Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann addresses surprising lineup selections made ahead of devastating 2-1 loss to Spain

Former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann was quick to address the surprising lineup selections made prior to Germany’s 2-1 loss to Spain.

There were hints on some of Nagelsmann’s choices (Jonathan Tah taking back over for Nico Schlotterbeck, David Raum in for Maximilian Mittelstädt, Leroy Sané instead of of Florian Wirtz), but Emre Can taking the place of Robert Andrich was a shocker.

As expected, Nagelsmann liked Can’s ability to let Germany flow into a back three if needed. However, Can turned out to be a flop and was removed at halftime.

“Emre did very well when he came off the bench so far, he has extreme speed and is one of the fastest players in the squad, especially in the defensive area. We also want to limit the movement of Fabián Ruiz, who gets relatively little coverage from the media but is one of the key players who keeps dropping to the left and solving many situations,” said Nagelsmann of his rationale in using Can (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “When Rodri is man-marked, Ruiz is the player who is involved a lot in the build-up. Emre is just very, very fast and also has the ability to support the defenders. We are a bit more flexible tactically with him because he has also played in a back three more often.”

Nagelsmann also addressed the selection of Sané over Wirtz. Sané, who has been hampered by injuries and a slump since last December never got on track against Spain. He was solid defending, but a non-factor in the attack, and was subsequently also taken out at halftime.

“Spain are somewhat vulnerable to counterattacks. Leroy is very, very good at that. He generally has a brutal drive towards the goal with a lot of pace. We will need that,” Nagelsmann told Das Erste before the game (as captured by Abendzeitung’s Maximilian Koch via @iMiaSanMia).

Clearly, Nagelsmann whiffed on those selections, but did adjust to attempt to change things up after halftime.