Julian Nagelsmann is a gifted storyteller, but the national coach had not planned a pointed story about his current squad. Leroy Sané was initially not expected to be there when the German national team met on Monday to prepare for the international matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday and in Hungary on the following Tuesday. Sané, Nagelsmann explained when the squad was announced last week, “needs more match practice and rhythm after his break.”
On Sunday, however, it was clear that Deniz Undav from VfB Stuttgart would be out with a thigh injury, and Sané was subsequently nominated, for the first time since the European Championships in the summer. And with the presence of the winger from FC Bayern as a new addition, it is now possible to tell in a particularly vivid way what an international year for the DFB will end with the next two games.
It has been a year since Germany lost to Turkey (2:3) and Austria (0:2) in November 2023 and seemed to be facing a bleak future. As a reminder: These were the games in which Nagelsmann experimented with Kai Havertz as a so-called left-wing player – and Sané became a symbolic figure of an overwhelmed team. He fought with his opponent Philipp Mwene, was sent off with a red card and was suspended for three games – i.e. large parts of the preparation for the European Championship. It was probably one of the last of many indications that something fundamental had to change in the team.
These changes and their consequences are well known. Nagelsmann has established a new, somewhat simpler system (without strikers as rail players) and created a new hierarchy. This initially led to the successful European Championships and then, despite numerous resignations of established players, to successful appearances, a total of nine wins, three draws and only one defeat in 2024. And it led to a changed perception of the national team, from inside and outside.
As far as the inside view is concerned, Nagelsmann said at a press conference on the DFB campus in Frankfurt on Monday that it was probably the case a year ago that ailing players turned him down: “A year ago they would have called and said they couldn’t This time, many of the 23-man squad are not in the best of health. Nagelsmann spoke of nine people suffering from illness, but “everyone is still there”. The desire to train and play with the national team is so great.
As far as external perception is concerned, a year ago two games with the aim of securing group victory in the Nations League might have caused nothing more than a bored shrug of the shoulders from the audience. Now there is also anticipation for such games. The tickets for the game in Freiburg on Saturday were sold out within 45 minutes. “Preserving the joy and taking it with you over the turn of the year” is also what it’s all about, said Nagelsmann.
That Sané shows his potential? “Unfortunately no one else can do it for him,” says Nagelsmann
Using Sané as an example, the developments of the past year mean that his role in the national team has changed quite fundamentally. In November 2023 he was one of the most important players, which also had to do with his form in Munich. He played an outstanding first half of the season under Thomas Tuchel and actually seemed to fulfill the huge expectations that had been placed on him for years.
What followed were a few more good games for Bayern during a season that had sometimes become chaotic, but soon there were injury problems that once again made consistently good performances impossible. In April he was out with pubic bone inflammation, but still played in the Champions League and dragged himself to the European Championships, where he apparently played in pain, without making at least two starting eleven appearances (in the knockout games against Denmark and Spain). Then he had surgery.
At FC Bayern he got new competition in the summer with the arrival of winger Michael Olise. Sané was missing from the squad in the first few weeks of the season and was only substituted on for weeks. In the DFB Cup game against Mainz 05 at the end of October he was in the starting eleven for the first time under new coach Vincent Kompany. Last week he really showed his class for the first time, especially after coming on as a substitute in the 1-0 win against Benfica. Sané shot at goal, although without hitting, he ran away from the defenders, set up the goal, and was praised by Kompany.
On the one hand, it is an understandable plan for FC Bayern to have four top-class wingers in the squad for the large number of games, in addition to Sané and Olise, Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman. Given his injury history, Sané certainly doesn’t do a bad thing from time to time. On the other hand, it probably won’t do justice to his demands to be only one of four for his position – and whether FC Bayern wants to continue affording this luxury is currently an open question. Sané’s contract ends in 2025.
In the national team, at least since the European Championships, he is no longer the player whose form the offensive depends on. These are Jamal Musiala, who is currently so outstanding in Munich, and Florian Wirtz, both 21. Sané, soon to be 29 and one of the most experienced national players, is one of the competitors for the third position in the offensive line behind a tip. So it’s basically like so many times in his career: he now has to prove himself. Sané, said Nagelsmann, is “one of the best players we have in Germany if he brings the potential to the pitch.” But: “In the end it is up to him to show that. Unfortunately, no one else can do that for him, he has to do it himself.” But Nagelsmann also said: “I am confident that he will do it too.”