Former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann has the German national team absolutely humming, which is bad news for the rest of Europe.
Sure, it is far too early to start making any declarations about Germany’s prowess for the World Cup, but things are looking good — very good — at the moment. The match resulted in a complete and utter dismantling of Hungary, a squad that can create problems for its opponents. Here are some quick hitters on the match:
- As always, let’s take a look at Nagelsmann’s starting XI:
- Everything went as expected. The only real spot up for debate was left-back where David Raum got the nod over Maximilian Mittelstädt. Otherwise, the manager directly addressed where he was going at the other positions on the pitch.
- Early on, Germany was feeling out the game and how to work best together. Hungary was active and played a frenetic pace at times, which made it hard on the Germans to get aligned.
- I still like Dominik Szoboszlai a lot as a player. He is a player who can impact games in such a positive way.
- Germany had a really nice sequence in the 21st minute that went from Florian Wirtz to Jamal Musiala to Niclas Füllkrug, but the West Ham United man just did not get a good piece of the ball on his shot attempt, which ended up being a semi-hard groundball right at the goalkeeper. Füllkrug knows he has to do better with that attempt.
- Musiala and Wirtz really could be special together.
- At times, there was a certain panache to the German game.
- In the 27th minute, Füllkrug would make up for it…this time, ensuring Musiala got the assist. The play went from Wirtz to Raum to Musiala to Füllkrug — and Nagelsmann really might be onto something with Wirtz and Musiala playing in the half-spaces with the flexibility to roam.
- In the 57th minute, Musiala somehow outfoxed two defenders and the goalkeeper to make it 2-0. A long through-ball from Wirtz sent in Musiala, whose touch almost betrayed him, but the crafty youngster found a way to gather the ball and himself to rifle in a near post shot that seemed to shock Hungary goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi.
- Just nine minutes later Wirtz added a goal of his own to make it 3-0. The German attacking group was a problem for Hungary. Musiala added the assist and somewhere, the Bayern Munich brass just start transferring funds into an undisclosed account to start preparing for the 2025 summer transfer window.
- This was exactly the kind of performance from Musiala that keeps Bayern Munich fans believing that when Musiala inevitably puts it all together, there will be a lot of pain in the future for the club’s opponents. Unfortunately, it is also the kind of performance that will help convince clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool FC, FC Barcelona, and Real Madrid that Musiala is just the kind of player worth emptying your coffers for.
- Despite being subbed out relatively early for Aleksandar Pavlović, Pascal Groß turned in a nice shift for Germany.
- Marc-André ter Stegen did not get much action, but did well in stepping up in his new role.
- It might seem weird to say in a shutout, but the Germany backline needs some work (especially at the center-back position). Nico Schlotterbeck and Jonathan Tah were…okay. Against better teams, they will need to be a lot, well, better. That said, it was progress and that is the most important thing at this stage.
- In the 77th minute, the “Musiala-Wirtz Show” struck again as the due combined to set up Pavlović for a goal. Musiala picked up his third assist and Germany led 4-0. Meanwhile, Gulácsi will not want to remember much about this game.
- Germany was just absolutely pouring it on. In the 81st minute, Kai Havertz added a PK to make it 5-0 and the Nagelsmann Era might really be hitting stride.
- Havertz, who catches a lot of heat, was a weapon for Germany. If he can ever put it all together on a consistent basis, he will have a shot to reach that lofty potential that he once had.
- It was cool to see Bayern Munich academy product Angelo Stiller make his German debut as well.
- Overall, it was a very convincing effort from Germany. Hungary was game early, but faded against what was a relentless German attack. The Musiala-Wirtz combination looks like it could end up being lethal, but maybe something almost as important is that Nagelsmann’s newfound turn to consistency and eschewing the temptation to over-tinker seems to be paying dividends. The Germans have solid veterans, but also an emerging group of young stars. If the process keeps evolving in a positive direction, this could be a very strong group at the 2026 World Cup.
If you missed our Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them a look and/or a listen:
By waiting to make its move for Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies until 2025, Real Madrid is putting its move at risk for other clubs to swoop in — like Arsenal FC and Manchester City:
Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester City have joined Real Madrid in the race to sign Bayern Munich defender Alphonso Davies according to HITC. The Canadian international is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, after rejecting a number of new contract offers from the German giants.
Davies has made up his mind to leave the Bundesliga club and in January, he could sign a pre-agreement with his new club. Real Madrid wanted to sign Leny Yoro from Lille but they were beaten by Manchester United to his signing.
However, the Champions League winners are now determined to win the race to sign Davies, who is their current top defensive target. Los Blancos want to make sure they get the deal done by January in order to eliminate interest from Premier League clubs.
Bayern Munich has three real games under its belt with Vincent Kompany and there is plenty to analyze and discuss regarding those performances. So…let’s not waste any time and get right to discussing everything! Here is what we have on tap this episode of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Weekend Warm-up Show:
- Why we disagreed with Vincent Kompany’s approach for the first two Bundesliga games, why questioning the coach’s decision-making is not a bad thing, and how there can still be faith in a project despite having questions about it.
- In the end, we just want Kompany to avoid the same mistakes that felled both Julian Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick.
- Talking through four emerging storylines that we should get clarity in the coming weeks.
- Why Jamal Musiala not being on the Ballon d’Or list might not seem like a big deal to us, but could weigh heavily on the mind of the youngster.
Free agent midfielder Adrien Rabiot might not know where he wants to play next, but he does know where does not want to play — Türkiye:
Uh-oh:
The German national team is about to embark on a new era.
Former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann will attempt to figure out what he has with this group and also ponder a way to best position these players — while also figuring out what combinations might work best together.
With games against Hungary and the Netherlands, Germany will get two stiff tests in the coming days. Let’s talk about it all right here! This is what we have on tap for this episode of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show:
- Catching up on what has been going on in the German national team camp.
- How do the position groups stack up? The defense has some questions…the midfield must have answers…and the attack needs to prove itself.
- What German national team fans need to see in each of these matches.
- A look at the projected starting XI for Saturday’s match vs. Hungary.
- Predictions for each match.
While Bayern Munich star Kingsley Coman did not ultimately move on during the summer transfer window, there was interest — so all hope might not be lost for a transfer to happen in January or next summer. Well, maybe:
Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman was linked with a move away from the German club during the summer transfer window.
According to Fichajes, the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were all keen on signing the player and they made attempts to sign the French international.
However, a deal for the 28-year-old did not materialise and he ended up staying at the German club. Coman has fallen down the pecking order at Bayern Munich and he needed to leave the club in order to play regularly. It will be interesting to see if he can hold down a regular starting spot at the club this season. He will have another opportunity to leave the club in January and it remains to be seen how the situation develops.
The report states that the player’s representatives held talks with the directors of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham. However, the English clubs never really followed up on their interest with an official proposal. All four clubs are well stocked in the wide areas and it is no surprise that they ended their pursuit of the French international.
Coman is in a weird position. A high salary and a lengthy injury history have hampered his chances to move on. With a contract through 2027, Coman will have to not only be productive and stay healthy, he will probably have to rely (ironically) on another key plyer elsewhere to get hurt to really drum up interest. Otherwise, COman could let to ride out his contract in Bavaria.
Jürgen Klopp thinks Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag should have given Jadon Sancho more support:
No one really knows the extent of what happened between Ten Hag and Sancho.
