Kimmich debate: Hamann doubts his central role – Matthäus disagrees
Sky pundit Dietmar Hamann does not see Joshua Kimmich as world class in central midfield and thinks the captaincy question will settle itself. Lothar Matthäus disagrees.
Archive image · Photo: Bryan Berlin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
A new debate has flared up around captain Joshua Kimmich. According to SPORT1, Sky pundit Dietmar Hamann pointed out that coaches Hansi Flick, Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann all used Kimmich at right-back: "And now someone wants to tell me he is world class in the middle." On central midfield he said: "That is the engine room, that is where games are won and lost." He sees Aleksandar Pavlović and Felix Nmecha as the starters there.
On the armband, the former international said: "I think the captaincy question will settle itself at some point, because others will play." National coach Jürgen Klopp recently fielded Kimmich in central midfield.
Lothar Matthäus sees it differently. After Bayern's 6-1 win over RB Leipzig, in which Kimmich provided an assist, he said: "He does the decisive things." Kimmich, he said, has everything needed to play that role "not only at Bayern but also in the national team". Matthäus hopes the debate will end soon.