The fact that Deniz Undav is not in the starting line-up of the DFB team against Ghana, but Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade, is causing discussion. Julian Nagelsmann justifies this with the Stuttgarter’s strengths and previous agreements.
As soon as the DFB announced the German line-up for the friendly against Ghana in Stuttgart, the comment columns filled up with posts full of incomprehension within seconds. The name that appeared most often in user reactions: Deniz Undav.
It was one thing that the VfB Stuttgart striker was once again not in the starting line-up despite his success rate (36 goals in 39 competitive games). The fact that both direct competitors, Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade, were listed instead raised the level of incomprehension even further. Julian Nagelsmann again opted for the two attackers, who have had several problems this season – they (Havertz as a starter, Woltemade as a joker) had already been given preference over Undav in Switzerland.
Clear Distribution of roles in the DFB storm
In the Sportschau interview before the last test before the World Cup squad is announced on May 12th, Nagelsmann spoke to presenter Esther Sedlaczek and expert Bastian Schweinsteiger about the decision, which was controversial for many. “We have defined roles and when I have a role conversation with a player, I have to stick to them to some extent because otherwise I can forget my credibility.”said the national coach, who had already determined the ranking order.
In addition, Nagelsmann clearly sees Undav as the better joker in his game. “Deniz has a lot of good moves in the league when the opponent is a little tired because he has extraordinary creativity. That goes a bit flat when he has to work a lot in the game.”said the 38-year-old. When asked whether Undav would accept this role well, Nagelsmann replied briefly: “Exactly.”
Nagelsmann: “I’m not that worried about Nick”
The most successful striker has to be content with the second row, Havertz and Woltemade continue to enjoy trust, even though things are not going well for him at Newcastle United. “We’ve already talked about it, I tried to calm him down a bit. It has nothing to do with him personally, I think that’s also the philosophy of Newcastle coach Eddie Howe, that he changes things around a lot. That’s why I’m not that worried because it affects everyone, not just Nick.”said Nagelsmann.
The national coach continues about Woltemade: “We have to give him trust here, he feels that too, he also trains well. He’s a player with a lot of perspective who can also relieve Kai when we need a similar type of player. Then we also have Deniz, who will definitely get minutes, who does it very well in a different way, he’s more of an enforcer. We have enough potential there.”
Woltemade: “I’m happy that I get the trust”
For Nagelsmann, Havertz, who plays on the right offensive side against Ghana, remains the number one, Woltemade the B center forward – even though he has not scored in the Premier League since December. “I think I scored really important goals last year and had good games. Especially because scoring goals isn’t going so well at the club at the moment, but there are other reasons for that, I’m happy that I’m playing here and that I’m getting the trust.”said Woltemade in the Sportschau interview.
