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The Daily Bee (March 21st, 2019): DFB team disappoint, Sancho voted best youngster and BVB linked to CHO

What has to change for Die Mannschaft?

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Germany v Serbia - International Friendly Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images

Jadon Sancho has been designated as the best young player in the world in the NxGn ranking from Goal. The site composed a ranking of the 50 best young players pegged to be future superstars and Sancho ended up in first place ahead of talents like Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Callum-Hudson Odoi (Chelsea), Phil Foden (Manchester City) and Rodrygo (Santos).

Sancho was not the only BVB player in the top 50, Sergio Gomez was ranked 36th. The offensive midfielder has not played for the first team this season but is still very much in Dortmund’s plans for the future and we will probably see him a lot more in the coming years.

Callum Hudson-Odoi has been one of the most sought after young talents in Europe. Even though the winger is obviously talented and could develop into a world class player, Chelsea still aren’t really giving him much playing time which is why he’s refusing to sign an extension.

Hudson-Odoi’s current contract runs out in 2020 and several clubs have already tried to sign him, most notably Bayern Munich during the winter break. Until now Chelsea have refused to let him go but if the 18-year-old doesn’t sign until the summer they might have to sell him.

Now Borussia Dortmund emerges as another competitor if a report from The Telegraph is correct. The winger would be a perfect replacement for Christian Pulisic who is leaving for Chelsea this summer, however a transfer does seem unlikely.

Bayern Munich are still the clear favorites to land him, a BVB-transfer would only be realistic if CHO absolutely wants to leave this summer and Chelsea refuse to sell specifically to Bayern because of the tensions between both clubs.

Daily Buzz: The German national team just can’t get going. Germany’s “golden generation” was at or near the top for the past decade and started every major tournament as one of the favorites. It started with Germany reaching the final of the Euros in 2008 and the U21 winning the same tournament just a year later with many players that would turn into future superstars like Hummels, Neuer, Özil and Boateng. The peak of that generation that played refreshing offensive football was obviously the World Cup title in 2014.

However the embarrassing performance at the 2018 World Cup has raised some questions if the golden generation has officially ended. Major changes were expected after the tournament but they did not come, Jogi Löw is still coaching the team and the roster stayed mostly the same until recently when Löw announced Hummels, Boateng and Müller would no longer play for the national team.

Even after those changes a dull 1:1 draw against Serbia is all Germany could muster. The team showed flashes in the second half after Reus and Goertzka came on but a team that still has talents like Sané, Brandt, Havertz and Werner on the roster should be able to do better.

So what needs to change for Germany? Is a coaching change in order, does the team need to make other changes or does this young team simply need time to get back among the world’s best?