The German national team is currently playing in the 2026 World Cup and has made it to the round of 32. However, their performance so far has been rather mixed. There is also some debate right now surrounding one or two Bayern players.
First and foremost, of course, is Manuel Neuer, who didn’t have a strong group stage. Some experts believe that Neuer’s return as the starting goalkeeper was anything but ideal.
It’s noticeable that the goalkeeper not only isn’t making many saves but is also struggling with his goal kicks and his precision when handling the ball with his feet.
But Joshua Kimmich is also in the crosshairs of some critics. They say he has less influence on the game on the right side than he does in the center. Lothar Matthäus, among others, has already called for him to return to the center.
Matthäus doesn’t understand Nagelsmann
Matthäus received support for his call from Philipp Lahm, the 2014 World Cup champion. Lahm also believes that the Bayern star is better suited for midfield and can have a greater impact there.
In his BILD column on the World Cup, Matthäus has now doubled down on his stance. “The fact that we’ll soon be facing wingers who are, on average, 3 km/h faster than Kimmich is another argument for replacing him at right back with someone faster. Perhaps with Brown on the right and Raum on the left. I don’t even want to think about us being eliminated because yet another player has outrun Kimmich,” said the all-time leading German international.
In this context, Matthäus also doesn’t fully understand the national team coach. “Julian Nagelsmann shouldn’t be stubborn about this—after all, we all want Germany to go far. We all see the shortcomings, and the national team coach should be looking at them even more closely in daily training and with his analysis team,” Matthäus continued.
Most recently, Nagelsmann had argued that Kimmich performed very well defensively, especially in 2024. That, too, annoyed Matthäus.
“It surprises me, however, that the national team coach is using Kimmich’s stats as a right back from the 2024 European Championship as an argument. Back then, though, we had experienced leaders in midfield—Kroos, Gündogan, and Andrich—and Kimmich was able to play his role as a right back in a completely different way,” he explained.