The high-flyers of VfB Stuttgart remain on course for the Champions League. But for now, their excited gaze is on the national coach.
Maximilian Mittelstädt will be available for Julian Nagelsmann if the worst comes to the worst. “My cell phone is always on anyway,” joked the VfB Stuttgart left-back, referring to a possible call from the national coach. Mittelstädt can hope more than ever for a nomination for the national team in the coming week – like some of Stuttgart’s high-flyers.
“I think we have all submitted our application,” said the 26-year-old after the 2-0 (1-0) against Union Berlin on Friday evening. Next Thursday, Nagelsmann wants to announce his squad for the international matches against France (March 23) and the Netherlands (March 26). And from VfB, which is still on course for the Champions League in the league, several candidates are pushing their way to the national coach.
The appointment of striker Deniz Undav, who is currently the most successful German Bundesliga goalscorer (14 goals, five assists), is considered certain. Behind them, captain Waldemar Anton, who initially sat on the bench against Union like Undav, and Chris Führich, who had already celebrated his DFB debut in October and scored beautifully to make it 2-0 on Friday, have been particularly successful in recent months Position taken. And Mittelstädt.
He once again showed a strong performance against Union, and his interaction with Führich on the left worked well again. “I think that Chris and I harmonize very well,” said Mittelstädt after the game on DAZN. And yet the wing duo remained modest with a view to a joint DFB nomination. “There are other top players too,” said Führich.
Don’t let yourself be put off
They have long since played their way into the limelight at VfB with their inspiring offensive football. “They show that they work together almost every weekend this season,” VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß praised his two protégés and added: “These are potentially good impulses that a national team can also need.”
In any case, Mittelstädt himself does not want to be disturbed by the speculation. “First and foremost, we want to deliver our performance here at VfB,” he said, “that’s the only way we can recommend ourselves.” On Friday it worked excellently once again.
Against a very combative Union team, VfB never lost control of the game thanks to their remarkable ball security and consolidated their third place in the table thanks to goals from top striker Serhou Guirassy (19th) and Führich (65th).
A call from Nagelsmann would hardly come as a surprise to anyone.