National soccer team: Nagelsmann is considering radical rotation: No “time tolerance”

Julian Nagelsmann wants to approach the last international match of the year with a significantly changed starting eleven, but with the same hunger for victories. “The constellation in the group does not provide any extrinsic motivation, that is clear,” said the national coach before the final training for the game against Hungary on Tuesday (8.45 p.m./ZDF). “We draw our motivation from the fact that we want to develop,” emphasized the 37-year-old. The goal that Nagelsmann consciously mentioned remains the 2026 World Cup. “We don’t have many games until then. We don’t have a lot of time tolerance.”

The national soccer team won the group in the Nations League with a 7-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Even for hosts Hungary, who are third in the group, the game no longer has any impact on the table. That’s why we’re now testing the staff.

Four, nine or ten changes possible

“As of today there will be a lot of changes,” said Nagelsmann on Monday afternoon. The final decision will be made on Tuesday. “It could be that we change nine times, ten times or maybe four times,” said Nagelsmann, depending on who is fit. Captain Joshua Kimmich is definitely fit for action after his slight ankle injury.

What is certain is that Alexander Nübel will replace Oliver Baumann in goal. The national coach had announced that he would give both of the injured Marc-André ter Stegen’s deputies a chance to play in the position for the last time. Baumann had confidently thwarted the opponent’s only chance against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Since Tah is suspended in Hungary, Nico Schlotterbeck will take his position in the defensive line, Nagelsmann has already confirmed that. The BVB defender had served a yellow card suspension against Bosnia-Herzegovina. The national coach saw the fact that Tah still flew to Budapest with him as a sign of respect and team spirit.

Nagelsmann announced at the beginning of the international training course that he wanted to take the pressures of the professionals into account in his planning. “I said that we are trying to be considerate of the clubs, within a healthy framework,” said the 37-year-old. Against Bosnia-Herzegovina, after just under an hour, he made four changes and gave Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, among others, a break.

“Above everything is always the team that is playing, that is us at the moment. But I am not naïve or narrow-minded and I know that there are still important games until Christmas. We have the same interest in the players staying healthy,” said Nagelsmann to his agreement with the clubs. “We will show the fun we want to have in every game. We will take a step forward in every game,” said Musiala and promised a concentrated performance.

Classic against Italy possible

The game in the Puskas Arena is no longer relevant for the Nations League. The DFB team is group winner and will play in the quarter-finals on March 20th and 23rd, 2025 for a place in the final round. A possible opponent is Italy, which slipped to second place in its group after losing 3-1 to France on Sunday. Further opponent options will be decided on Monday evening in the last preliminary round games in Groups 1 and 4 of the A-League. Croatia or Scotland or Denmark or Serbia can also be considered as DFB opponents.