Gündogan speaks on new players, new offensive role, and Kroos' return

In an interview with Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung, German national team captain Iklay Gündogan spoke on Julian Nagelsmann’s most recent squad selection, the return of his fellow La Liga professional to the Nationalmannschaft, and the manner in which Nagelsmann now intends to use him tactically. 

His continued captaincy of Germany’s Nationalmannschaft confirmed, 33-year-old German footballing veteran Ilkay Gündogan took care to speak like a leader in a recently published interview with Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Barça professional praised Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann for making “brave choices” with his most recent roster and insisted that he and his colleagues would “back it 100 percent”.

“I’m happy with the Bundestrainer’s current direction for our team,” the 73-times-capped international told the paper, “My experience in football makes one thing abundantly clear to me: only the brave are rewarded in the end.”

Gündogan has yet to taste success with the German national team despite representing it since 2011. An injury forced him to miss out on the 2014 World Championship campaign. The Gelsenkirchen native has always remained exceptionally vocal about his dissatisfaction during the many disappointments since. Asked about the team’s highly uncertain prospects with so many debutants in the squad, Gündogan strived to emphasize the positives.

“All of the new players are here for good reasons,” Gündogan said, “They are playing at a high level in the Bundesliga and thus deserve to be here. It can only be good for us if new players bring their momentum with them.”

When it came to Toni Kroos’ return to the team, Gündogan offered up some specifics on the obvious logjam this created in his midfield position. Gündogan revealed that Nagelsmann had contacted him directly before officially recalling his fellow 33-year-old La Liga professional. Nagelsmann has already spoken about using Kroos in a more defensive role while Gündogan could work up as high as the ten slot.

“Julian Nagelsmann had apparently heard that Toni’s return could be a problem for me,” Gündogan noted, “Then he picked up the phone, called me and asked me directly. I told him straight away that I was totally fine with it and had never had a problem with Toni.”

“It’s now about proving to the critics that we can work together,” he continued, “It’s clear to me that I’ll take on a more offensive role for the team. Toni and I will put our stamp on the German game and orient ourselves to what the coach wants. Toni is performing at the top level.”

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