Former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann eager for Germany vs. Austria showdown

Former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann will lead the German national team against Austria on Tuesday and it suddenly seems like a game that Die Mannschaft needs to win.

“For me as always, it doesn’t matter who’s favourite. In the end, it’s the performance on the pitch that counts. The better team will probably win and we’ll try to be the better team. Austria has many top players who play in the best leagues in Europe,” Nagelsmann said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Ralf Rangnick has a clear idea that he has been following for years. The opponent is very, very strong. The Austrians have improved significantly in many areas in recent years.”

Nagelsmann will explore how to best line up against Austria, but there probably will not be any substantial alterations.

“Of course we’re thinking about that and always trying to change something without changing much. It’s about positioning yourself so that you can easily win the ball and create lots of chances. I’m waiting for the final training. There won’t be any major changes, just slight adjustments.”

So…Kai Havertz will remain in that hybrid left-back role? It appears that it is still on the table.

“In general, it wasn’t a big experiment. We played the same formation as in the USA. Kai didn’t play as a classic left-back. I wonder how anyone can criticize Kai after the Turkey game. He has huge quality that we like to have on the pitch. We may play someone else at left-back tomorrow, but Kai is also an option. We’ll decide after training,” Nagelsmann said.

Whatever happens, the matchup against Rangnick will be a special one for Nagelsmann.

“He fought extremely hard for me to come to Leipzig much earlier. He communicated with me early on, even though we weren’t on the same team. I owe him a lot and continued the path he took in Leipzig. I’m really looking forward to seeing him again tomorrow. It will certainly be an exciting game,” said the German national team boss.