Germany played their first game of the World Cup year — a friendly against Switzerland. While friendlies are generally inconsequential, this one was crucial for it is the earliest indicator of how Germany’s squad is shaping up for the World Cup in June.
The German performance left a lot to be desired but the impact Florian Wirtz had on this team has made it clear that their problems do not lie in attack. By dint of great attacking performances and subpar defensive work, Germany won this game 4-3, making it their first win against Switzerland in 17 years.
Manager Julian Nagelsmann started Kai Havertz at striker, and when substitutions came along, it was Nick Woltemade who replaced him. This raised a question — why not Deniz Undav? The Stuttgart man has the second highest number of goals scored this season, behind Harry Kane. In an interview with RTL, per Bild, Nagelsmann answered the question of why Undav was not given playing time.
“It was a super-intense game in terms of the pace. Deniz has a ton of qualities, especially when you have a lot of the ball yourself and a lot of controlled possession in the opponent’s half. It was a transition game with a lot of ball recoveries and quick moves forward,” Nagelsmann said first, explaining the qualities Undav has.
Then, he gets to the crux of the issue — “Nick (Woltemade) has a great record with us, but he’s not having an easy time at Newcastle right now. Now I have the choice between boosting the confidence of a top striker who’s in good form or dropping a top striker who’s not quite in good form right now,” he stated.
The National Team is perhaps the easiest way to boost an underperforming player’s confidence, and Nagelsmann perhaps weighed the risk of losing a friendly with getting one of his striker’s back on track.
He further goes on, but takes an odd tangent about sports psychologists. “I’ll ask a few psychologists what they think. Probably the opposite of what I think. That’s the hobby of psychologists who aren’t in the field—they always like to claim the opposite of what all coaches say,” he said.
Nagelsmann concluded it would be good for Woltemade to use the National Team to get back on track.
“I say it’s advisable for Nick Woltemade to get back on track with us, because things aren’t going 100 percent smoothly at Newcastle. And Deniz is on a roll anyway; whether he plays today or not, it won’t change his confidence for this week,” he declared.
Then came in the most important question — will Undav start against Ghana, at home? “We haven’t decided that yet,” Nagelsmann replied.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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