European Championship alarm for Nagelsmann: Next failure and Sané red
The next tournament debacle looms at the European Championships: Julian Nagelsmann and the German national team went into the long international break with an alarming display of frustration.
Seven months before the opening game, the DFB team lost 2-0 (0-1) to Austria in Vienna and carry a huge burden into the tournament year. Bayern star Leroy Sané hit opponent Phillipp Mwene of FSV Mainz 05 in the face at the start of the second half and may miss the entire European Championship preparations due to a suspension.
Dortmund professional Marcel Sabitzer (29) scored the winner in front of 46,000 spectators. RB Leipzig's Christoph Baumgartner (73) decided the game. Nagelsmann made several changes after Sané's freak out (49), but none of them helped. There have never been two autumn defeats at the end of the year before a European Championship or World Cup - the DFB team will have the chance to make amends in March at the earliest.
Three days after the 3-2 defeat to Turkey, Nagelsmann strengthened the much-maligned defense for the coaching duel with his former supporter Ralf Rangnick, with Leon Goretzka as a back-up and three real central defenders. However, the DFB team remained extremely vulnerable against motivated hosts.
"We already have a bit of pressure to get a result. We also have a certain kind of pressure," said Nagelsmann on ZDF. The coach, wearing a dark winter jacket, was hardly pleased with what he saw on the touchline. The DFB team repeatedly got themselves into trouble with quick ball losses in build-up play.
The introduction of veteran Mats Hummels as an additional central defender alongside Antonio Rüdiger and Jonathan Tah was supposed to bring more stability to the German game. But the opposite was the case: the defense was shaky and vulnerable. After just 90 seconds, Leipzig's Baumgartner fired the first warning shot at the German goal, which was once again guarded by Kevin Trapp. The first chance came from Kai Havertz, whose role in the Turkey game had been criticized, but who was not at fault in this situation.
Havertz once again had all the freedom he needed on the left flank and provided some impetus, although Germany's attacking play remained frighteningly harmless in the first 45 minutes. There was far too little coming from the midfield, where Leon Goretzka replaced Joshua Kimmich alongside captain Ilkay Gündogan.
The Austrians, on the other hand, were different: they repeatedly caused problems for the European Championship hosts with long balls, such as two chances from Freiburg's Michael Gregoritsch (12 and 17 minutes). That could not last long. Once again, the Austrians quickly bridged their own half. Sabitzer was not consistently attacked by Tah, allowing the Dortmund player to fire a powerful shot into the bottom left corner. Rangnick, who had confidently guided Austria to a place in the European Championship and had eight Bundesliga players in the starting eleven against his home country, clenched his fist.
Once again, Germany failed to keep a clean sheet at the back, which was the tenth time in a row since the 2-0 defeat to Peru in March. Nagelsmann also waited in vain for a reaction from his team in the first half, with Serge Gnabry's helpless-looking long-range shot (40') almost a substitute. Nagelsmann trudged into the dressing room at the break in a suitably sour mood. "That's sobering soccer. (...) Not much comes together," criticized ZDF pundit and former world champion Per Mertesacker at the break.
Thomas Müller, who came on for Niclas Füllkrug in the second half, was supposed to put things right. However, the hoped-for signal effect was immediately thwarted by a stupid move by Sané. After a heated duel with Mwene, the Munich player, who has been so outstanding this season, got carried away and committed a nasty assault by pressing his hand into the Mainz player's face and pushing him to the ground. The red card was only logical, and Sané still had to be restrained afterwards with the help of Austrian veteran Marko Arnautovic. For Sané, it was the first dismissal of his professional career.
Nagelsmann then returned to a back four with the substitution of Benjamin Henrichs, with Florian Wirtz, Kimmich and Robert Andrich coming into the game shortly afterwards. Germany now had to take risks and were therefore open to counter-attacks, such as Gregoritsch's shot (64'). The ease with which the German team could be outmaneuvered became clear when they conceded their second goal when Gregoritsch played a direct ball to Baumgartner, who gave Trapp no chance. "Oh, how beautiful it is," the Ernst Happel Stadium resounded to the German team, who could have lost much more in the final phase.
In light of the poor performance, Julian Nagelsmann and the German national team's DFB team will need to improve their soccer skills ahead of the European Championships, having struggled against Austria's long balls and failing to keep a clean sheet for the eleventh time in a row. Furthermore, Leroy Sané's red card due to a violent incident with FSV Mainz 05's Phillipp Mwene threatens to sideline him during the entire European Championship preparations, potentially weakening the team's attacking prowess.
Source: www.dpa.com
