Toni Kroos likes to go his own way when it comes to communication. On the one hand, this is beneficial in an industry in which everything can easily become formulaic and conformist; it's actually always worth it, listen to his podcast – you can otherwise take a long time to find such a pleasant mix of proximity to one of the biggest protagonists and at the same time a healthy distance from the company. On the other hand, there is always a certain risk. Maybe not everyone likes it when someone plays the great free spirit and – that's also part of Kroos – enjoys the role a bit.
The spectacular news that Kroos rather nonchalantly brought to the football audience on Thursday afternoon was in roughly this same area of tension. “Guys, short and painless: I will play for Germany again from March,” wrote Kroos on Instagram: “Why? Because I was asked by the national coach, I’m up for it and I’m sure that a lot more is possible with the team at the European Championships than most people believe at the moment!”
Resignation after the 2021 European Championship
It's really not the most important question whether it wouldn't actually be the national coach's job to announce something like that, or whether one of the channels of the German Football Association (DFB) might have been a little closer than Instagram, the platform of all things Generation Selfie.
The more important question is whether Kroos, 34 years old, can give the German national team what it needs for a successful European Championship summer. More than the fantastic billion of clean and precise passes, which Kroos naturally stands for, it is internal cohesion – although one has to do with the other. In any case, Kroos himself says that he believes in Kroos, and that Julian Nagelsmann did, to a certain extent, right away.
That was what became apparent recently. The national coach had already made his thoughts on this personnel public; the weak performances against Turkey and Austria had made him convinced that he needed another man of a different caliber. In December, Nagelsmann described Kroos' return as an “interesting thought” in the ZDF sports studio – this became a plan and a contact.
Kroos said in his podcast that a return had “not been on my mind until then”. With each subsequent conversation with Nagelksmann, he “became more and more pregnant” with the idea, and when the national team competes against France and the Netherlands in March, he will be there again for the first time since summer 2021.
Kroos, the 2014 world champion and five-time Champions League winner, announced his resignation from the national team after the round of 16 exit at the Corona European Championship after 106 international matches. A decision for the family on the one hand, for the body on the other – and for Real Madrid. Kroos wanted to show what he was made of in the white dress of the Royals for another year or two.
And now? The children are older and the attraction of showing off in the white DFB jersey again is obviously there too. In any case, there is a gain in football culture, and if someone is in a position to make Real Madrid shine, shouldn't the same apply to the national team? However, in order for the potential to become something real, a little more is needed: the right constellations – and the necessary acceptance.
Nagelsmann had recently embarked on a revival course in his search for the future, without it being clear where it would lead in terms of football: although he had written extensively for Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels, the concrete design of their roles remained but puzzling. Kroos now said he wanted to be “a cog,” but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he had been assured of a certain status in advance.
Be that as it may, it is Nagelsmann's biggest intervention to date in the structure and hierarchy of his team. In order to be able to reap the desired benefits from this, he must insure himself in two respects: firstly, when it comes to the constellation on the pitch. In Madrid, Kroos was the best when he had a congenial and – to quote a term that is also in vogue elsewhere this year – defensive-minded partner at his side; But the national coaches before Nagelsmann also looked in vain for a German Casemiro.
And then there is another question: what does it do to a team when someone with this self-image is up for it again after not having one for so long? Perhaps it was good timing to catch exactly the moment when it was clear that Bavarian forces could not be expected to save the European Championship mission.
But it is also clear: Wherever a Kroos comes back, there will also be losers. Whether everyone swallows it in the hope that they will all be the big winners in the end is now part of the big German bet this summer.
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