His smug dig at Uli Hoeneß falls flat! Julian Nagelsmann causes quite a stir with the example of Aleksandar Pavlovic

Nagelsmann responded more directly to recent criticism from Uli Hoeneß. The Bayern Munich chairman had accused the national team coach of rotating the squad too frequently. "If Germany can gel as a team even though the coach hasn't fielded the same starting XI twice in a row, then we have a chance," Hoeneß said. He added, "The German team has never played with the same starting XI twice in a row—I hold that against Julian, and I've already told him that face-to-face." Hoeneß also claimed that the former Bayern coach was "slightly offended" after a recent conversation.

"I hold Uli in extremely high regard," Nagelsmann began his riposte with a nod to the legend. "He has enjoyed incredible success and has played a major part in making Bayern Munich the club it is – including its standing in Europe." Hoeneß has his mobile number. "I'm always happy when he has something urgent to say. If he sees room for improvement in me, in the team, or in the squad, he's welcome to call me anytime."

However, he refused to let Hoeness's two specific accusations pass. "I very rarely take offence," Nagelsmann began. Then, with a smug grin, he addressed the rotation critique: "Just one example: Aleks Pavlovic started in September. In October he was injured, so we substituted him once. I doubt Uli would have been thrilled if I'd said, 'Come on, Pavlo, the injury doesn't matter—you have to play in October anyway.'"

Essentially, Nagelsmann was correct when he argued that changes to the Germany starting line-up are sometimes unavoidable because of the long gaps between international fixtures and the risk of injuries. In his example, however, he got a few things mixed up.

In fact, the sequence was as follows: after recovering from an eye-socket fracture, Pavlovic had played twice for FC Bayern and was available for selection, yet Nagelsmann deliberately omitted him from the squad during the September international break—a decision that provoked considerable debate at the time. By October, Pavlovic was back in the squad and started both matches. It is surprising that Nagelsmann did not verify the facts before delivering this potentially contrived dig. Setting aside those muddled details, Nagelsmann still made five changes to his starting XI between the second September match (3-1 vs Northern Ireland) and the first in October (4-0 vs Luxembourg).

In recent months, Nagelsmann has occasionally drawn criticism for claims that prove easy to refute. In his high-profile Kicker interview in March, for instance, he praised Leon Goretzka's heading ability—implicitly contrasting it with Anton Stach's—even though the statistics told a different story. Nagelsmann has previously made several controversial comments regarding Pavlovic, including remarks about his playing time and medical history.