It should not be / or belong to Jamal Musiala, Deniz Undav and Germany

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It should not be / or belong to Jamal Musiala, Deniz Undav and Germany

The big talk on Saturday was about the comments of Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Müller, which put the famous duo under the microscope with Bayern Munich fans and fans of the German national team.

So what do the experts say? However, they called on Julian Nagelsmann to bench Jamal Musiala and start Deniz Undav. On the face of it, Müller and Klopp make sense because Musiala hasn’t been good since returning from a painful leg injury he picked up at the Club World Cup last year – and Undav has been really good this season.

Before people go on, let’s repeat the same theme – nobody will know what kind of player Musiala will be until January or February when there will be enough time for his form (and body) to fully recover. At that point, it will be sink or swim time for Musiala, but for now, he should get the benefit of the doubt.

Musiala still has a lot of potential, despite the fact that he may have been misled about how he might fit into this German team. If the aim is to include more in-form players, Nagelsmann can do the right thing and make it happen, without sending Musiala to the bench in a controversial move.

So, why didn’t Nagelsmann relish the thought of using Musiala, Undav, Kai Havertz, and Florian Wirtz together? However, the simple answer is that he does not want to bench one of his favorite players, Leroy Sané. The winner still has ungodly skill and ability, but he’s as good a player as you’ll ever see and has fallen short of what Nagelsmann has done to make the German team a productive player in the big leagues. The point is not to disparage Sané (who could tear Curaçao apart if he starts on Sunday), but to point out that he’s not among Germany’s best XI right now (and hasn’t been for a long time).

No matter where Musiala plays, he’ll probably tear it up in Curaçao again – a brace wouldn’t be a surprise. As the level of competition increases, the same issues that plagued Musiala will still exist. The player has also talked about his lack of confidence in his body and knowing what he can and can’t do. His vision as an attacking midfielder has been lacking at times since his return, and he still sometimes forces missed plays. Perhaps worst of all, he has had a great deal of trouble for both Bayern Munich and Germany finding his place in attack.

To be clear, Musiala is not a lost cause despite some of the physical obstacles he faces, but he may need to see the field in a different location. So, why not play him as a winger and try to unlock his 1v1 ability, his amazing ability to beat defenders and create odd man-up mismatches to open up the offense, and use his ability to score goals from all angles? Having Havertz and Undav working in the center with two creative powerhouses like Wirtz and Musiala working on the flanks would make this German attack very difficult. If Nagelsmann can push Wirtz to the wing, it wouldn’t be disrespectful to ask Musiala to do the same for the betterment of the team, right?

So far, however, coaches for club and country have solved the problem with Musiala when it seems worth exploring.

It makes a lot of sense, so Nagelsmann won’t do it.

Such is life in Germany these days.

If you want more Bayern Munich and the German national team, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can find on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…