What on earth has El Mala done? Making sense of Karl's outburst and Nagelsmann's reaction

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Ouedraogo for Karl—would that have been a hot take? Not for Julian Nagelsmann, which begs the question: what on earth is wrong with the man? Or, for that matter, what are we even discussing here? A commentary.

There's no doubt about it: Lennart Karl's withdrawal from the World Cup is a bitter blow. It hurts the team and their coaches, and it hurts the 18-year-old himself. "It just hurts beyond words," Karl posted on Instagram. Football and its fans feel the loss too.

His fearless, audacious style—often baffling at first glance yet unexpectedly effective—will be sorely missed. That brand of spontaneity could have served as a vital link between tactics and temperament, as well as between players and supporters.

Hold on... Carefree and cheeky, pulling off audacious tricks? Isn't there another player who ticks all those boxes?

Naturally, many would praise those who wanted to see Said El Mala in the World Cup squad—and on the pitch. Cologne supporters and anyone who appreciates pace, skill and flair would certainly echo that view. They might even wonder what El Mala did to fall out of Nagelsmann's favour. I will not speculate here, but I find El Mala as exciting to watch as Lennart Karl.

Yet Nagelsmann's decision to leave El Mala out of the Luxembourg qualifier and subsequent squad was foreseeable, and he doubtless has solid sporting reasons for holding the 19-year-old back.

He must have them; otherwise, his expertise as a footballing authority would be open to question, and that is not the intention here.

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World Cup squad: Some experts label it a "catastrophic mistake," while others call it "extremely risky."

Nagelsmann evidently sees no sporting benefit in El Mala—and, pure speculation, no other justification for bringing him to the US.

Yet he evidently spots something worthwhile in Assan Ouedraogo, who made his World Cup qualifying debut but whose season was otherwise disrupted by injury. Even Chris Führich, despite impressing in the VfB shirt, appears to offer little that Nagelsmann cannot already access elsewhere in the squad.

This, in turn, leads to another point worth raising. Viewed objectively, the DFB squad now has three goalkeepers—with the designated No. 1 carrying an injury—five centre-backs, two left-backs, eight central midfielders, two playmakers, two right-wingers and four centre-forwards. Anyone paying attention will have noticed: there is no right-back and no left winger. The figure of eight for the central midfielders – be they defensive midfielders, attacking midfielders or completely versatile all-rounders – also stands out. And that's right: Ouedraogo is included in that count.

Yet it would be uncharacteristic for Nagelsmann and his staff to suddenly panic in the run-up to the Curacao game, cursing the absence of a left winger or right-back. They clearly had their reasons; otherwise, Josha Vagnoman or even El Mala might have been on the plane.

You are free to label this "a catastrophic mistake" or "extremely risky", but Nagelsmann and his staff do not deliberately undermine their own planning.

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Nagelsmann's Communication: The El Mala, Undav and Baumann Cases

This is not a defence of Nagelsmann's squad selections, but a counterpoint to the populist view that the national team manager has lost his marbles.

Instead, he stays true to himself—especially in his awkward communication style. Several remarks during his tenure, notably around the World Cup squad announcement, can be held against him: the elastic "performance principle", or his March claim that El Mala lacked match practice.

Yet El Mala went on to start all ten Bundesliga matches for Cologne from 7 March onwards, scoring five goals and providing one assist. Nagelsmann can also be fairly criticised for his handling of Deniz Undav and the goalkeeping situation involving Oliver Baumann and Manuel Neuer.

Germany Announces FIFA World Cup 2026 Squad

Under pressure, Julian Nagelsmann tends to rise to the challenge

Although "unfortunate" hardly captures it. Making contradictory statements is always a bad idea, because, as we all know, the internet and those watching a national team manager never forget.

Critics label his approach unnecessarily confrontational or diplomatically clumsy. In short, the 38-year-old often defends or justifies himself without real need, then lashes out verbally. He could spare himself much flak by communicating more simply, objectively and clearly.

That approach could help him keep matters small, limit room for interpretation and avoid unnecessary pressure.

Under pressure, he turns defiant.

Some even sense that El Mala's selection chances dwindled in direct proportion to the volume of public support for the young striker.

That, of course, is mere conjecture.

2026 World Cup: Germany's national team squad

The system of classifying players as goalkeeper, defender or attacker mirrors the DFB model, which makes no distinction between different midfield roles or wingers.