Joachim Löw announces latest Germany squad; five Bayern Munich players included

In preparation for the upcoming international break, Germany coach Joachim Löw released his latest roster, which includes five players from Bayern Munich. Manuel Neuer, Niklas Süle, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, and Joshua Kimmich will all be part of the action when Die Mannschaft continues group play for UEFA European Championship qualification.

Germany squares off against the Netherlands on Friday September 6th (2:45PM EST) at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg and will also compete against Northern Ireland on Monday September 9th (2:45PM EST) at National Football Stadium at Windsor Park in Belfast.

The overall squad has a lot of familiar faces:

Aside of the Bayern Munich contingent, the Bundesliga is heavily represented with Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Matthias Ginter, RB Leipzig’s Marcel Halstenberg, Lukas Klostermann, and Timo Werner, Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schulz, Julian Brandt, and Marco Reus, Hertha Berlin’s Niklas Stark, Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz and Jonathan Tah, FC Köln’s Jonas Hector, and SC Freiburg’s Luca Waldschmidt all selected.

Bernd Leno (Arsenal), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Marc-André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona), Emre Can (Juventus), and İlkay Gündoğan (Manchester City) round out the squad.

BFW Analysis

The latest roster offers Löw some flexibility to how he deploys his personnel as many players have the capability to shift to multiple positions. Neuer, Kroos, Reus, Kimmich, Süle are probably unquestioned starters, while Havertz, Goretzka, Gnabry, Gündoğan, and Werner are likely part of the team’s core unit.

It will be fascinating to see how Löw sets this squad up as he has many possibilities for how to use the weapons at his disposal. Finding a way to have Werner, Gnabry, Reus, and Havertz power the attack could lead Löw to get creative given the absence of wing depth. Given the personnel, it would not be shocking to see Löw use a 3-5-2, a 4-3-3, or any modified version in between.

The absence of injured star Leroy Sane likely opened the pathway for Löw to select Waldschmidt for his first senior-team invitation. Waldschmidt was one of the breakout stars for Germany in the Euro U-21 championships. Otherwise, there are lot of familiar faces, including Can, who is making his return after an injury-induced hiatus.

Back in June, Löw used this grouping:

The only notable omissions from the previous list were the injured Paris Saint-Germain duo of midfielder Julian Draxler and outside-back Thilo Kehrer. Draxler has long been considered a Löw-favorite, while Kehrer had some up-and-down performances during his time with the senior team, which has likely pushed him back in the pecking order anyway.