As of: March 12, 2024, 3:18 p.m
By: Philipp Kessler, Manuel Bonke
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Aleksandar Pavlovic can look forward to his first DFB nomination.
© Gribaudi/imago
On Thursday, national coach Julian Nagelsmann will announce his squad for the next international matches.
There are surprises.
Munich - The time of experiments continues.
National coach Julian Nagelsmann (36) will only announce his squad for the games against France (March 23) and the Netherlands (March 26) on Thursday.
But it was already clear on Monday: Striker Deniz Undav (27), left-back Maximilian Mittelstädt (26), winger Chris Führich (26) and central defender Waldemar Anton (27) were allowed to represent the Stuttgart high-flyers in the national team for the first time.
VfB colleague Serhou Guirassy (28) already congratulated the quartet via X (formerly Twitter).
“Well-deserved,” the striker wrote to his “boys.”
Left winger Jan-Niklas Beste (25) from Bundesliga promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim and striker Maximilian Beier (21) from Hoffenheim are also considered debut candidates.
Aleksandar Pavlovic (19) can also look forward to being rewarded for his strong performance at FC Bayern.
The six-man team, which has recently been heavily courted by the Serbian association, is nominated by Nagelsmann for the last test games before the home European Championship.
The former FCB coach does without Leon Goretzka (29).
It's understandable given all of his performances so far this season, but considering the midfielder's recent good performances, it's a surprise.
Bild
first reported on Nagelsmann's decision
.
“Aleksandar Pavlovic played great recently, you have to acknowledge that, but you shouldn't turn the boy's head,” writes Lothar Matthäus (62) in his current Sky column.
From the point of view of the record national player, the youngster (14 professional appearances at FC Bayern) would not currently be a candidate for the DFB team.
He also sees no need in central midfield.
Leon Goretzka is not expected to take part in the upcoming international matches – Aleksandar Pavlovic, however, will.
© IMAGO/Ulrich Gamel
According to
tz
information, there were also reservations within the association as to whether Pavlovic was already suitable for the German senior national team.
So far, the defensive midfielder has only been used in the U20 team.
The original plan called for the U21s to be the next logical step.
But after the Serbian association lured with an A nomination and underlined this publicly in the last few days, the Germans were forced to act.
Knowing full well that Pavlovic still reveals weaknesses both physically and when playing against the ball.
The player himself is also aware of this.
Pavlovic wants to improve physically and defensively
“I want to improve physically and defensively.
“Just like Leon Goretzka, he’s a machine,” emphasized Pavlovic after the 3-0 win against Lazio.
Goretzka also had words of praise for his Munich midfield colleague: “I’m a big fan of Aleks, who is playing with total freedom at the moment.
That’s really good for me personally too.” Not when it comes to the national team...
The fact is: DFB returnee Toni Kroos (34) is placed in midfield.
In addition to the passing machine, Nagelsmann will probably rely on a strong tackler like Robert Andrich (29).
Captain Ilkay Gündogan (33) will play on the ten.
Joshua Kimmich (29) moves to the right-back position.
Nagelsmann recently emphasized in Spiegel that he wanted to influence the mentality of the struggling DFB team with targeted nominations.
He cited midfielder Pascal Groß (32) from the English first division club Brighton as an example.
But it would also be an advantage if the national coach finally found his starting eleven shortly before the European Championships.
Philipp Kessler, Manuel Bonke