The backline for the German national team has been going through significant changes over the last few years. The legendary duo of Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng is long gone, and since then there have been many different players in defense, most of which failed to make a statement. That has seemingly changed now as Antonio Rüdiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, and Jonathan Tah have all made strong cases to be starters in this Germany squad.
But with Germany playing with two central defenders, a decision
has to be made on who to exclude from the first choice pairing. According to recent remarks, he might have already made up his mind. When asked if Nico Schlotterbeck and Jonathan Tah have impressed, he had plenty to say.
“I think they’ve done a very good job and are very consistent in the league. Jona had a difficult start at Bayern, but he’s been very consistent ever since. And Schlotti, as I’ve already said, is an extremely important player for us. Antonio Rüdiger has a great ability; he’s exceptionally good in one-on-one situations in tight spaces, a really strong tackler. Antonio needs to be 100% fit and healthy. If he has minor injuries, like he sometimes had with us, he can’t reach his full potential, and that doesn’t make sense. But he’s on the right track,” Nagelsmann tells Kicker per @iMiaSanMia.
While he didn’t make any concrete statements, it seems as though there is a clear choice in Tah and Schlotterbeck. Both are in tremendous form playing in Germany, and have built chemistry in recent months together at the national level. While Rüdiger had great form previously for Die Mannschaft, it is hard to envision him getting a starting role over the Bundesliga stars.
With Tah and Schlotterbeck being the younger options available, there is reason to believe we could see this pairing for the foreseeable future. At the current level, Germany might have some of the best center-backs in the world right now, and that will be massively important this summer. While there are question marks at striker and in the midfield, Germany is looking like one of the strongest sides at this year’s tournament.
