Filling the full-back positions is traditionally one of the big problems for the DFB team. Now Julian Nagelsmann has found a new solution – with two players whose stories couldn’t be more different.
It’s quite fascinating what German national coaches have tried to address the really chronic shortage of full-backs. In Hansi Flick’s time, Thilo Kehrer was the right-back of choice, and even back then many people didn’t know exactly where he played (West Ham United). And you can see how long ago that was because even fewer people know where he currently plays (AS Monaco). At the World Cup in Qatar, Niklas Süle suddenly formed one end of the back four, which directly led to a goal against Japan because he canceled the offside.