DFB squad gets beaten up like a Wiener Schnitzel
What the hell was that? The German national soccer team wants to make amends against Austria for the bitter defeat against Turkey. But the opposite happened. The evening in Vienna ends as a debacle and will lead to wild discussions.
What happened at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna?
The lowest point since ... oh, you don't even know anymore, has been reached. The German national soccer team conceded the next heavy defeat in a clash of emotions, three days after the impressive home-away game in Berlin against Turkey (2:3). In the Austrian capital, the team of national coach Julian Nagelsmann was beaten like a Wiener Schnitzel. The best thing about this evening was the result: the game was only lost 2:0. The problem: Germany are dragging a veritable discussion into the winter. And nobody can provide arguments that what is now being discussed is not true. A small spoiler of what is to come: Is this national team really that bad? Is Nagelsmann really the right man? Is he overwhelming the players with his ideas? It will get heated, it will get wild. And things are being painted black. But everything was supposed to be different. Nagelsmann wanted to give the German soccer grey-in-grey some bright colors. In other words: hope. But nothing this evening, NOTHING (!), gives hope. Under Nagelsmann, only one of four games has been won, the worst start by a national coach since Erich Ribbeck 24 years ago.
Teams & Goals
Goals: 1:0 Sabitzer (29.), 2:0 Baumgartner (73.)Austria: Alexander Schlager - Posch, Lienhart, Alaba (89. Danso), Mwene (69. Wöber) - Seiwald, Xaver Schlager - Baumgartner (81. Schmid), Laimer (89. Entrup), Sabitzer (89. Seidl) - Gregoritsch (81. Kalajdzic); Coach: Rangnick.Germany: Trapp - Tah, Rüdiger, Hummels, Havertz (77. Ducksch) - Gündoğan (61. Kimmich), Goretzka (61. Andrich) - Sané, Brandt (52. Henrichs), Gnabry (61. Wirtz) - Füllkrug (46. Müller); Coach: Nagelsmann.Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)Spectators: 46,000 (sold out) in ViennaRedcard: Sané (Germany) after an assault (49.)Yellow cards: Mwene - Kimmich
What was good?
Phew ... Nothing. Maybe just the realization that it can't get much worse.
What wasn't good?
Everything! EVERYTHING! On Austrian television, on ORF, they were already feeling sorry for the visitors at half-time. The German national team, they said, was only a shadow of its former self. The defense remains a bigger construction site than Berlin's chaotic BER airport ever was. The hosts outplayed the Germans with the simplest of means. Long balls behind the final chain and it was dangerous. Soccer professor Ralf Rangnick didn't even have to come up with anything ingenious to annoy the doddering DFB team. And the offense, which had at least delivered time and again, was as timid as a young chamois taking its first leap. Only when everything was lost, the game and Leroy Sané after a wild assault on Philipp Mwene (49'), when the fans in the stands sang "oh, how beautiful it is ..." and Nagelsmann had moved his team to the left by making changes, did a few balls fly towards the Austrian goal. But it wasn't all that dangerous.
What gives us hope ...
... that Jamal Musiala will return one day. He is, if you like, the big winner of the evening. And the second: Hansi Flick. He had become the bogeyman in this disastrous year. The one who had sent the team into crisis with his experimental frenzy - Robert Andrich from Leverkusen was the 40th international player (!) to be tried out in Vienna this year. And now? Flick's story will have to be retold. Twelve months after the World Cup debacle in Qatar, of all places. The future of the DFB team is grayer than any goose can be.
Why didn't Joshua Kimmich play?
After the defeat against Turkey, everything in German soccer was once again being talked about. Including, of course, the role of Joshua Kimmich. Together with captain İlkay Gündoğan, experts were saying that it wasn't working. Did Nagelsmann listen and react? No, the national coach gave a different reason for his surprising decision not to start, with a plan for the European Championship: "We want to test variability. Also with a view to the tournament. We can't always play with the same pairings. A tournament is played with 14, 15 players. Not with ten, not with 18. That's where we're moving at the moment." The scale of the decision can be seen from one statistic: When Nagelsmann was still coaching FC Bayern, he only left his star pupil on the bench once - in October 2022, after a coronavirus infection. In the remaining 72 competitive matches in which he was available, Kimmich always started
Comments on the game
İlkay Gündoğan (captain of the DFB team): "It was all home-made. Leroy's red card sums it all up. The frustration, the disappointment. We made it far too easy for the Austrians. We weren't good enough"
- Despite Julian Nagelsmann's intention to bring hope and bright colors to the German national soccer team, the DFB squad suffered a 2:0 loss against Austria, further fueling discussions about the team's performance and the coach's abilities.
- In stark contrast to the impressive performance against Turkey, Joshua Kimmich was not included in the starting lineup, with Nagelsmann citing a desire to test variability and prepare for the European Championship.
- Leroy Sané became the subject of attention after receiving a red card following a wild assault on Philippe Mwene, adding to the chaotic nature of the game and the mounting concerns about the German team.
- Ralf Rangnick, coach of Austria, didn't need to employ any complex tactics to outplay the struggling German national soccer team, as they were easily controlled with simple long balls behind the defense.
Source: www.ntv.de
