Julian Nagelsmann now has a lot of fun breaking conventions and simply revealing parts of the line-up the day before the game. There was a time when advance knowledge of the formation was information that raised some media to the level of a sensation, because coaches usually kept quiet in order to keep the opponent (and sometimes their own players) in the game for as long as possible to leave things unclear. But the national coach enjoyed simply saying what is happening during the European Championships, including on Sunday. “Angelo and Pavlo are playing,” announced the national coach and was extremely happy because he knew that no one had expected the announcement.
Well, you could have guessed it a bit. Angelo Stiller and Aleksandar Pavlovic are natives of Munich, and Nagelsmann already proved during the European Championships that the location of the international match influences him when selecting personnel. In the opening game in Munich he substituted for Thomas Müller and in Stuttgart for Deniz Undav, the two local heroes. Pavlovic’s starting eleven debut is almost overdue: he missed the European Championships due to tonsillitis, and a slight knee injury prevented him from playing before the game in Zenica against Bosnia-Herzegovina. At FC Bayern, the new coach Vincent Kompany is exposing himself to the debate as to why the expensive signing Palhinha is not actually playing, and all of this taken together makes Pavlovic’s start against the Netherlands on Monday (8:45 p.m., ZDF) almost logical.
:It’s not just Undav who shows that the path to the national team is more open than ever
It’s different with Stiller, who, like Pavlovic, played his entire youth at FC Bayern and who, after his time with the Munich second team, coach Sebastian Hoeneß took with him as his personal key player first to Hoffenheim and then to Stuttgart. His move to the DFB starting eleven is more surprising, simply because midfield center Stiller/Pavlovic sounds like a bit too much of the future at once.
But Nagelsmann is known for relishing risk, and after Toni Kroos’ resignation and Joshua Kimmich’s duties at right-back, someone has to do the job in the center. “We still have two years until the World Cup and we can’t just rely on 33-year-olds and 34-year-olds in the squad,” said Nagelsmann, referring above all to Pascal Groß, whose qualities as a playmaker are valued, but who is at the tournament in the USA will already scratch the 35 years. Next man Robert Andrich will also be approaching 32 years old.
Tim Kleindienst will also be in the starting line-up again
Striker Tim Kleindienst, who didn’t score a goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina, will play again against the Netherlands, Nagelsmann also confirmed this. In addition to Oliver Baumann in goal, who replaces Alexander Nübel as announced, there may be a fourth change, but the national coach didn’t want to announce it.
When asked how he maintains the balance between trying and winning given his goal of winning the Nations League, Nagelsmann was surprised. He doesn’t know why personnel changes have “a negative touch”. He won’t change his style of play. “I try things that I think are important for us to see.”
In fact, the number of good old test games has fallen, so the national coach no longer has that many chances to mix things up without consequences. However, the audience has been a little skeptical about castling since former national coach Hansi Flick got lost in it and Nagelsmann was only successful the second he decided on a starting eleven.
But the pressure to succeed in the Nations League is of course not the pressure to succeed at a home European Championship, and in Stiller’s case there are few justified doubts about the chance he deserves. Antonio Rüdiger, who recently became vice-captain, was asked for his opinion on the two boys. He already knew Pavlovic, he had a great future ahead of him, but he was a “fan” of Stiller. He is very calm on the ball and is hardly nervous. Rüdiger was able to observe this from close up – during VfB’s away game in the Champions League at his home in the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. Stiller was on the ball more often than any Real player, including Rüdiger.
