Jamal Musiala had his strongest time to date at FC Bayern Munich under Julian Nagelsmann. Now the two are meeting again in the national team – and the national coach continues to think highly of the DFB youngster.
Singing is one of those things with the national football team. The players know that too. If they are silent during the national anthem, critical viewers will immediately accuse them of it – especially in times of bankruptcies. By the way, almost all of the German national players have been singing along lately, but they were successful – with the exception of the win against France under Rudi Völler in mid-September – not.
The new national coach Julian Nagelsmann has taken precautions here to avoid possible accusations: “I briefly practiced the national anthem again so that it fits,” said the 36-year-old at the press conference before his first international match. The Upper Bavarian is prepared for the test game against the USA on Saturday (9 p.m./live in the radio report). But he didn’t want to reveal a starting eleven yet, Only Joshua Kimmich is probably out.
Big praise from Nagelsmann for Musiala
Important for Nagelsmann when it comes to his singing skills: he didn’t have to sing a debut song in front of the team. This is common practice at the clubs – but not at the national team. Even though Munich’s Jamal Musiala, who was sitting on stage with his former FCB coach Nagelsmann, thought about asking Thomas Müller to demand an debut song from the coach.
The coach thinks highly of his midfielder, who has strong dribbling skills: “He knows that he has a very important role. The hopes that Germany has in him should not crush him, but rather make him proud,” says Nagelsmann almost 250 days before the start the home European Championship in Germany. “He is a huge footballer with a lot of potential in all areas.”
Musiala had his best time at FC Bayern under Nagelsmann
Under Nagelsmann, Musiala experienced his strongest time as a footballer to date at FC Bayern just over a year ago, when he danced almost unstoppably through the opponents’ defenses and, after a top start in the league, collected a total of twelve goals and 13 assists. It is precisely this effectiveness that impresses Nagelsmann about Musiala.
And that’s exactly what the successor of the… Hansi Flick, who was fired in September. Nagelsmann wants his team to “create more scoring chances than was the case recently”. He also wants to create a positive atmosphere within the team – and what better way to achieve that than by scoring goals?
Musiala: “We’re all excited about training”
But the new coach doesn’t take opponents USA lightly. He sees a “good mix of mentality and very good footballers” in the team, for which former Dortmund player Chrstian Pulisic and Gladbacher Joe Scally play, among others. “The stadium reminds me of an early club of mine. I think it’s good when it’s not always covered. I don’t have a rain jacket with me, but that doesn’t matter. I think it’ll be a good game.”
And one thing is also clear: “Of course a win is important to me. But what’s important is that the win is important to everyone. And you could already feel that in training.” Musiala returned the praise almost immediately: “Julian has good energy and is motivated. We players feel that, we are all keen in training and just want to win games.”
Nagelsmann returned to FCB seven months after being kicked out
The focus on the American East Coast is primarily on the trainer. Seven months after his expulsion from FC Bayern, he is back on the sidelines for the first time – and after the training days in Foxborough, Massachusetts, it is clear: he hasn’t changed that much.
Even if, according to Thomas Müller, he has “boiled down” his principles a bit. “There weren’t too many differences,” Nagelsmann confessed, “there weren’t really” from his time in Munich, “I just changed a few nuances.” Which one exactly? “I’ll keep it to myself.” But “not everything was bad” for the record champions. And so things should now be good for the national team.
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Source: BR24Sport on the radio
October 14, 2023 – 9:54 a.m
