Joshua Kimmich
September 2025

Former Germany star Mario Basler slammed Julian Nagelsmann’s reliance on Joshua Kimmich in midfield, arguing his free role destabilises Germany’s balance and unfairly sidelines Leon Goretzka. He even suggested dropping the captain altogether and pairing Goretzka with Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller instead. Despite Kimmich’s strong display against Northern Ireland, Basler claimed his dominance over set-pieces and positioning creates holes, while Goretzka is consistently sacrificed. He insisted Nagelsmann must empower other players like Stiller to avoid overdependence on Kimmich and restore Germany’s midfield cohesion before bigger tests arrive.