Hoene? criticises Nagelsmann over Kimmich and Baumann

Uli Hoeneß

The debate over Joshua Kimmich's position in the German national team has been reignited by Uli Hoeneß. He has criticised national team manager Julian Nagelsmann.

The honorary president of FC Bayern Munich has no sympathy for Nagelsmann's decision to play Kimmich at right-back rather than in central midfield.

"I need Joshua Kimmich in midfield. Under no circumstances should he play at right-back; he can't be a leader there," Hoeneß told Der Spiegel. The 74-year-old insists the DFB team needs a Bayern block in midfield pairing Kimmich with Aleksandar Pavlovic. 

The debate over Kimmich's national-team position has simmered for some time, though it had recently quieted. At club level, Bayern manager Vincent Kompany deploys him in a holding midfield role, whereas Nagelsmann, with one eye on the World Cup, continues to use him as a right-back. "It's actually been a very, very long discussion. The manager knows that I can play in both positions, and so he can make use of that," Kimmich said on the matter last year.

Uli Hoeneß on Baumann's demotion: "That wasn't right."

Apart from the Kimmich issue, Hoeneß is generally not entirely happy with the World Cup squad that Nagelsmann has selected for the major tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada. It is "good, but not world-class", Hoeneß explained. "The squad should have played three, four, or five matches together to gel as a unit," he said. He stressed that his remarks were not personal but "objective, technical criticism".

He also questioned the handling of Oliver Baumann, who was demoted to second-choice goalkeeper behind Bayern's Manuel Neuer. "That wasn't right, it wasn't fair," he stated. Although the club boss had already emphasised at Bayern's title celebrations that Neuer remained the best goalkeeper in his view, he nevertheless felt sorry for Baumann.

The 40-year-old Neuer had initially retired from international duty after the 2024 European Championship, but has now agreed to return for the World Cup. As a result, Baumann—who played throughout the qualifiers as Germany's number one and had been promised the role for the tournament—must settle for a place on the bench.

Germany will face Curaçao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador in the group stage of the World Cup (11 June–19 July).

DFB squad: The squad for the 2026 World Cup