German national team has not endured the best time in the past 12 months. After axing several senior players from Bayern Munich, Joachim Low has received flak, but the idea of moving towards building a younger squad was right. However, the approach towards building that squad might look skeptical in hindsight.
Thomas Muller was one of the three senior players that were dropped from the squad. At that time, the decision from Low did look right as Muller was on a steady decline, and he was also eventually out of favour at Bayern under Niko Kovac.
The last 18 months have completely changed the dynamic for Muller. He has got back to his best immediately under Hansi Flick. The German forward ended up with the best creative numbers of his career last season. He is enjoying a good return in the final third this year too.
With every good performance from Muller under Flick, Low has been consistently asked about recalling him to the German squad. For the first time, Low has hinted that he will be open to this idea. In an interview with Sportschau (via Eurosport), Low admitted that he might have to change his plans about rebuilding the young squad due to the pandemic.
"“When you start an upheaval, you should never abandon it & go in a different direction. But the pandemic took away almost a year, so now you can really consider interrupting the upheaval if it’s absolutely necessary.”“If I think we still need some additional percentage or some energy providers, from a footballing or a leadership point of view. We won’t exclude anything; I can promise you that.”"
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After elimination in the group stages of World Cup 2018, Low needs a good performance from Germany at Euros in the summer to keep his job. He has faced a lot of scrutiny at the end of 2020 when Germany suffered a humiliating defeat against Spain in the UEFA Nations League.
Thomas Muller will provide much more leadership on and off the pitch for this young German squad. Moreover, the quality of Muller in the final third will elevate the team. He also has the pedigree of delivering in big games, so it is a no-brainer for Germany to recall him. Low should look to have Muller back in the squad during next month’s international break.
From Die Roten’s perspective, they will like Muller to stay away from Euros after such a hectic campaign. However, the club will be proud of the 31-year-old forward if he helps Germany to have a successful Euros.
Along with Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng has also enjoyed a resurgence under Flick. However, the German defender announced retirement from international football after Low decided to drop him. The next international break will give a proper indication about Low’s plans with Muller.