Exclusive: Nagelsmann defends himself against accusations of experimentation

Oct 9, 2025 9:57 pm | 1:40m

Before the World Cup qualifying game against Luxembourg, national coach Julian Nagelsmann spoke exclusively on the RTL microphone about the accusation that he had recently dared to experiment too much, the worries about his “zero-goal storm” and a possible runaway win against the “football dwarf”.

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Now the water is coming. Now?
I don’t know. We didn’t do that many experiments. Of course we always invited new players, but I think that’s also part of it. We try to reward performance. And then in the end it turns out that there are always new players who get to prove themselves. In terms of content, we haven’t experimented much, but even if we had been super stable in all processes over the last few decades, then I think we would have to try fewer things. In the end, the game is about winning and everything else. The evaluation of the game is often based on the result and not on other topics.
He doesn’t worry me. If they had all 30 games and not scored a goal, then it would be more difficult. We all still have very, very few international matches. I was there with Serge and Leon, who also have a few goals at national team level. Judging by their games. That will come. We’re welcome to start with it tomorrow.
I don’t care, but I think it’s because of the situation. We are presumptuous to say that and also out of respect for the opponent. It’s about playing a game. The beauty of football is that everyone has the same conditions. It’s zero, zero and in the end you have to score one more goal than your opponent to get the three points. That is above everything. Of course we played a dominant game and played an outstanding game and were clearly better than our opponents. Then you can also score more goals. But we have to be that first. And let’s do the first step before the second.

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