Darkest darkness envelops Julian Nagelsmann
The German national soccer team is heading into a long break with two poor performances. This is particularly bitter for national coach Julian Nagelsmann. Wild discussions are raging around him and he can't do anything about it.
It's going to be a long, very long few months for national coach Julian Nagelsmann. And he has no choice but to remain in defense mode. The 36-year-old will not be able to come up with any arguments that will give the frustrated soccer nation new hope until March. Only then will he be back on the pitch, only then can faith in the summer fairytale be rekindled. Until then, the discussions will fly around his ears. Is he the right man? Is he overtaxing his team? Can he still reach them?
Yes, indeed. This topic of the dressing room is already being bandied about again. Just as it once became a huge issue at the end of his time at FC Bayern. The coach and the dressing room is a nice new journalistic narrative. It is almost always used when there is a crisis somewhere. And so it is with the national team. They are so deep in the doldrums that we have long since lost track of whether they have hit rock bottom. Or whether this companionable community of fate has already approached daylight again.
"Planless, helpless and unimaginative"
No sooner had the shockingly weak games against Turkey (2:3) and Austria (0:2) been dealt with - which had left Bayern patriarch Uli Hoeneß, among others, bewildered and at a loss - and the focus turned back to the Bundesliga, than the critics started firing from all cylinders again. Dietmar Hamann, the permanently active boss of the gang, railed: "At the moment we're nowhere. I was in Vienna on Tuesday and it was shocking. It was shocking how haphazard, helpless and unimaginative the German team was." Nagelsmann was also to blame. "You can't play against a good Austrian team with three defenders and seven attacking players," said Hamann. "What worries me is that the national coach had six or seven games before the European Championship and four are over. He knows less after these four games than he did before. Trying things only works if it works. All we know at the moment is that nothing is working."
Back in October, there was a feeling that there might be light again for this team, which has been in the dark since the 2018 World Cup and can only briefly shake the wetness from its body at times, but this team is as far away from a prolonged dry spell as Germany is from collective satisfaction. And so Nagelsmann gets to feel this black and white of the assessment faster than he could explain his tactical approach with left-back Kai Havertz.
A presentation that hardly anyone understands
But what does quick actually mean here? After the defeat to Turkey, Nagelsmann lost himself in a long lecture on what he actually wanted to achieve with his experiment. He lost many listeners along the way. And whether anyone actually understood it in detail? Doubtful, but it doesn't matter. The important thing is that the players understand what the coach wants from them. Did that work? We don't know, of course. But we heard from the team that the coach wasn't overtaxing them. Mats Hummels said something like that.
Those who are very close to the team report that the national team players would like to see more defensive players on the pitch. The balance between fine minds and "workers", as the national coach called them, was not right. This was all too obvious on the pitch. His criticism of the defensive abilities ("They are not defensive monsters) was not well received internally, it was said. Some players are said to want the coach to discard his complex ideas in favor of a more pragmatic approach.
A possible overstretching of the team had been identified as a major risk when the first rumors emerged that Nagelsmann had become the successor to the increasingly clueless Hansi Flick. The coach was always particularly good when he had plenty of time to develop young teams and young players. In his day-to-day work. But he doesn't have that at the DFB. The training courses are rare and short. It is hardly possible to practise large variations. After the mediocre performance against Turkey and the desolate one against Austria, this discussion caught up with him again. He himself does his best to defend himself against it. He speaks of a simple approach. But the way he explains himself and his plan seems contradictory, at times detached. Not approachable, barely comprehensible.
The frenzy of experimentation in German soccer has been a big topic this year. Too big for Flick, who left in September. With a view to the home European Championship, everything should be geared towards hierarchy, stability and routines. But not a trace of that. Nagelsmann is also trying and trying. After his encouraging debut trip to the USA with the national team, the games against the Americans and Mexico seemed to mark the end of the trial-and-error phase and the start of the consolidation phase. But no such luck.
The burden of Rudi Völler's lightning comeback
And as if the burden wasn't big enough after this international year, there was also Rudi Völler's lightning comeback as one-match national coach. There was a win against France of all teams. Against this ensemble of world-class players, who didn't seem very motivated. But never mind, hook or crook. It was a game that awakened the feeling that it could be done. It was simple and passionate. Soccer was suddenly not a science, but a rousing game. And Völler was a candidate for more. Even if he politely declined.
For Nagelsmann, this is a plank that he got nailed to his shoulder and is now dragging around with him. For him, it's not just about the state of the national team, but also about his own reputation. After stints at 1899 Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, he had earned the status of being one of the most exciting coaches in Europe. The world seemed to be open to him. His path led him to FC Bayern for a record transfer fee. He should have stayed there for five years. The club bosses were completely infatuated with the idea of finally having signed another man for an era. The last one had been Josep Guardiola before he voluntarily retired.
Will history repeat itself?
But his time in Munich ended in failure after less than two years. In sporting terms, it was solid, but not brilliant. But that was less his undoing than the mood at the club, which had become increasingly uncontrollable after the botched World Cup in Qatar. In the summer, Uli Hoeneß and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge pulled the emergency brake. They interfered in the operational business from retirement and fired Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidžić. Nagelsmann was long gone by then, having been shown the door by the nervous bosses. A decision that still doesn't go down well with rescue pensioners. Even if they can live very well with his successor Thomas Tuchel, despite a summer disagreement on transfer policy.
But a second project with Nagelsmann does not threaten to end with the result that was defined. In this case: a second summer fairytale. There is still time, of course. Time and again, only the 1:4 against Italy in 2006 is brought up. Jürgen Klinsmann and his team were torn to shreds, a few weeks before the home World Cup everything was terrible. This even led to some members of the Bundestag wanting to cite Jürgen in front of the Bundestag sports committee. It turned out differently. Will history repeat itself?
The belief in it is still smouldering on a low flame. The DFB squad is facing another disaster, the habituation effect is setting in. Nagelsmann, on the other hand, is likely to tumble down a few rungs on the career ladder. The once most exciting coach in Europe would be disenchanted. There's nothing he can do about it until March. Perhaps he should crawl into a dark shaft until then, then at least he can't fall in. Darkness reigns until spring.
In light of the poor performances by the German national soccer team during their break, Rudi Völler's lightning comeback as a one-match coach against France has become a point of contention for Julian Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann, who is currently under scrutiny, is worried about the impact this comparison will have on his reputation, as a successful coach at previous clubs.
Despite their disappointing results, some members of the national team have expressed a desire for more defensive players on the field. This criticism, combined with Dietmar Hamann's harsh critique of Nagelsmann's tactics, is adding to the pressure on the coach. With the European Championship fast approaching, Nagelsmann is tasked with finding a balance between offensive and defensive strategies to regain the trust and faith of the soccer nation.
Source: www.ntv.de
