Former Germany midfielders Didi Hamann and Mario Basler demand a ‘cut’ with some of the senior players in the national team going forward.
“I believe that Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, and Leroy Sané should no longer play a role in the national team,” Hamann told Abendzeitung.
“We’ve never progressed beyond the quarterfinals in the last five tournaments and haven’t even reached the round of 16 in the last three World Cups.
“Why would things be any different in two years with them still in the team?,” the former Bayern Munich player added.
Meanwhile, Basler continued with a similar argument talking on Sport1 regarding the need for “a real clean-up” in the current DFB squad.
“For me, there’s no doubt that four or five players have no business being there anymore, including our captain.
“Joshua Kimmich should slowly realize that there’s no future for him with the national team. Joshua is just too slow. And time doesn’t stand still for him, he’ll only get slower.
“Leroy Sané, Antonio Rüdiger, Pascal Groß, these are players who, in my opinion, have no place in the national team anymore.
“We need a completely new face of young, hungry players. We don’t need any of the ‘washed-up’ players anymore.
“I think Bayern Munich will also have a problem there in the near future if they keep relying on Joshua at the #6 position.”
Meanwhile, Lothar Matthäus’s column for Sky Germany contrasted with Basler’s, by backing Kimmich to remain a key player for Germany:
“Although he didn’t have a great World Cup, I still see Joshua Kimmich as a key figure and captain under the new coach.
“But he has to play where he needs to be, at the position where he simply has more influence. Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck can also become faces of the team.”
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