It looks like Germany are BACK. Julian Nagelsmann is cooking so hard it threatens to burn the kitchen down, but no one’s complaining. After that 5-0 win over Hungary on Friday, the Germans seem like they’ve ushered in a new era that threatens to match the heights of the past.
Standing at the forefront is Jamal Musiala, the crown jewel of Bayern Munich and Germany. After what he described as his best performance in a NT shirt on Friday, the youngster will be raring to go
Team news
Well, kicker were right about their predicted lineup vs Hungary so there’s no reason to not trust them a second time. The seem to think that Nagelsmann will roll with a completely unchanged starting XI against the Netherlands:
Seems like the “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it” maxim applies here. Even if the Germans weren’t totally perfect against Hungary — the starting XI featured a notable lack of pace up top, for example — you can’t argue with the results. If the Germans can put up similar or better numbers against the Netherlands, you can be sure that Nagelsmann will stick with this XI for the foreseeable future, maybe even up to the 2026 World Cup.
In short, this game is a litmus test. If the performance is up to snuff, the new era of German football has well and truly arrived. If not, then it’s back to the drawing board — perhaps players like Aleksandar Pavlović, Angelo Stiller, and potentially even exiles like Serge Gnabry could find their way back into the XI. Whatever happens, people will be watching this game with great interest, which is more than you could say about German national team games post-2018.
In case you missed it, France Football left Jamal Musiala out of their Ballon d’Or top 30, which has sparked anger among the Bayern Munich fanbase and executives alike. If you want to know why it’s such a big deal, we covered it in our newest podcast episode, alongside a discussion about Florian Wirtz vs Paul Wanner and whom Bayern Munich should get first. Listen to it below or on Spotify.
As always, we appreciate all the support!
