Toni Kroos and Ilkay Gündogan still have football left. The Real Madrid player has decided to leave without allowing any future decline to appear. The Barcelona player has shown that those who criticize him know little about football. The captain, in Nagelsmann’s scheme, lives embedded in the midfield. He is escorted by two tough young men, Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz.. The two generations are what make Germany a candidate for everything.
The Bayern and Bayer playmakers, from 2003, look in the mirror of Gündogan and Kroos, both born in 1990. The veterans were only a year older than Florian and Jamal the day they touched the sky lifting the World Cup, that of 2014 in Brazil. The young people, after a complicated experience in Qatar, have the opportunity in their country to replicate the first stages of Toni and Ilkay’s international careers with a title with the national team.
Germany plays with three midfielders: Kroos, Gündogan and Kimmich. All three with very different roles. Wirtz and Musiala are parked on the sides of Ilkay, leaving the wings for the rises of Joshua and a Mittelstädt who seemed daring in the opening match. Wirtz and Musiala are set to lead the next great generation of German footballers. Also from the world.
As different as they are complementary
They are as talented as they are different. On the one hand, Wirtz, after overcoming a serious injury, has established himself as a footballer very close to the goal. He closed the historic season in Leverkusen with 18 goals and 20 assists. Furthermore, he has the honor of having uncorked the scoring tally of this year’s Euro Cup, with a good shot from the front. His ability to make the final pass makes him the desire of the entire continent.
On the other hand, Musiala is a footballer who, despite occupying the same position, looks different. His plasticity, as a gifted, chosen player, allows him to draw fast drives and with leg changes that eliminate rivals. He finished the game with five of eight completed dribbles and without missing a pass. He also failed to make his appointment with the goal, scoring the second on a shot from inside the area.
“We need magicians, but they are of no use to us if they do not work defensively. Today we have worked very hard in all phases,” commented Nagelsmann in the press room, who already warned in advance that they were “two world-class players.” The coach explained that he asks the footballers “to enjoy, to remember that it is football, that it is not a matter of life or death.” And in those are Wirtz and Musiala, enjoying and dancing in small spaces as if they were still in the schoolyard.
Germany has proven to be a factory of extremes in recent years: Leroy Sané, Adeyemi and Gnabry are some examples, as have Brandt, Draxler and Werner also participated in the band. Hansi Flick’s Bayern grew up along this path. Even so, Nagelsmann dispenses with this profile in his main party plan to nourish the interior positions with talent. Wirtz and Musiala are ready to take over from Gündogan and Kroos.
