Once promising, now plateauing: struggling Schlotterbeck is the player Dortmund and Germany desperate need to get right

Julian Nageslman and Nuri Sahin's squads are packed full of attacking talent, but both rely heavily on a central defender that is struggling to live up to the hype.

Germany had an almost embarrassing array of attacking players to choose from when they welcomed Bosnia and Herzegovina to Freiburg’s Europa Park on Saturday. Whether it was Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz, Jamal Musiala or even Tim Kleindienst, Julian Nagelsmann’s team never lacked an attacking edge, that kept their opponents on the back foot. In a fixture that would have fizzled out after 20 minutes of boring football under Hansi Flick or Joachim Löw, this new-look Germany were nonstop in their attacking onslaught. By the end of the match the hosts had fired no fewer than 23 shots towards poor St Pauli keeper Nikola Vasilj and scored seven goals along the way. 

However, as effective as Germany were up one end of the pitch, it was a slightly different story in their own half. While Bosnia certainly showed little intent in causing an upset, they did have their chances. There’s little doubt that Armin Gigovic should have earned his nation a consolation goal in the dying moments in the first half and over the course of the game Bosnia registered no less than seven attempts on goal. Hardly a bombardment, but certainly enough to hint at a soft underbelly in this Germany team. 

Indeed, Nagelsmann’s side are likely to finish 2024 undefeated in normal time (let’s not talk about what happened in extra-time against Spain), but that shouldn’t mask the fact that Germany may have some problems on the horizon when it comes to their back line. On Saturday, Nagelsmann turned to Antonio Rüdiger and Jonathan Tah to anchor his defence, but the former, at 31, is beginning to look his age and the latter seems to have regressed at Bayer Leverkusen this season. Not to mention the fact that the Bundestrainer’s go-to replacement for either defender on Saturday was the error-prone Robin Koch on the bench. Germany may be blessed with wonderful attacking players, but Nagelsmann would probably give his right arm for a Mats Hummels or Jerome Boateng in their prime. 

The worry for Germany is that by the time the next international tournament comes around, Rüdiger will have just turned 33 and Tah will most likely be gathering dust on the bench at Barcelona or Bayern Munich. As such, Nagelsmann’s only notable long-term solution at the heart of defence is a player that once showed immense promise and seemed destined to lead his national team for years to come but has since hit a bit of a plateau at Borussia Dortmund. I’m of course talking about the talented but unquestionably infuriating Nico Schlotterbeck.