"Toxic" crises weigh heavily on the DFB squad

"Toxic" crises weigh heavily on the DFB squad

It can happen that quickly. In the third game under national coach Julian Nagelsmann, the DFB team falls back into its old rut. President Bernd Neuendorf nevertheless proclaims the 2024 European Championship final as a goal. But how this is to be achieved remains a mystery for the time being.

Oh, Germany. Three games into the new national coach Julian Nagelsmann's reign and everything is already in ruins again. The manic-depressive patient that is the national team has collapsed once again. The prospects for short-term relief of the symptoms are not good. The 2:3 (1:2) in the derby against Turkey exacerbated the depressive phase. Only a win in the final game of the year in Austria on Tuesday (20:45/ZDF and live ticker at ntv.de) can save the DFB squad from a month-long slump ahead of the 2024 European Championship at home.

But everything is actually fine, at least according to the country's top official, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf. "I believe this squad is first-class. We don't have to hide internationally at all," he called out to the country from the TV studios of "Bild" the morning after the defeat and then set the goal for the coming year. It has to be the European Championship final. There should be no debate about the new national coach. But not even the public, so often disappointed by the national team, is that wild.

Neuendorf also has an opinion on the match against Turkey: "We often fall into the trap of getting into a toxic situation, of talking everything down, and that wasn't the case. We now have to strengthen our strengths," he grumbled the morning after a game that was not in fact bad, but rather characterized by the not-so-new mediocrity of the national team.

On good days, it can still keep up with the world's best, but these good days are becoming fewer and fewer. The international year 2023 will come to an end next Tuesday in Vienna against the coach father Ralf Rangnick and his Austrians. The result will be a negative one in any case. The three wins against Peru, France and the USA are offset by two draws and five defeats. The goal difference of 17:20 reads like a record of horror. Only in the first game after the botched World Cup in Qatar, a 2:0 win against Peru, did the DFB team remain without conceding a goal, conceding an average of two goals per game. Far too many.

Nagelsmann lacks clear words

This is another reason why Nagelsmann's experiment with Kai Havertz at left-back is causing so much astonishment. The weak point of the DFB squad, which already existed under Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick, is once again to be solved with a full-back stuck to the opponent's corner flag. With an "offensive joker" who actually plays as a left number 10 in disguise, as the national coach preached from the podium of the press conference after the game, causing a bit of astonishment. Defensive stability by weakening the defense. That initially sounds like the opposite of the strengthening of strengths that Neuendorf so clearly called for.

It is not the only astonishing statement that evening. "The tactics are secondary, it's always the emotion first. If you're at 100 percent, you can be much worse tactically. If the emotions aren't there, you have to be tactically brilliant in order to still win the game," he said, admitting that he had made a mistake. Only tactical brilliance could have saved the DFB team; he attests that some of his players had a poor "emotional level". Who he is referring to, however, remains unclear. Nagelsmann, as became clear on Saturday, is not a national coach of clear words. He thinks around many corners and thinks in a complex way, overtaxing those around him.

Clear words are needed now. In the months leading up to the European Championship, Nagelsmann will still have to manage a number of crises. The unresolved situation in goal is piling up in front of him. Just this past week, Manuel Neuer once again laid claim to his place. He dreams of playing the European Championship final in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, he said, standing in front of his place of longing with the European Championship match ball. The discussions about Neuer's return will not stop until Nagelsmann makes a decision. The relationship between the two can be described as strained after the clash at Bayern at the start of the year.

Joshua Kimmich again and again

The crisis in the defensive center of the DFB team will also continue to simmer. Too often the attempt failed with Joshua Kimmich and İlkay Gündoğan robbing each other of their strengths without a stop sign behind them. As one of his first acts in office, Nagelsmann had settled on Gündoğan as captain, then at one stage settled on Kimmich as a defensive midfielder. It was nothing more than cementing a problematic situation. As the game in Berlin proved once again.

The tabloids are already reporting that things are now getting tight for Kimmich. However, he could play Havertz on the right-hand side and orchestrate the game from the side as a disguised right number 8. After many years of criticism, the midfielder seems increasingly emotionally burdened because the big discussions are always hung on him. Because there is no longer a position for him. Because he is always under special scrutiny and is a symbol of the failure of his generation in the DFB team so far.

What will happen in defense remains a complete mystery. The two central defender positions are still far from being filled. There is a lack of real top players there. Even more so on the outside, where David Raum and Robin Gosens are at least counted out after the Havertz experiment. Nagelsmann has withdrawn his trust in them for the time being.

In addition to these central problems, the "toxic" crises of the national team, the abundance of personnel in the offense is less of a burden. With Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, the future of German soccer is perfectly positioned. Behind them, Thomas Müller is lurking for one last chance, while the hard-working Julian Brandt should not be written off and Havertz could also still play a role if Nagelsmann does not continue to praise him as the star left-back of Euro 2024. Who knows for sure?

In the end, June 14, 2024 will decide

Because all the analysis, all the words spoken and written will become obsolete on June 14, 2024 at 9 p.m. anyway. That's when the opening match of Euro 2024 will kick off in the stadium in Munich. Major tournaments, especially on home soil, develop their very own dynamic. They don't care about what was and they mean nothing for what will be afterwards. For a month, the country will descend into a tunnel.

Everything Nagelsmann does is geared towards this moment. The 36-year-old will stand on the touchline on this early summer evening and only then will it become clear whether he has succeeded in giving the team the stability he promised when he took office.

The precarious state of the national team certainly raises doubts about this at the moment, and he will have to have put aside his addiction to experimentation in the match against Turkey by then. The fires will have to be extinguished. He will have to give his 23 players a clear plan at the start of the European Championship preparations. There can no longer be any debate about personnel. There is enough to do.

1. Despite the current struggles of the national soccer team under Julian Nagelsmann, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf remains optimistic about their chances in the European Football Championship 2024, proclaiming the final as a goal.
2. In an effort to improve their defensive stability, Nagelsmann experimented with using Kai Havertz at left-back during the game against Turkey, a decision that has caused controversy within the team.
3. The pressure on Joshua Kimmich continues to mount as the DFB team struggles with crises in defense, and he may be moved to a different position to alleviate some of the burden.

Source: www.ntv.de