Amsterdam (20:45 CEST), head coach Julian Nagelsmann cleared up some important personnel decisions at a press conference.
Julian Nagelsmann on...
...the goalkeeper situation: Marc-André ter Stegen deserves to be the new first-choice goalkeeper. He has delivered outstanding performances at Barcelona over a number of years and simply has earned that right. Our first choice is clear, but the pecking order after that is still to be decided.
...choosing a new captain: We have named three new captains. Joshua Kimmich is the primary captain, with Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz next in line.
...Joshua Kimmich: For me, the captain is someone who puts the squad’s ideas to the coaching team and not the other way around. With Josh’s mannerisms and the way he goes about his job, he is an absolute role model. He is someone that leads by example and so what a logical successor to Ilkay Gündogan. Joshua Kimmich is always honest and is direct with you when something isn’t right, which I respect about him as a person. He also has the necessary attributes as a player to be a good captain. He was the best right-back at the EUROs and will continue to play at right-back for us.
...the players’ roles in the team: We’ve adjusted the roles a little. They’re somewhat more open now. In the next games, there will generally be the roles of regular players and substitutes. With one eye on the World Cup, we want to develop a core group of players that knows what it means to win games. Everyone has a chance of game time, but the profile of each role has to be fulfilled, whether as a regular player or as a substitute.
...potential tactical changes: We will continue to build on the things we did at the EUROs, because a lot of that was positive. We want to perfect it though rather than complicate things. The first weeks of the season are usually the most intense, and we don’t want to overwhelm the players, particularly mentally. That’s why we will scale things back in terms of tactical changes.
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A new season of international football begins for Germany with September’s first UEFA Nations League fixtures. As the team kicked off preparations in Herzogenaurach ahead of the upcoming games against Hungary in Düsseldorf on Saturday (20:45 CEST) and the Netherlands next Tuesday in Amsterdam (20:45 CEST), head coach Julian Nagelsmann cleared up some important personnel decisions at a press conference.
Julian Nagelsmann on...
...the goalkeeper situation: Marc-André ter Stegen deserves to be the new first-choice goalkeeper. He has delivered outstanding performances at Barcelona over a number of years and simply has earned that right. Our first choice is clear, but the pecking order after that is still to be decided.
...choosing a new captain: We have named three new captains. Joshua Kimmich is the primary captain, with Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz next in line.
...Joshua Kimmich: For me, the captain is someone who puts the squad’s ideas to the coaching team and not the other way around. With Josh’s mannerisms and the way he goes about his job, he is an absolute role model. He is someone that leads by example and so what a logical successor to Ilkay Gündogan. Joshua Kimmich is always honest and is direct with you when something isn’t right, which I respect about him as a person. He also has the necessary attributes as a player to be a good captain. He was the best right-back at the EUROs and will continue to play at right-back for us.
...the players’ roles in the team: We’ve adjusted the roles a little. They’re somewhat more open now. In the next games, there will generally be the roles of regular players and substitutes. With one eye on the World Cup, we want to develop a core group of players that knows what it means to win games. Everyone has a chance of game time, but the profile of each role has to be fulfilled, whether as a regular player or as a substitute.
...potential tactical changes: We will continue to build on the things we did at the EUROs, because a lot of that was positive. We want to perfect it though rather than complicate things. The first weeks of the season are usually the most intense, and we don’t want to overwhelm the players, particularly mentally. That’s why we will scale things back in terms of tactical changes.
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