National team
Magath about the DFB team: “Not competitive”
Felix Magath criticizes the DFB. photo
© Christian Charisius/dpa
Former Bundesliga coach Felix Magath is not very enthusiastic about the national soccer team. The DFB continues to cut a bad figure in the crisis. He also criticizes the new national coach.
Magath criticized Nagelsmann for continuing what his predecessor Hansi Flick had failed. “He’s experimenting, even if he calls it something else,” said the ex-national player. The German team doesn’t need any experiments now, “they urgently need security, compactness, stability, they have to gain self-confidence that was lost this year.”
On the TV channel Sky Sport News, Magath criticized the German Football Association’s lack of processing of the national team’s long-standing misery. “The main problem is that the DFB is not prepared to actually do an analysis,” he said and added, referring to Flick: “Our former national coach said he would take responsibility, but then he’s only been in for six weeks went on vacation. I don’t think there is any real analysis today.”
“DFB is apparently still doing well”
Despite the weak results even after the preliminary round exit at the World Cup in Qatar, “everything continues as it was – everything is the same as before and nothing changes,” said Magath. “You don’t want to change anything because the DFB is apparently still doing well.”
He wasn’t there, “but it’s missing everywhere,” he said. “We can start somewhere now – it doesn’t matter where,” said Magath: “One says defender, the other striker. The third talks to the central defender and the last complains that we don’t have a six. And everyone has a little somewhere right.” The long-time coach, who coached FC Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04, Hamburger SV and VfL Wolfsburg, added that “the composition of the group as a whole is not right.”
However, he still hasn’t given up hope of a successful home European Championship next year. “Many teams that ended up winning a tournament played poorly in the preliminary round,” said Magath: “We’re painting everything black now, but the players still have enough time to develop further in their clubs and in the league to leave a good impression. That’s why I’m still confident that we’ll see a good German team at the tournament.”