Football criticism of the national coach
“It’s a lot of trial and error. I thought it was over after Flick was put on leave.”
Status: 18.11.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Hanging heads in the DFB team. The defeats against Turkey really dampened the mood and the euphoria surrounding national coach Nagelsmann evaporated
Quelle: Getty Images/Alex Grimm
The German national team loses against Turkey and shows well-known mistakes. After the game there was criticism of Julian Nagelsmann’s tactics. The national coach objects after the first bankruptcy of his term in office.
The disillusionment is great. After a 3-1 win against the USA and a 2-2 win against Mexico, the German national team suffered its first defeat in only its third game under national coach Julian Nagelsmann. A dampener on the way to the home European Championship – and that in the stadium where the final will take place on July 14th next year.
When asked about the victorious Turkish team, Lothar Matthäus said: “They were the more active and aggressive team. They were courageous and seemed well-coordinated, unlike the German team.” In addition, the record national player also criticized the defensive formation of the DFB selection in his role as an expert for “RTL”. Nagelsmann had relied on a three-man chain, with Kai Havertz on the left, but he was very attack-oriented. As in previous months, Matthäus advocated a back four.
“There’s a lot of trial and error involved. I thought it was over after Flick was put on leave. 4-2-3-1 should be the basic system of the national team. Of course, as a coach you sometimes have an idea, like Havertz as a left-back, but then it becomes a three-man chain again, where you have always seen in the last games that the national team simply cannot control it,” said Matthäus.
National coach Nagelsmann criticizes the attitude
Matthäus said he understood that the national coach wanted to try something out. But in the past it has been shown that the German team would play better with a clearly formed back four. “That was a setback. Every result counts and is important for self-confidence. That was sobering. “Turkey was more determined and better in the important duels,” added Matthäus.
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“We didn’t have the emotionality in all positions. A few did very well, but some didn’t reach the emotional level to push themselves to the limit. We actually had to decide the game early. You need the attitude: I want to score the goal. From the 25th minute until the break we didn’t do enough,” said national coach Julian Nagelsmann. When asked about the tactics and Havertz as a left-back, Nagelsmann justified his actions. “Kai Havertz played an outstanding game. The only personality that was surprising today was our best man,” assured Nagelsmann.
Left-back Kai Havertz scored a goal, but also caused a hand penalty
Quelle: Getty Images/Alex Grimm
Looking ahead to the game on Tuesday in Vienna against Austria (8.45 p.m./ZDF), the national coach added: “The level of emotion we had in the second half was good. We have to build on that against Austria. The team is better in terms of football. That will demand every single player from us.”
The captain was self-critical. “After the opening goal we became too lethargic, too passive. We were no longer determined enough and it wasn’t the pressure we wanted to create against the ball. We weren’t aggressive enough,” said İlkay Gündoğan. “In the end we were always one step away, especially in the first half.”
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