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Yesterday, Joachim Löw became one of the last managers to announce his final 23-man squad that he would be taking to Russia. Just 13 days before their opening match against Mexico, the German made some surprising decisions prior to Die Mannschaft's quest to defend their title.
Löw already made some interesting decisions regarding his provisional 27-man squad, opting to leave established players like Mario Götze, Andre Schürrle at home. However, surprise selections like Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah and SC Freiburg hitman Nils Petersen made the initial cut.
Most notably, Manchester City youngster and PFA Young Player of the Year, Leroy Sane, will also be watching the World Cup from home. While the competition for places in Löw's squad has always been tough, nobody really expected the former Schalke 04 winger to be left out.
With many strong players being forced to watch the tournament on TV, the question automatically arises, which players shouldn't have made it into Germany's final 23-man squad. Therefore, we take a look at three players who should not have been given the plane ticket to Russia.
#3 Julian Brandt
Many people had Brandt on their list of players that would be cut from the 27-man squad. Then Löw caught everyone off guard by selecting the Leverkusen winger overshooting star Leroy Sane.
While Brandt has played a strong season for the Werkself, he still lacks experience at the top of the game. The 22-year-old's talent is undeniable, but like two years ago - where he just missed out on the Euro 2016 squad - he's still missing the lethality in front of goal, especially for the national team.
Löw justified his decision to leave Sane at home, by saying that the Citizen 'never really arrived with the national team', a somewhat poor explanation considering Brandt having similar difficulties, while having far less impact on games in the weaker Bundesliga.
The German only has one goal for the national team to his name, scoring the 6-0 in Germany's 7-0 win over football minnows San Marino. While both, Sane and Brandt, are outstanding talents, Sane has shown more potential at club level than his counterpart.
It's hard to see Brandt getting any significant playing time at the World Cup. Löw is known to take young fringe players to tournaments for them to gather experience as a part of the team and it's highly unlikely that the summer will have more than that in store for the pacy winger.
#2 Kevin Trapp
With so many talented goalkeepers at his disposal, it's hard for Löw to make a bad selection in this area. However, the inclusion of Kevin Trapp into the World Cup squad should certainly raise a few eyebrows.
Trapp is a solid goalkeeper, who would probably get into many of the national teams participating in the World Cup, but is he really the third-best goalkeeper Germany have?
Usually, the third goalkeeper doesn't come into action during the World Cup, his role is more supportive and motivational. However, with Manuel Neuer only recently recovering from injury, Trapp could quickly turn into the back-up for Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The German has had a rough year with Paris Saint-Germain, losing his place between the posts to Frenchman Alphonse Areola. With only 13 appearances to his name, Trapp will inevitably lack match practice, something that several equally good goalkeepers in the Bundesliga have.
Other than Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who didn't make the cut from 27 to 23 men in Löw's squad, Ralf Fährmann from Schalke 04, Oliver Baumann from TSG Hoffenheim and even former Leicester player Ron-Robert Zieler from VfB Stuttgart have had a convincing season for their clubs.
Löw will most likely not have to rely on Trapp during Germany's quest to retain the title, but nevertheless, the decision to take him to Russia is puzzling
#1 Sebastian Rudy
Rudy is arguably one of the most underrated players in German football at the moment, nevertheless, his call-up for Russia is mind-boggling and can only be justified by his ability to fill in at almost any defensive position.
When Bayern Munich came knocking on the Hoffenheim's door for the central midfielder last summer, Rudy was finally recognized as one of the best German midfielders in the Bundesliga. In a double move, that included youngster Niklas Süle, Rudy tried to take the next step with the German powerhouse.
However, while his ball-playing abilities were enough to earn him a spot in Bayern's midfield rotation, it became obvious, that Rudy wouldn't make it into their starting XI. Therefore, making the cut in Germany's highly contested central midfield sparked a lot of controversies.
Presumably, the former Hoffenheim player will travel to Russia as an emergency back-up for both, the central midfielders and right-back Joshua Kimmich, thereby freeing up a further spot for Joachim Löw to fill on another position.
It is questionable whether Rudy will be able to do so if called upon though. It would seem far more reasonable to take a more talented midfielder, like Emre Can or Max Meyer, as Matthias Ginter already fills the role as the defensive 'jack of all trades'.
Löw is an outspoken supporter of the Bayern midfielder, backing his move to the German giants last year by telling German football magazine Kicker:
"He has a incredibly good feeling for the position, he can make the game flow. Bayern is a good step, with his technical abilities he can play there. The competition at Bayern is massive, but I believe he can do it.
It remains to be seen whether Rudy can pay back the trust of his manager. However, considering the circumstances, he is our no. 1 German player who should not have been selected for the titleholder's 23-man squad.
