Does he now also have to worry about his place in the Germany team? The rise of one of Bayern Munich’s bright hopes has been halted for the time being
At the World Cup debacle, Nathaniel Brown was one of the few bright spots for Germany, then he joined Bayern Munich for 50 million euros. Now the 23-year-old left-back is experiencing his first setbacks.
Nathaniel Brown may have won only his 10th cap against Greece. Yet the 23-year-old Bayern Munich left-back was already one of the more experienced players in Germany's starting line-up. Only Jonathan Tah and Joshua Kimmich had made significantly more appearances, while Karim Adeyemi and Felix Nmecha were just ahead of Brown in the rankings.
Jürgen Klopp is likely to have faced plenty of positional headaches before naming his first squad. The left side of defence, though, seemed well covered in both the short and long term thanks to Brown. As expected, Klopp picked him from the start for his first two internationals in the Netherlands and against Greece. The problem was Brown's overall display disappointed. Much as it has recently at Bayern Munich, where he has fallen behind in the battle with Alphonso Davies.
Going forward, Brown did offer some impetus in both internationals. His best moment came when he set up Karim Adeyemi's spectacularly missed gilt-edged chance in the 1-1 draw against the Netherlands. Overall, though, Brown lacked penetration. In the disillusioning 1-0 defeat against Greece, for example, only one of his eight crosses found its target.
More worrying was his inadequate defensive play. Brown struggled badly with the pace of Crysencio Summerville and Konstantinos Karetsas, and spaces kept opening up behind him. Brown also lost the direct duel with goalscorer Cody Gakpo for the late equaliser against the Netherlands.
Germany: Raum and Mittelstädt now get their chance
Like most of the players from the first squad, Brown also left the national team camp on Monday. Does he now have to worry about his regular place? In the two further internationals against Serbia on Thursday and in Greece on Sunday, David Raum and Maximilian Mittelstädt will get their chance to impress.
For years, the pair had been locked in an ongoing battle for the left-back spot until Brown made his debut in October 2025 and established himself as a regular in the spring. He was first choice at the World Cup and emerged as one of the few bright spots in a weak Germany side. His reward was a €50 million transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt to Bayern Munich, where he found himself in a very promising position straight away in the summer.
His rival Alphonso Davies, meanwhile, had gone through difficult months at that point. Having only just recovered from a cruciate ligament tear, the 25-year-old suffered a muscle fibre tear in the closing stages of the previous season. In the end, Davies played only 16 minutes for Canada at the long-awaited home World Cup. He returned to Munich carrying another knock, initially trained individually and managed just 66 minutes in total across all the friendlies.
Across those weeks, new signing Brown played his way into the spotlight with good performances and also showed his versatility. Because of personnel shortages in attack, Brown started in the No 10 role in the 2-1 Super Cup win against Borussia Dortmund and scored the crucial opening goal. Even Brown himself was surprised by his unfamiliar positioning: "Especially in the first few games, I did think I'd be used at left-back."
Bayern Munich: Alphonso Davies is one of the winners of the start of the season
That decision by coach Vincent Kompany surprised not only Brown, but Klopp too. "We finally have a left-back and then they play him as a No 10," Klopp complained during the clash with VfB Stuttgart on Sat1. Of course, he was joking, but at least a tiny bit of him is likely to have been serious. When the personnel situation in attacking midfield eventually eased, Brown returned to his favoured position and is now battling the recovered Davies there for playing time.
Brown started in the DFB Cup against VfL Osnabrück and in the Bundesliga against SV Elversberg, but after rather disappointing displays Kompany replaced him early with Davies on both occasions. Against Elversberg, the turnaround ultimately came thanks in part to Davies' contribution. In the Champions League opener against FK Bodö/Glimt, Brown remained on the bench for the full game. Against Union Berlin, he was only brought on shortly before the end, after Davies had shone with two assists.
Overall, the Canadian has already registered four goal contributions this season. Davies looks physically fit in a way he has not for a long time, is edging closer to his former top form and is considered one of the winners of the start of the season.
Meanwhile, Brown has now also stumbled with the national team, while Davies is enjoying his delayed honeymoon. Because a trip immediately after his wedding in the summer had not worked out schedule-wise, he opted out of Canada's friendlies in this international window after consulting national coach Jesse Marsch. On Monday, Davies shared a video on Instagram of a beach volleyball match on a beach under palm trees.
