Former Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann is now at the helm of the German national team and is focused on helping the squad prepare for its final EURO 2024 tune-up on Friday against Greece.
Nagelsmann knows he will have to make some key selections against Greece to give himself a full view of what he has with this squad.
“We are happy that Fülle (Niclas Füllkrug) is back. It’s good that we have another striker in the squad. The roles are clear. If Kai (Havertz) performs, he will have the edge. He has to perform. Fülle will get his playing time and will score goals,” Nagelsmann said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Leroy (Sane) is an option tomorrow, he has taken part in two full training sessions. Nevertheless, we have to take into account that he cannot start every game from the beginning. He will have to collect minutes tomorrow to get into the rhythm.
“The result is always valuable for self-confidence. We want to win. The opponent is extremely difficult to predict because they recently changed coaches. It’s a pity because we can’t prepare 100% and we’re expecting a surprise package tomorrow.”
When asked about the fitness of Jamal Musiala, Aleksandar Pavlović, and Florian Wirtz, Nagelsmann did not exactly give a clear response as to their official status.
“Everyone is very fit. They still need time, but they are training at full speed,” said Nagelsmann.
The head coach will also have Toni Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger fully back in the fold after they won the Champions League with Real Madrid. Per Nagelsmann, the duo will not have to shake off any cobwebs.
“They didn’t celebrate so much, they are professional players. Antonio is the leader at the back, the one who has the desire to defend our goal. Toni should set up our attackers better — although the attack against Ukraine wasn’t bad either,” Nagelsmann said.
As for which player will be dropped, Nagelsmann wants to at least get through the Greece match before he has to reveal anything.
“We have made the decision. But I’m not going to announce it now or speak to the player concerned. In the worst case, someone gets injured tomorrow evening and the person concerned slips back into the squad. It’d be stupid to have this conversation now. The decision has basically been made, we’ll announce it after the game tomorrow,” Nagelsmann remarked. “I do ask the team for opinions. I asked whether there was a ‘troublemaker’ in the squad, because I’m not completely in the inner circle of the team. Everyone said there was no such player. We made the decision as a coaching staff.”
Looking for more thoughts on Bayern Munich’s transfer strategy for the summer, including which players we would not mind seeing brought in? What about some ideas on whether or not Bayern Munich is set up to play a 4-4-2? Want even more? Well, we also have takes on Joshua Kimmich’s future in Bavaria, the German national team’s potential cut down, and Julian Nagelsmann’s possible mistake with Germany. Sound good? Then we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show, which is available on Spotify or below: