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

LOL, Basler tried to make himself appeal rational.
-crying about Argentinian Draxler comparisons.

most of those comparisons are basically about Messi at 17 y/o not prime Messi and more to do with how he comes off, doesn't mean he's German Messi or Messi 2.0.

always found these types of triggers cringe. Like who cares, its irrelevant and doesn't affect anything. Outside of weirdos who worship players NOBODY should care about any comparisons to anyone.

also him getting compared to Messi by others is reason to shit on a high schooler, LOL. If he claimed he was better

-everything is rushed these days, same issue he has with El Mala.

LOL, everyone should be late bloomer??? everyone should NOT take their chances when they are given them?

what rushing anyways? Its called breakingthrough although both having breakout seasons in 1BL.

and not like the SNT, AM/W were are super super stacked. Lots of players are downtrending and calling up Turkey Sane makes more sense than next gen players???

Nagelsmann needs to start focusing on EC28 players more and more.

-bringing up Tel and Wanner as hyped talents who didn't make it.

Tel is a mediocre player who I called from day 1 after Bayern spent $30M on him that he wasn't going to make it at Bayern. Good Riddance too, LOL. Most Bayern fans were hyping him and singing praise, LOL.

Wanner has good technical skills but poor mentality and not so great finishing. Too many players with technical skills focus so much on technique that they forget shooting technique.....


also FACT, Wanner had 0 XIs at Bayern and Tel had in his 1st Bayern season 1 XI in 1BL+2 XI in DFB Cup.....that's it, LOL. Tel had 15 XIs in 3 YEARS vs Karl already at 10 in his 1st year. Tel was never trusted to be XI in CL either......Tel also got that BOOST push for fact that Bayern spent $30M on him, if he was an Academy player who cost 0 or cheap, he likely would have played EVEN LESS, LOL.

-Its LOANING TIME!!!

🇩🇪💥 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐋 (𝟏𝟕) in the last starts:

- ⚽️ vs Mainz
- ⚽️ vs Sporting CP
- ❌ vs Union Berlin
- ❌ vs St. Pauli
- ⚽️ vs Arsenal
- ⚽️🅰️ vs SC Freiburg
- ⚽️ vs Georgia U21
- ⚽️⚽️ vs Malta U21

𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐍 𝐃’𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋 💎 pic.twitter.com/no3QLQI5Tp

— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) December 14, 2025

PS was named MOTM in that Union match too, LMAO!!!

 

Outstanding as head of defense
Does the new role secure Andrich's World Cup ticket?

A special moment of happiness for Leverkusen's captain: Robert Andrich (31) scored his first goal of the 2025 calendar year against Cologne

For many fans, Robert Andrich (31) was an attractive figure this season, with the international often being heavily criticized on social media, even being denied the ability to lead Leverkusen as captain.

Andrich gave his answer. And what a.
At the latest with his outstanding appearance in the 2:0 win against Cologne (BILD grade 1), which he crowned with a header. There couldn't have been a better moment for his first goal of the 2025 calendar year.

The actual six Andrich fought his way back into the starting line-up – as head of defense!
And the role in the defensive center could secure his ticket to the 2026 World Cup. Andrich's flexibility – against Cologne he moved back to the double six in the final phase – is a big plus.
Mit Köpfchen! Robert Andrich wuchtet den Ball zum 2:0 für Leverkusen ins Kölner Tor
With brains! Robert Andrich lifted the ball into the Cologne goal to make it 2:0 for Leverkusen

Will his role open up new options for him at the DFB?
Andrich: „We haven't talked about it yet. First of all, I wanted to get back into my rhythm. It wasn't an easy season at the beginning. I'm getting in better and better now, no matter what position I play. It is important for the national coach and me that I stand on the pitch week after week. Then we'll see in what position and in what form I hope to be there.“

His club coach Kasper Hjulmand praises (53): „Robert played very well in the big games last month. He knows how important the game against Cologne was He's a leading player.“
https://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/...yer-04-das-wm-ticket-693ec95c629fc38b106a34f2


and this is why we shall never win WC26.
CBs of Tah, Rudiger, Koch, Anton, fake CB Andrich etc.

like seriously is any of these even better than Mustafi???

 

what a loser if true.

according to reports, ter Stegen looks to want to stay at Barca and fight his way. Refuses to leave perm or on loan in Winter, indications continue he won't be #1 after his return from injury.

basically sacrificing Germany #1 just to be at Barcelona.

LOL, who would have thought that ter Stegen would NEVER become Germany #1, LMAO.

Neuer retires in 2024 and ter Stegen sacrifices his chance to succeed him at WC26 and that a decent at best Baumann would be Germany #1 at a WC or EC....something ter Stegen will never be.

still wasteful though that we can't move on from these GKs. Baumann will be 37 y/o at EC28, would be stupid to rely on him beyond the WC.

 

I mean the AM/W Pool currently looking like
Sane, Gnabry, Brandt, Amiri, Leweling, Schade, Havertz, Knauff, Musiala, Wirtz, Adeyemi, El Mala, Karl

Other OLDER options likely only extended pool and ignore the U21 and under players.

I think we all know that Havertz, Musiala, Wirtz are likely 100% going to WC26. It leaves 3-4 spots for the remaining players.

Nagelsmann seems unwilling to let go of Gnabry+Sane and Gnabry being a Bayern is what continues to push him in SNT too.

like if he pushes for Gnabry+Sane, that would leave like 1-2 spots that's it.

Sane sadly is on the rise, which will likely push him for continued NT call ups....
-Assist vs Luxemburg in 2-0 W
-2 goals and 1 assist vs Slovakia in 6-0 W
-1 goal in 1-1 D with club
-1 goal and 1 assist in 3-2 W for club
-1 goal and 1 assist in 4-1 W for club

but continues to do nothing in CL though.

sadly I doubt we get rid of Sane+Gnabry tbh.

so that would already be like 5 players out of 6-7 spots......

 

confirmed we are future champions!!!

Sane=Helmut Rahn

 

more time passes by the more Karl's best position really is at AM. Reason why AM is his best position because at end of day when he plays AM he's basically a free roaming player.

he doesn't even play AM, LOL. He's basically all over the field all game. You see him at False 9, AM, RW, he drops back to the halfway line and gets involved in the build up play and even gives direction all game to players twice his age, LOL. Goes back to defend all the time too.

when he's at RW, he's too far away from box and can't do as much damage and doesn't have that free roaming.

his movements is purposeful constantly playing decoy to lure players on him and open up space for others. You can never guess if its decoy work or real movement to do some damage.

because he's free roaming and all over the pitch, it makes it very hard for him to be marked by the opposition. We've seen the Sporting Lisbon coach and others admit that he's very very hard to defend against.

add his dribbling which is basically a patient dribbler. One sees Olise for example, numerous numerous times dribble past 1-2 players just to end up side passing, LOL. Karl's dribbling on other hand seems more tied to when he sees an opportunity to go directly towards goal. When he sees a REAL opening that is when he'll really go for the solo dribble. Its when he sees a chance to cause real damage, he avoids the unnecessary dribbling. Although I do think that he 100% restrains himself from more dribbling. If one saw his U21 matches for example, he was dribbling solo all matches. Its clear "I don't want turnovers, lose the ball and risk losing my spot" issue that makes him not do it as much. And that is always a risk for young players breakingthrough, they 100% get trashed by coaches for that, LOL. Will be curious to see if years down the line if he's ever given free reign to do as he pleases or not.

add his 1st touch, 2 footed, technical skills, ball playing skills, as well as his speed of action. Likes to do things super fast as faster you do it, less time for Ds to react or adjust. Nevermind his shots from distance and his fantastic shooting technique, just like how dribbling hasn't been fully maximized neither has his potential for FKs+Corners which he has shown he score those in youth level. Does have 1 A from corner too in 1st team.

more reason why Karl+Musiala can cause so much damage in future. The combination of the 2 could be fun. Musiala who loves to overdribble mixed with Karl's direct allround game. Will be curious to see how many more goals would he score if Musiala or Diaz played over Gnabry. Could increase the chances for even more goals or assists tbh.

gonna be impossible to ignore him for March. Nagelsmann did say that Karl is a player that he's curious to see in person in training which was his BIGGEST temptation to call him up in November.

also on final note, when one sees Karl constantly giving directions to teammates and how he has carried the team in numerous matches this season and how attack constantly revolves around him. Does he have that future captain potential??? Feels like if he can continue like this on his path upwards could happen in X years, I mean really far away, nobody's gonna make a teenager or early 20s a captain, LOL.

PS Bonus, he helped eliminate Spain U17 08s from both U17 EC and U17 WC with a dominant performance and thus some Spanish fanboys hate him and were dreading last month his pro rise, LMAO. Being hated by rivals is always +, LOL.

 

90s born GKs are more waste, like majority of 90s born.
-Baumann=career Hoffenheim player, nothing special.
-Trapp=I feel like he was the best of the lot when it came to NT. And also led Frankfurt to historic EL trophy. Even then he's not Elite or anything.
-ter Stegen=seen as world class at club but very mediocre in NT. Remember he missed WC14 squad due to immaturity when younger, he got sent off in one of his "tryout" caps in NT, LOL. Could have been WC champ if not for all that, better GK than Zieler who ended up 3rd spot which would have otherwise likely went to ter Stegen. Now wasting chance to become Germany #1 after all these years.
-Leno=has always been complete shit when playing for Germany, LOL. But everyone at DFB rated him excessively UNDERSERVED high.

if one adds
-Karius=crashed and burned after concussion in CL final......who else but the vile Sergio Ramos barf.
-Zieler=he's 89 born but spent HUGE chunk of career in 2BL..........this is a WC winner, LOL.

not a fan of seeing players win WCs or ECs that don't amount to anything.
Zieler, Durm, Grosskreutz, Draxler, Mustafi=wasted spots...........joking about the last 2, as that would be slander, LOL.

-Zetterer, Zentner etc=nothing worthwhile
-Nubel, Nicolas, Dahmen=issue with this lot of 3, is that they aren't Elite level GKs and don't think they will be either, obviously. Fast approaching 30 y/o, yeah Nubel is 30 next year in 2026, already......has no real future at Bayern either.

is it shocking that Neuer stayed #1 for like 15 years when the competition was non-existent, LMAO. His only real competition was ter Stegen who always came off between average to decent in NT. Same reason why Klose stayed 1st choice CF for like 12 years its because the more time we advanced the less competition he had and he was always consistent so won over by DEFAULT, LOL. Would say post Neuville, Kuranyi, Asamoah etc, his only competition was Gomez that's it.

we need the 02-onwards GK to pick up the slack, progress seems on better track then 90s born.

 

-Ghana friendly in March.

Der nächste Gegner in der WM-Vorbereitung steht fest 🫡✔️ Wir spielen am 30. März in Stuttgart gegen Ghana.

Alle Infos:
➡️ https://t.co/XV8yVBHYfm #dfbteam #fifawc pic.twitter.com/c9b2jC8Fsz

— DFB-Team (@DFB_Team) December 15, 2025

-Ballack on Karl and WC and Kimmich on him in NT.

Joshua Kimmich on his suggestion that Lennart Karl should be part of the national team: "It's simply the truth. If someone plays regularly for Bayern and consistently delivers good performances and is German, he belongs in the German national team in the long run - if he can… pic.twitter.com/6obIVRnTZa

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) December 15, 2025

Michael Ballack on Lennart Karl's World Cup chances: "What he's showing week in week out is truly unusual and exceptional - whether coming off the bench or starting, he's doing an outstanding job. Julian Nagelsmann has options, and Lennart has already proven that he's more than… pic.twitter.com/RBefM8sj8q

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) December 15, 2025

-Kleindienst has a set back and will return in January. I guess him, Musiala, Burkardt will make a January comeback.

-update on Fullkrug, not sure that's right move....

🚨🔴⚫️ AC Milan are working on new striker for January window regardless of what’s gonna happen with Santi Giménez.

Talks ongoing with Niklas Füllkrug’s camp as target, as reported in the recent weeks and days.

🎥🇮🇹 https://t.co/md6pbSt59D pic.twitter.com/BMTdFjFYJx

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 15, 2025

 

still time to make it 10+, LOL.

5 - Bayern Munich's Lennart Karl yesterday recorded his fifth direct goal involvement in the Bundesliga at the age of 17 (3 goals, 2 assists) – a new club record, never before has an FCB player achieved so many goal involvements in the Bundesliga before turning 18. Precocious. pic.twitter.com/TjiZKa04G1

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) December 15, 2025

 

at this point Flick just sucks, feels like typical German. When at DFB or youth they push for Germans and boost them but once they get club gigs they screw Germans at every chance. Never forget his atrocious 1st team chances for Academy at Bayern. Outside of Musiala he did nothing on that front. Was a terrible Germany NT coach and now screws ter Stegen for others who aren't better.

yeah he's better GK than Baumann even in NT he's also better. That is issue, Baumann is basically what should be your back up GK not your #1, LOL.

ter Stegen SUCKS, because he could have bought time for the next gen GKs instead he forces everything much earlier.

lets hope the Urbig, Atubolu, Backhaus, Seimen etc all make further progress in near future. So far from these 4, 2/4 are 1BL #1s with Atubolu and Backhaus already linked with bigger clubs. Urbig looks on track to become Bayern #1 but since Neuer is screwing things up, looks like he might not get that #1 spot until Summer 2027, 1 year before EC28, I'm hoping he just displaces Neuer next season if he stays another year. Seimen looking like Stuttgart #1 next season too. There is also Ramaj who is linked with bigger clubs than Heidenheim too. Ernst, Schenk etc from 2BL linked with upwards jumps.

 

Lennart Karl has been breaking records for fun this season. 🤫

In the last three months alone, he's become the youngest-ever player to:

◉ Score for Bayern in the UCL
◉ Score in each of his first two UCL starts
◉ Score in three straight UCL games
◉ Score and assist in a… pic.twitter.com/V5WW4q2kMe

— Squawka (@Squawka) December 15, 2025

 

Flick continues to show himself to be a dick, LOL.

Next setback for ter Stegen
Marc-André ter Stegen (33) must be able to cope with another bitter setback. According to the Catalan radio station ‚RAC1‘, it is not the DFB keeper who will be in the Cup, but Wojciech Szczesny (35) Copa del Rey at the third division club CD Guadalajara this Tuesday (21 a.m.), regular number one Joan García (24) represented. Ter Stegen can therefore only be viewed as number three in the ranking.

It was recently reported that the captain, who recovered from his back injury, could make a comeback in the cup as Szczesny recently struggled with gastrointestinal flu. Nevertheless, the Polish veteran is now apparently given preference. For ter Stegen it would be another signal to look for a new club for your World Cup dream. According to recent reports, the ex-Gladbacher wants to stay with Barça.
https://www.fussballtransfers.com/a4354976051045140673-naechster-rueckschlag-fuer-ter-stegen

 

Musiala (Bayern) and Henrichs (Leipzig) are both back in partial 1st team training.

on Havertz front looks like he's expected to make comeback debut this month for Arsenal.

now leaves Burkardt, Ouedraogo, Kleindienst who seem like 3/3 towards January.

 

only logical thing is that Flick wants ter Stegen OUT of Barca, dumping him to 3rd GK is 100% on purpose tbh.


Winter transfer: Rethinking at ter Stegen?
Marc-André ter Stegen actually ruled out saying goodbye in the winter. Can he be persuaded to rethink?

A winter farewell to Marc-André ter Stegen it's probably not entirely out of the question after all. As ‚Sport‘ reports, the keeper could say goodbye FC Barcelona consider, should Tottenham Hotspur to present with an offer. The Spurs appreciate the 33-year-old, but have not yet decided whether they want to prepare an offer.

The reason for the considerations is the growing doubts about regular goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. The 28-year-old has attracted attention several times in recent weeks due to mistakes. The Italian is also associated with a return to his home country, and Inter Milan is considered interested. With Marc-André ter Stegen, the Spurs are thinking of a top-class replacement.

The ex-Gladbacher no longer has a future in Barcelona, Joan García (24) is the clear number one. Ter Stegen, who was recently out due to a back injury, has so far rejected a move despite the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Besiktas, Ajax Amsterdam and Bologna FC have already asked, and Manchester United also contacted us through intermediaries. He is under contract with the Blaugrana until 2028.
https://www.fussballtransfers.com/a5913033539805745177-wintertransfer-umdenken-bei-ter-stegen

 

Julian Nagelsmann has yet to contact Lennart Karl about a potential national team call-up so far. But should Karl continue to perform as he recently has, the call-up is considered a matter of time [@SPORTBILD] pic.twitter.com/VGrarWSXo4

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) December 16, 2025

 

🚨🔴⚫️ BREAKING | Understand AC Milan have now submitted an official offer to West Ham for Niclas #Füllkrug. It is a loan deal with an option to buy.

West Ham are now reviewing the offer internally. #WHUFC would actually like at least an obligation to buy.@SkySportDE 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/EbaZaMJLPb

— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) December 17, 2025

2nd half of season gonna be tough competition at CF
-Burkardt vs Undav vs Woltemade already active
-Havertz and Kleindienst on course for comebacks sooon
-Fullkrug moving to Serie A top club???

that's a pool of 6 options.
when was last time the pool was this big???