The national coach did this with Pascal Groß, a player who is obviously of great value to the DFB team as a substitute. “Pascal is very, very selfless. He’s just a great person and therefore a really good squad player,” Nagelsmann explained – indirectly underlining that this profile probably doesn’t entirely apply to Stiller. In Stuttgart, the principle “all or nothing” applies. Stiller is one for the starting eleven, but not one for the substitute bench – and that is precisely why he is a shaky candidate for the World Cup despite his footballing quality.
The game against Switzerland could now swing the pendulum in a decisive direction for Stiller. If the midfielder trained at FC Bayern delivers a convincing performance against his neighbors, he will inevitably make it more difficult for the national coach to do without him in terms of the World Cup squad places. However, if Stiller is disappointed, as was the case in his last DFB appearance, the 2-0 defeat in Slovakia in September, his World Cup dream may already be evaporating. Nagelsmann would then no longer have any arguments for continuing to rely on him.
Stiller’s advantage before the game that will probably point the way for him: The loss of Pavlović and Nmecha defuses the competitive situation in the German midfield a lot these days. The Stuttgart player can play freely against Switzerland without the immediate pressure of having to compete directly with his worst opponents for World Cup participation – even though he has two other competitors breathing down his neck: squad player Groß and returnee Anton Stach. As is well known, captain Joshua Kimmich is planned as a right-back.
For Stiller, the attempt to play a decisive role in the focus is still a Herculean task. “It’s a special situation that our two probably most stable central midfielders are out,” said Nagelsmann on Thursday in Basel, once again confirming the currently elevated position of Pavlović and Nmecha two and a half months before the start of the World Cup. But this is exactly what Stiller needs to shake up now – so that his own World Cup dream can come true.
