Germany's Quest to Not Embarrass Itself, the WC26+NL24-25 Thread

hard to say, since I don't watch Serie A.

but Inter is a top Serie A club, not easy to be fixed XI.

issues with Bisseck is he's a late bloomer who is still very raw, he's a physical beast for sure but has moments of lack of composure/focus aka brain fart.

for me, most important thing is that he's PERM capped tied by Germany.
So we don't NEED him NOW type situation.

speaking of CBs, Bella-Kotchap who had past injury issues has managed to breakthrough XI since end of October with Serie A club.

the current "younger" CBs that are pushing for SNT like Bisseck, Thiaw, Bella-Kotchap are all duals and all perm capped to Germany due to only 1 competitive cap each, LOL.

we got time for the lot to make SNT long term or not.

I think as mentioned Thiaw is the more stable CB from the 3 and for now most likely to get called up.

 

Karl was named in UEFA CL XI of M6. This is his 2nd UEFA CL XI too and he did win 2/3 MOTM as well. Fun fact he's the Bayern player who's made the MOST CL XI this season, LOL, with just 3 matches too. I've mentioned before had he scored that solo run vs Arsenal and bagged 2 goals in that match he likely would have won 3/3 MOTM and would likely have made 3/3 CL XIs too. Another fun fact, after 6 matches, Karl is the ONLY player to score on Arsenal in CL this season. Although Arsenal won that game, reality if Davies, Musiala, Diaz were present things could have been different.

LOL, seeing Karl getting overhyped on social media from non-Germany and non-Bayern fans aka EXPLOSION of interest towards the player and getting likened to Messi and others getting triggered by anyone likening to their "idol".

the Messi comparisons are to player profile not Messi 2.0 or German Messi or whatever.

I have funny story about Messi, reason why I don't give 2 shits about Messi is because I've RARELY seen him play. Yeah since I don't watch La Liga, don't watch Barca, don't watch Argentina nor will I waste my time watching matches for non-Germans, LOL, watching some Argentinian play. I recall from the time he emerged to like 2010, I had 0 clue to who he was, LMAO.

I've only seen him play vs Bayern and Germany and very few matches. How many are aware that Messi has RUBBISH track record vs Bayern and Germany.
-vs Germany=3/3 Ls in 3 back to back WCs. LOL, 4-0 TRASHING W.
-vs Bayern=5 Ls, 1 D, 2 Ws, yeah he failed to win 6/8 matches vs Bayern.

funny his 2/2 Ws and 1 D vs Bayern were matches I missed. But who could forget Bayern's 8-2 TRASHING W and 7-0 on aggregate!!!!!!!!

that's 2 Ws out of 11 matches vs Bayern+Germany, LOL.
-I also saw him flopping Copa America 2015 and 2016 and quitting after that, what a sore loser.
-I also saw him L in WC18 final
-WC22, I didn't even finish the final, LOL. In any case it was decided by a PK Shootout and had Muani (was always a meh CF even in 1BL....now flopping in EPL) not flopped his 1v1 towards end of match France would have won the WC.

all in all, all I've seen is a crybaby who L every match GALORE.

who cares about Messi, I would take comparisons to other players than same boring lameass crybaby.

 

concerning Wirtz, German Media are like
he's impressing in CL but FLOPPING in EPL.

that EPL is harder league than CL.......who cares about EPL.

CL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>EPL

biggest stage of European CLUB footy is NOT any League but CL.

more reason why playing EPL is a waste of time and effort. Honestly any 1BL club winning CL is bigger achievement than any EPL-La Liga club.

how much of Wirtz issue is that he's NOT a good fit for EPL?
I do wonder what happens if the transfer doesn't pan out. Who could afford to buy him? Feels like he'd be sold at a HUGE L, not that I care, LOL but could make it harder to find suitors.

 

according to reports Bayern seem linked with numerous Germans
-Schlotterbeck=reports state that Bayern wants him but seems unlikely if Upa extends at Bayern.
-Eicchorn=the 16 y/o M who is dominating 2BL and youngest ever DFB Cup Scorer. A player who all the top clubs in Europe are interested in too. Looks like he's high on wishlist.

A bit iffy on one had it feels like based on reports that if its not Eichhorn than they will go for non-German. Is it better to have German dominance in M or shove in a non-German there???

if Eichhorn joins than that's Bischof, Pavlovic, Eichhorn for German Ms and Kimmich on top of that. But isn't there are risk of rotting on bench???
-El Mala=Bayern seems to not want him to leave 1BL according to reports and are very keen on the player. Also high on wishlist.

gonna be interesting to see next couple of years. If these transfers happen then it means that
GK (Urbig), CBs, Ms, AM/Ws would be FULL of Germans at Bayern and vast MAJORITY would be young players too.

only missing fullbacks and CF, LOL.

could legit boost the NT with so many players playing together.

 

he doesn't care about the hype and brushes it aside completely, all he wants is to play nothing more. This is also what Kompany, his Bayern and Germany U21 teammates have all said.

to keep getting better he needs to continue to play. Bayern has to find way to play Karl and Musiala in XI together.

the problem with Sane+Gnabry is that they have 0 good tourneys for Germany. Neither played CC17 either. Sane had nose surgery and Gnabry was left with U21 who won that year. So they've never done anything whatsoever in any tourney. They only score in qualifiers+friendlies, LOL. Reality would be better to just focus on players for next tourney so axing both would be ideal but Nagelsmann between bias+experience will call them up. I do think Leweling and Sane have no business in SNT anymore, time to move on. The curious part is if Gnabry gets benched due to Karl+Musiala and Diaz+Olise are we still gonna rely on him in SNT???

Adeyemi and El Mala have their uses though. Adeyemi is super fast and can wreck teams, we do need players like that. And El Mala has that difference maker quality but lacking experience. They offer something different than Karl.

I will say the frustrating thing about WC26 is how much of a HUGE GIGANTIC WASTE THIS TOURNEY WILL BE. Reality, HUGE chunk of the more interesting promising quality players will be left on bench or left out for more meh players. Take GK, the post Baumann GKs are a SHIT TON more promising than him. AM/W we shall be stuck with Sane+Gnabry instead of focusing on more interesting players. In M, Goretzka and some others will be forced into the team etc.

this tourney looking like a TRANSITIONAL ONE for Germany. Transitional between last (hopefully) for the 90s born and into the next gen. I do wonder if Nagelsmann regrets taking the job so early, LMAO.

I was team Karl over Wirtz since last season. That Bayern has top talent that they should promote. The question mark at time is when would he get his 1st scrap mins, LOL. Reality Bayern was being annoying about Karl and tried to block his rise.

they made him play U17 even when it was a waste of time as he was destroying every team. Then RELUCTANTLY upped him to U19 where he continued to destroy every team vs older players which forced them to up him to 1st team training. Also due to contract, if he had no prospects he would have bailed. Now has become fully established in XI and when he's not in XI he's like always the 1st off the bench so he's already in that 11-13 spot in Bayern team.

its ironic because now we have Nagelsmann who is reluctant to up him, LMAO.

but yes if Wirtz had joined Bayern, Karl would NOT have brokenthrough point blank. Remember Wirtz is young and would have signed a long term contract.

I've always said the Bayern Academy to 1st team issue is that Bayern ALMOST never make room for young players in matchday squad. The young players always blocked for transfer and thus end up as the back ups outside matchday squads and only make squads when others are injured and mostly warm bench and barely used.

honestly based on transfer reports and rumors. Other Academy players breakingthrough will be very hard for them. Karl had that instant impact that majority of young players anywhere don't have. Players with fast impact will breakthrough faster than ones that need more time, because they would use their opportunity from Day 1.

 

also fun fact, Karl is like the first Bayern Academy player to skip Bayern II entirely. The Lahm, Alaba, Muller, Basti, Musiala, Pavlovic, Kroos, Hummels, etc all spent time in II. Karl nope direct jump from U19 where he barely played to 1st team XI, LMAO. He's played more Bayern U17 matches than U19.


Naw, find way to have BOTH in XI.

Didi Hamann: "When Jamal Musiala returns to shining, he will first have to prove that he is capable of overcoming Lennart Karl. It is impressive that a 17-year-old player, with his technique and great self-confidence, outshines stars like Harry Kane and Michael Olise. I've never seen anything like it, especially the impact he has on a European elite team. And if Karl continues playing at the same level, the German national team will have no other option but to call him up for the World Cup."

 

Basler always comes off as a drunkard tbh, LOL. Sad to see such an A-Hole from an ex-WC Champion.

he's already exposed himself over and over concerning Karl
-yapped that Karl won't make it at Bayern because he's too small

LMAO, proving the obsessive fixation that German footy as a whole has with height/physique. I always joked that Messi would NEVER have brokenthrough 1BL because there is a HUGE CHUNK of German footy coaches, managers etc who HATE HATE HATE small players.

-yapped that Karl was going to end up on loan by Summer 2026.

way things are going, LOL, ain't going on loan.

-yapped that Karl scored in CL....who gives a SHIT its Only Brugges.

CLOWN they ALL count and when a player is trying to establish himself at any club the more you score the more you force the coach to fully integrate you.

ALSO Bayern's youngest ever scorer in CL history too!!!

-yapped after his Brugges goal....if Karl was soooooooo amazing why doesn't he start vs Arsenal or BVB.

Proceeds to start vs Arsenal and scores vs Arsenal.

-gets SUPER pissed and started to say that anybody even his co-host could have scored that goal.

sure, the movement and super cold finish past GK, anyone could have done that, LOL.

-This Week, Scores his 3rd back to back CLs XIs and youngest ever do so and only 17 y/o to do it in history

and Basler's reaction, Karl will end up on loan, won't make it at Bayern, he doesn't have enough quality.

doesn't have enough quality but has 2/3 XI MOTM for Bayern in CL and has been Bayern's best player in those 3/3 matches too.

we've seen the kid, rally the team forward in NUMEROUS games from being down too. And the entire attack seems to revolve around him whenever he plays. But sure not good enough and his main reason is again his height. WTF is the height obsession, he's NOT a GK, CB or CF, LULZ.


Basler has been going on his RAGE MONGERING ANTI-Karl rants for like 2 months now and everytime he's proven wrong and everytime he doubles triples quadruples etc down on his hatred, LMAO.

what a deranged freak.
NOBODY hates German players like the Germans do, LOL.

when no high quality talents emerged with 90s born=bitching and when talents are emerging in quality=still bitching.

 

Oliver Kahn, aka King Kahn chips in on Karl.
"It simply makes you happy when such a young player plays without pressure in a shark tank like Munich," Kahn said. "Of course, you are carefree at that age, but you still have to do it like that first. You can see his qualities and he should just ride the wave as long as possible.

"He has now played his way into the starting XI. And if he continues like this, he won't need any major teething troubles with the national team either. And even at a World Cup, there are moments where you can make good use of such a player and he can make a big difference."

 

from non-German,
"After last 2 world cup I really thought that Germany will struggle against other teams because of lack of young talents but now they got Musiala, Wirtz, Woltemade, Adeyemi, Pavlovic, Bischof, Karl, Said El Mala, Brown, Nico S, Stiller, Jeltsch, Ouedraogo, Kemlein, Eichhorn etc"

haha this is ONLY the first wave of next gen.
AND he's missing numerous other players that are still young like Havertz, Thiaw, Bisseck, Schade, Beier, Atubolu, Urbig etc types.

 

LOL, never heard of this one, what year in the 90s did that happen?

but this is legit embarrassing, a grown ass 56 y/o man is basically bullying a 17 y/o still in high schooler, LOL.

Karl has had classes before the CL matches too, like before the matches in morning he studying and later on plays CL, LOL.

he's a high schooler who has yet to graduate from school and he's getting nonstop trashings by a grown man......SUPER CRINGE.

interesting part, I remember feeling the Karl's celebration after he scored vs Sporting to be very bizarre one. Seems like Christian Falk and Altschaffl tried to find Karl post match to ask him about the celebration but Karl sneaked past them, LOL. They think it was likely aimed at Basler, LOL.

imagine a 56 y/o having a back and forth spat with a high schooler.


from media,
Falk categorizes the cheers accordingly: „Of course, it’s reasonable to suspect that he was referring to Mario Basler.“ Altschäffl adds: „I have the feeling that he wasn’t a fan of Lennart Karl from day one.“

It is clear to the reporters that Karl has heard the criticism – and is now answering it in his own way. No words, no provocation, just a gesture. And it is all the more powerful because it came at a moment when he was once again carrying his team.

The fact that the youngster is in this situation at all shows how far he has already progressed. Karl consistently delivers arguments on the pitch

Altschäffl puts it in a nutshell: „I think you could slowly start to realize that Lennart Karl has got what it takes.“

His development is a gift for FC Bayern. At a time when key players are missing and the workload is high, the 17-year-old is taking on responsibility like a veteran. He is playing with courage, with ease and now also with a self-confidence that does not come across as arrogant – but proven

Whether the cheers were really intended as a message to Basler remains to be seen, but the symbolism remains: Lennart Karl has a voice – and now he decides for himself when to raise it and when he prefers to remain silent.
https://fcbinside.com/2025/12/12/clear-gesture-who-did-bayern-star-karl-want-to-silence/

 

LOL everybody knows it to be true.
A Spanish journo was basically like the German 95-96 and by extension the 90s born players are basically everything wrong with current Germany. They had potential that they never lived up to but that the mentality was never there for this lot. And are essentially the worst ever Germany team of ALL time.

I know he's spitting facts and basically what we all think but since I can't end this post with a Spanish W take.

hey at least the 95-96 WON the CC, a trophy that Spain has NEVER and will NEVER EVER Win!!! And Spain flopped to win it after 2 tries too, LOL.

 

concerning Mario Basler, I think the reason why he HATES Karl is because he's a HUGE Musiala fanboy. Brought him up a lot in that 2 months period of shitting on Karl.

from that I gather that he sees threat to Musiala's status at Bayern due to Karl's emergence.

like what's so hard to grasp, just like how Musiala vs Wirtz NEVER existed neither does Karl vs Musiala need to exist.

its Musiala AND Karl, Musiala AND Wirtz, and in future Musiala AND Wirtz AND Karl for Germany, LOL And same goes to any future SNT AM/W.

Musiala has that dribbling flair and ability to dribble past like 3-5 players type of player. Imagine combining that with Karl and Olise.

statistically speaking, without Musiala and Davies.
the highest Bayern dribblers looking like Olise, Diaz, Kane, Karl in that order.

but reality, #s wise Karl has more dribbles in CL than Diaz with less game time and in 1BL Diaz has more dribbles than Karl but has 3 times played more MINS than Karl has. Heck even Olise who is #1 on Bayern team has 3 times played more MINS that Karl. Kane is barely above with a LOT more game time too. Basically means that Karl would very likely be either #1 or super close to #1 if he has the same mins played than others.....

Gnabry has very low #s of dribbling and Karl with less game time already overtakes him. Nothing shocking Gnabry just like NT avoids dribbling he's all about speed and going behind the Ds over anything else. That's why he's not as big of a difference maker in the German SNT, because if teams bus park or close off space, what is he going to do? He needs space to maneuver.

point is, that a combo of Karl+Musiala is the way to go. Could be very interesting to see how they play off each other and how they fully bring their skillset to the foreground and they legit could be complimentary type of players.

 

Bro stop talking about Karl!!!
I'm doing good old fashioned HYPE WORK TO UP ENTHUSIASM or in old speech PROPAGANDA!!!!!

joking around, well he's constantly in news as there is a HUGE debate about WC26 or NOT.

reality hype would be very low towards Karl like closer to 0 if there was no WC or Euro this year. Nobody would care about calling him up to SNT if we were in that between year for SNT instead of being tourney year.

and yeah had Nagelsmann called him up to November and he wasn't far off either. Would have been Germany's YOUNGEST EVER player too. But by March he wouldn't be anymore, due to 4 months jump in time and would be same age as Musiala's debut in NT.



One is the "game-changer"
Matthäus speaks frankly about Musiala and Karl

FC Bayern is eagerly awaiting the return of Jamal Musiala, who wants to make his comeback in the 2026 World Cup year after a long injury. RTL expert Lothar Matthäus is convinced that the 22-year-old will take the currently successful Munich side to a new level. But he also sees youngster Lennart Karl on the right track.

Matthäus is already looking forward to the moment when Musiala makes his long-awaited comeback for FC Bayern.
"Musiala is a player who will take Bayern to another level," the record-holding German international told RTL/ntv and sport.de: "He's a game-changer."

Matthäus also recalled last season when the FC Bayern attacking star suffered a torn muscle bundle and missed the crucial Champions League quarter-final matches against Inter Milan. "You could see in the final stages of last year's Champions League that we would have loved to have Musiala on the pitch – especially against Inter Milan, when we were eliminated. Musiala is a game-changer," Matthäus emphasized.

The German international is currently working on his comeback after recovering from a broken fibula. According to media reports, the Munich team's friendly against RB Salzburg on January 6th is considered a possible return date.

FC Bayern: Matthäus's take on the Karl hype
One player who has impressively filled Musiala's role at FC Bayern recently is rising star Lennart Karl. Matthäus believes he can become the "game-changer" that his teammate already is.

"Lennart Karl has, of course, delivered outstanding performances; he doesn't just score goals. He's become a fan favorite in Munich at just 17 years old. He scores, dribbles, and plays well," raved Matthäus, who also cautioned against excessive expectations: "But just leave him alone for a bit; he'll continue to develop."

Should Karl maintain his current form, the RTL expert believes he absolutely must be called up to the German national team's World Cup squad. Then, "there's no way around him," Matthäus emphasized: "I'm sure Julian Nagelsmann sees it similarly to me."

Given his current success, Matthäus hopes that "gambler" Karl "keeps his feet on the ground."
He's not too worried, however: "With Michael Ballack, he has good management, and at FC Bayern, he has experienced and successful teammates. He's in very good hands there."

Karl, who recently crowned his debut for the German U21 national team with three goals in two games, has five goals and two assists in 18 competitive matches for FC Bayern this season.
https://www.sport.de/news/ne1630177...karl-einer-ist-schon-der-unterschiedsspieler/

 

-El Mala,


LOL the highlight doesn't even include his game vs BVB where he was attacking BVB solo all match and wrecked the BVB Defense and should have bagged like 2-3 goals in that match.

post match even BVB brass admitted that El Mala was the best player on the field too.

profile wise his direct physical aggressive style along with his dribbling would be well suited vs tired legs for the NT.

PS ignore the title, its just the official Bundesliga channel propaganda. Who cares about teenagers from other leagues anyways. Only thing that matters is package+potential. Topic of world class or elite is irrelevant.

-according to reports, Arsenal, Man U, Man City, Spurs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern etc seem all interested or at min have scouted LB Brown of Frankfurt.

Believe he refuses any Winter transfer because its WC season, doesn't want to risk missing WC. But all indications that in Summer will bail perm from Frankfurt.

gonna be interesting to see if he ends up the most successful German-American footy player of all time, LOL. None of the German-Americans that USA poaches where that great.


-NAGELSMANN RAUS, LOL.

🇩🇪 Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann intends to see out his contract with the national team, which expires in 2028. (Sky Germany)

❌ There is a termination clause next summer if Germany fails to progress past the group stage, as well as for the summer of 2027. pic.twitter.com/2LUBSPMfuZ

— Get German Football News (@GGFN_) December 5, 2025

so according to Sky Germany, he intends to stay until EC28. So yeah like most of us assumed that either WC26 or MAX MAX MAX EC28 and he's Adios. Was never gonna stay long term. Basically 3 tourneys where most of that is wasted on older players.