Fans were up in arms last week as news circulated online days before the official German national team squad announcement. This news, of course, were leaks of players who were to be included on Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for the World Cup in June and July. Before the initial announcement, fans had a pretty good idea of what the squad looked like, with many citing that it ruined the reveal of the official announcement.
Although, not every single leak was accurate (sorry Said El Mala), almost all players
were leaked ahead of the DFB’s official conference. Julian Nagelsmann was recently asked about the leaks and justified his decision with a confident answer.
“I could sit down the day of the squad reveal, roll out a piece of paper and say, ‘Right, these are the players.’ That would, of course, prevent it from appearing in the media beforehand. But I don’t care about that. I prefer staying in touch with the players and explaining why things are the way they are. The right approach is to inform the players personally – whether the news is good or bad. Normally the story breaks in the media only after the players are briefed. I can’t control what the media write, but I believe you should always speak to every player first. The leaks don’t bother me,” Nagelsmann told the media ahead of training camp, as captured via @iMiaSanMia.
This is a really good perspective by Nagelsmann. While taking care of the media and showing a united front to the world is important, managing players is far more important, and it is clear the former Bayern Munich boss understands this. At the end of the day, it is players talking to their agents and others that is getting these leaks out.
While there was heavy criticism around such leaks ahead of the announcement, this statement by Nagelsmann seems to really resonate with fans and is hopefully a sign of good things to come at this tournament. The talent is there but uniting as a team has been an issue the past few tournaments with the exception of EURO 2024, and anything is possible this summer at North America, although Germany are heading in as outside-favorites.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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