Press comments on the European Championship selection
Lots of praise for Nagelsmann’s team: “An exciting squad with a great hunger for success”
Julian Nagelsmann is looking forward to his “super squad” when introducing his European Championship squad
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
This is unusual: There is hardly any criticism of Nagelsmann’s 27-man European Championship squad in the press. Praise for the balanced selection prevails – as well as understanding for the exclusion of Hummels and Goretzka. Toni Kroos is particularly highlighted.
With a “high energy level” and completely ready for a new summer fairy tale Julian Nagelsmann announced his plan for the home European Championships on Thursday. After almost four days of social media fireworks with 18 European Championship tickets already confirmed, the national coach handed over nine more tickets and explained in a committed, emotional but also sensitive way why there was no room for Mats Hummels and Leon Goretzka as “totally disappointed” veterans.
At the same time, Nagelsmann raised high expectations 29 days before the landmark opening game against Scotland on June 14th. “We’re trying to win the title, I can promise you that; we’ll do everything we can to achieve that.” But how is the “super squad,” as Nagelsmann calls his squad, received in the press?
A look into the newspaper columns of the Republic.
Lots of praise for Nagelsmann’s European Championship squad
“Swabian newspaper“: “As a proven tactics expert, Julian Nagelsmann knows how to surprise one or two opponents on the football field. When his squad was nominated for the home European Championship, however, there was no surprise effect (…) because Nagelsmann consistently stuck to his announcement “Giving confidence to players for the very important home tournament, who have finally rekindled euphoria around the national team after years of sadness with the recent international successes against France and the Netherlands. A wise decision.”
“Kicker”: “For Goretzka and even more so for Hummels, who has recently defended himself in impressive form, this exclusion may feel bitter and – if you take the performance criterion alone – unfair. But Nagelsmann’s argument that these two – in their self-image – top dogs are dealing with the It cannot be dismissed out of hand that they could have difficulty fulfilling their intended role as challengers and supplementary players (…) The national team, which has become increasingly frustrated and unsettled over the years, desperately needed this supply of young, hungry and unencumbered forces.
“Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Munich): “When nominating his first tournament squad, Nagelsmann showed that he is not afraid of controversial decisions, on the contrary. Nevertheless, it is in the nature of things that coaches are also held particularly responsible after special decisions. Should one happen in the course of a long tournament Defenders make a mistake or are injured, you can already imagine the debates. Then Nagelsmann is no longer the national coach who made tough decisions, but the one who shied away from presenting strong characters. But Nagelsmann has His not-so-short coaching career has shown that he fears little less than risk.”
National coach Nagelsmann
These players are in the provisional European Championship squad
The return of Toni Kroos is crucial to the squad
“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “The return of Toni Kroos, you can already say that much, has changed the national team at its core. He is the figure who has given the entire team a new frame of reference and meaning, the role from which everyone else can rely (newly) derived. This applies specifically to the offensive, where Wirtz, Musiala and others can now play freed from the burden of responsibility, but it also indirectly radiates into all other areas because Nagelsmann felt more freedom overall towards the future Kroos could therefore prove to be a great stroke of luck for the national coach, although it must be added that it was perhaps only possible in this form because first under Hansi Flick and then under Nagelsmann himself all certainty and all structure had been lost. “
“New Osnabrücker Zeitung”: “This creates an exciting squad in which the hunger for success is great: with the long-established players because – with Neuer, Kroos and Thomas Müller as exceptions – they have never done anything wrong in major tournaments and therefore have something to prove, as well as with the Neuen because they want to show that they are ready to play for Germany. That’s a good mix, especially with a coach for whom both are true (…) The 36-year-old has to show that he is for “He has done a lot of things right so far with his squad selection: he has shown courage and at the same time made surprisingly logical, forward-looking decisions for the DFB.”