Manuel Neuer to remain Germany captain under Hansi Flick

It was the end of an era as Germany crashed out of the Euros at the hands of England in the round of 16, marking a figurative passing of the baton from Joachim Low to former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick. After 15 years at the helm, Low’s tenure as Die Mannschaft boss is over, in what many consider to be a period that was far too long. Nonetheless, Flick’s first competitive match in charge of the national team comes in two months time, when they travel to Liechtenstein on September 2nd for a World Cup qualifier. Flick’s plans have already started to take shape and the World Cup in Qatar is already fast approaching.

Per a new report from Bild, Flick plans on keeping Manuel Neuer as the captain of the national team as well as the number one goalkeeper. There’s already an understanding that Flick’s plans will be very Bayern-centric in terms of the players he worked with during the 2019/20 treble winning season and that he will heavily favor the 4-2-3-1 formation he most often utilized at Bayern. Just like at Bayern, he will focus on using Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka as the dual pivot in the center of midfield.

Photo by Handout/FC Bayern via Getty Images

Because of the close proximity of next year’s World Cup to this summer’s delayed European Championships, there was never really a question of whether or not Neuer would be involved in Qatar unless there was some sort of massive injury. Toni Kroos has already considered the possibility of retiring from the national team, though nothing is set in stone yet. He was very much a Joachim Low player and probably realizes he might not be one of the first names on Flick’s team sheets because of his Kimmich/Goretzka midfield pivot preference.