Germany bank on experience as Julian Nagelsmann eyes short-term gains

A colleague once said that the least restful travelling berth for a Bayern Munich or Germany player is in the seat next to Thomas Muller. Muller is chatty. His nickname is Radio Muller. And it’s not a channel easily taken off air.

By this time in a week, the effervescent, evergreen Muller may very well have reached 125 caps for his country, a target he was cheerfully looking forward to as he posted a grinning message on social media as Germany set off for a long-haul adventure, to the USA and Mexico, during the current international break.

Seated next to Muller, readied for a lot of listening, was Mats Hummels, who had until recently imagined voyages with Muller were something firmly in his past.

The recall of Hummels, formerly of Bayern and now deep into his second spell at Borussia Dortmund, to Germany’s squad after more than two years since his most recent and 76th cap is among the eye-catching decisions taken by Julian Nagelsmann since being appointed head coach last month.

Nagelsmann is the third different man in the job since Hummels last played international football, the second since Jogi Low, who four and half years ago declared both Hummels and Muller had no future in the German national team.

So much for long-term planning. The recall of Hummels, at 34, is a perfectly logical move for the here and now. After crashing out of the 2022 World Cup in the group phase, with no clean sheets in their three games, Germany closed out the short tenure of Hansi Flick as head coach with one win in six games, conceding three goals each against Belgium and Ukraine, four against Japan and two against Colombia. To send out a summons for a seasoned centre-back like Hummels makes sense.

But to wonder if Hummels might be the wrong