The terms innovative and willing to experiment are not associated with the name Alfred Gislason.

As a handball trainer in Magdeburg and Kiel, he trusted the individual class of experienced forces.

With success.

As a national coach, the 61-year-old Icelander has less quality in the squad and has reached limits in his previous tournaments.

Two things have apparently led Gislason to choose a new strategy when he presented his squad for the international games in November against Portugal at the beginning of the week: On the one hand, the established professionals had poor results at the World Cup in Egypt and the Olympic Games in Tokyo does not prevent. On the other hand, there is no better time for a new start than now - there is a European Championship in January 2022. But the real highlights of the "decade of handball" are only just to come: the 2024 home championships and the 2027 world championships in Germany.

It is gratifying that Gislason is setting out with a new, young team.

And risky.

The German Handball Federation (DHB) cannot expect too much from this national team at the continental competition from mid-January in Slovakia and Hungary.

With Andreas Wolff, Hendrik Pekeler, Steffen Weinhold, Finn Lemke and Uwe Gensheimer, the complete axis of the past few years is missing;

they have resigned or have not been nominated.

Good sign for the sport of handball

Gislason and DHB sports director Axel Kromer have also done without well-known, experienced players such as Kai Häfner and Julius Kühn. The squad reflects current capabilities and prospects, said Gislason. And although it was also said that the door to the national team would remain open for everyone, this nomination gives a concrete indication of who Gislason will be relying on in the future: Those who take part in the course that starts on Monday have the best chances of participating in the European Championship - and for the time after.

The goalkeepers Wolff and Silvio Heinevetter are no longer part of it. Wolff, the EM hero from 2016, recently showed no excellent performances en masse either in the DHB dress or at his Polish club Kielce. After his disappointing Melsung interlude, Heinevetter will be without a contract from next season. Gislason didn't have to look far - he invited the two youngest German goalkeepers with the best form: Till Klimpke from Wetzlar and Joel Birlehm from Leipzig.

It is a good sign that the door to the German A-Team is open to such talents.

The upheaval is really beginning now.

But at least there are seasoned people with whom you can always put together a decent first seven.

People like Fabian Wiede, Philipp Weber, Paul Drux or Patrick Wiencek.

Now that other long-term supports are missing, you are challenged to lead the younger ones.

Given that Gislason's contract ends after the European Championship, his selection is refreshingly bold.

The fact that he was guided by a certain hardship when putting it together, not least because of some deficiencies in the back area, was once part of the everyday life of a handball national coach at Heiner Brand.