"Not in the role of victim": Nagelsmann on the Austria defeat
One thing was clearly particularly important to Julian Nagelsmann as he headed into the ominously long international break. "I'm not frustrated and I'm not in the role of a victim," said the national coach several times after the bitter 2-0 defeat in Vienna. He was "sad" because defeats for the national team against Austria and Turkey (2:3) three days earlier are particularly painful. "But not in the role of victim."
Less than seven months before the home European Championships, the 36-year-old, who has only been employed until the end of the tournament, also found it visibly difficult to spread any form of optimism. "I understand the fans' concerns, I can absolutely understand that," said Nagelsmann, whose DFB team had revealed glaring weaknesses in practically every area.
One team, many "lone fighters"
Nagelsmann assured that away from the games, his team is a "very cohesive community with an incredibly good team spirit". When it comes down to it, however, there is little evidence of this. Unlike the Austrians, who play "like friends" according to their team manager Ralf Rangnick, there is rarely a sense of togetherness in the German squad.
"I have the feeling that we are still too many lone warriors," said Nagelsmann. "Everyone is preoccupied with themselves, which is of course also normal to a certain extent due to our recent and middling history." The national coach conceded that he does not have a "perfect solution". After taking over from Hansi Flick in September, he refrained from making any major changes to the squad. The next two of four European Championship test matches are scheduled for March.
Playing performance: poor
The strengths of his players are "game control" and "attacking soccer", said Nagelsmann. None of this was on show against Austria. In addition to an "absurdly" high rate of ball losses, the game presentation was "too slow, too undynamic, very much from a standing start". His tactics, which were again based heavily on a 4-2-2-2 system, did not work. Nagelsmann said that the style of play would also be geared towards the players available.
Far from European Championship atmosphere
The Austrians celebrated their team, which Germany could also face in the preliminary round of the European Championship, well into the night on Tuesday evening. There was "no euphoria around his team at the moment, that's understandable", said Nagelsmann, repeating the mantra that Flick and DFB sporting director Rudi Völler had already recited before him: it's all about winning, about "consistently" good performances. "Not by talking," said the national coach.
Despite the challenging performance against Austria, Julian Nagelsmann, the DFB national team coach, expressed his optimism for the upcoming European Championships. He acknowledged the team's weaknesses and the need to address the issue of too many "lone warriors," encouraging a more collective approach.
As the German squad prepares for their upcoming European Championship test matches, Nagelsmann highlighted the importance of improving their playing style, particularly in terms of game control and dynamic attack, which were missing in their encounter with Austria.
Source: www.dpa.com
