National team
“We won’t get anywhere with doom and gloom”: Nagelsmann rages – and the DFB President announces a bold European Championship goal
National coach Julian Nagelsmann lacked emotion in the game against Turkey
© Federico Gambarini / DPA
One failed test is enough. Doubts and EM worries are already back. But national coach Nagelsmann defends his tactical move. Support comes from the DFB boss and a bold announcement about the European Championship.
Rudis Völler’s legendary low point tirade came Julian Nagelsmann doesn’t come close. But even the first small comparison with the big problems of Hansi Flick’s luckless era really annoyed the national coach after the 2-3 setback against Turkey.
“We can now start again to paint everything black and see everything as bad. We can do that, but we won’t get any further as a football nation,” ranted Nagelsmann after his first defeat in the highest coaching position.
Quick self-doubt is not part of the 36-year-old’s repertoire. He also wants to carry out his courageous and unconventional course in the final European Championship test before the group draw on Tuesday (8.45 p.m./ZDF) against Austria. “I’m far from seeing everything negatively,” said Nagelsmann. How small the credit for the national team is after three tournament defeats seven months before the home European Championship was felt with full force after his astonishing tactical move with Kai Havertz as left full-back.
DFB boss: European Championship final as a goal
Early on Sunday morning, DFB boss Bernd Neuendorf in the “Bild” TV studio apparently saw the need to jump to the head coach’s side immediately after the first setback. “We often get into a toxic situation and talk things down, and that wasn’t it,” said the top official, defending Nagelsmann’s course.
The DFB boss avoided sporting evaluations. But he surprised us with a clear announcement as to his European Championship goal: “We’re playing a tournament in our own country,” said Neuendorf. Reaching the final must be “the goal.” Diversionary tactics as an escape forward? Neuendorf made it clear that he had complete trust in the national coach. This choice of words was identical until the last Flick games.
Of course, Nagelsmann is out of the question after just one botched test. The football atmosphere in the country can’t be that absurd. But critical questions had to be allowed. The fans in front of the TV and in the stadium curve as well as the highest DFB circles know that the DFB team needs one thing above all: a clear concept, no experiments and voltes. This was exactly what Nagelsmann scored on his debut trip to America.
Hence the general astonishment at the new tactical complication. This was also denounced by the national football critic Lothar Matthäus as an RTL expert. “I thought the trial and error was over after Hansi Flick went on leave,” said the record national player.
Looking for the EM emotions
So why the confusion with Havertz? Nagelsmann’s answer: Out of conviction. It was not the tactics, i.e. one’s own tactics, that were the cause of the failed Turkey test. The diagnosis was that his players lacked emotions. However, Nagelsmann also failed to provide an answer as to the reason for the anemic mentality, which has chronic features.
“The tactics are secondary, it’s always the emotions first. If you’re at 100 percent, you can be significantly worse tactically. If the emotions aren’t the same, you have to be tactically brilliant in order to still make the game positive.” said Nagelsmann.
The learning effect of the Turkey game was clear and sobering. The basic problems have not disappeared simply because of the change of coach from Flick to Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann had prescribed defensive stability as a weekly task. A week of training was obviously too short for that. The annual record is 20 goals conceded in ten games. Nagelsmann conceded six goals in three games.
There were plenty of chances to score. Nagelsmann counted “eight 100%” possibilities. And yet the “opponent was left with the gap” to get back into the game – all the symptoms have been known for years.
What about the double six?
In the excitement surrounding Havertz’s role, a core issue was almost sidelined. Nagelsmann has to ask himself whether Ilkay Gündogan and Joshua Kimmich as a double six are the best of all solutions. With Pascal Groß, Gündogan complemented himself perfectly in the USA. And with Kimmich? “In terms of their profile, these are both players who don’t love the classic second-ball game,” Nagelsmann analyzed correctly.
But no team in the world can afford to lose second balls, especially not in knockout games at a home tournament. The national coach must again consider moving Kimmich back to the already shaky position of right full-back. Especially since he apparently thinks a much more unconventional solution with goalscorer Havertz at the back left also makes sense at the European Championships.
Nagelsmann’s belief: World-class players – like Havertz – could play world-class in various positions. Like a tennis crack who is successful on grass and sand, said the national coach in the ARD interview. He wants to bring as many world-class players onto the pitch as possible and not take positions into account. Flick had tried this again and again, but got completely lost tactically, not only at the World Cup in Qatar, but above all confused his own team.
Too many small-scale debates are damaging even now. Two team oldies made this clear. “We don’t want to overanalyze it. We won’t let ourselves get down now, that’s our job, that we carry on,” said Thomas Müller, who was not used against Turkey. “We are still in the phase in which we need a sense of success,” said goal scorer Niclas Füllkrug.