Toni Kroos did not hold back after the painful elimination of the Germany national team. The former Real Madrid player gave an extremely harsh assessment of the current state of football in his country, making it clear that the team’s real level is far from the historic elite status it is used to.
In the latest episode of Einfach mal Luppen, the podcast he shares with his brother Felix, the former German footballer was blunt. “Right now, we do not have a single world-class player,” he stated firmly, sparking a deep debate about the squad’s true potential.
Although he acknowledged that Germany has players with great “potential” to reach the top, Kroos insisted that this is not enough to compete on the biggest stages.
Trapped in the past
“The reality is that football has changed and we have remained trapped in the memory of what we once were. You do not win with the badge, you win with authority, and today we do not have that,” added the midfielder.
The former player also pointed to the lack of leaders on the pitch in moments of maximum pressure. According to Kroos, leadership cannot be imposed by decree; it is shown when the heat is on and the team needs someone to cling to in order to change the course of a match.
Finally, Kroos called on the youth ranks of German football, pointing out that the root of the problem lies in the development of new talent. “We have stopped producing players with character; now they all seem cut from the same cloth, and we are missing that rebellious streak,” he concluded devastatingly.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.
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