Julian Nagelsmann starts his European Championship mission on NFL icon Tom Brady’s former “practice field” – and following the example of Rudi Völler.
Julian Nagelsmann was amazed. In the land of football heroes and basketball icons, its soccer stars are just normal tourists: At passport control in Boston, the astonished national coach and his national team were denied VIP treatment – everyone had to go to the back of the queue.
After a seven and a half hour flight there was a 45 minute wait – and a small tip from the flight crew: “We thought you were already gone?!”
Nagelsmann was still standing there – and he took it sportily. He used the time for small talk with returnee Mats Hummels, while Thomas Müller happily teased the DFB travel agent.
After traveling on to the posh Renaissance Hotel at the grounds of the NFL team New England Patriots in Foxborough, Nagelsmann generously gave his tired kickers a short break.
Like Tom Brady once did: Where Nagelsmann is preparing the “Summer Fairy Tale 2.0”.
The new boss let the heavily stressed players sleep off their jet lag. The relaxed breakfast was followed by a charity event for the homeless at the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium, and the first training session under Nagelsmann took place almost 24 hours after arrival. Eight months before the home European Championships, he actually has no time to lose.
Nagelsmann has to convince the DFB team of his game idea with which they can make the hoped-for “Summer Fairy Tale 2.0” come true in 2024. The debut was on the “practice field” of the six-time Super Bowl champion New England, where world star Tom Brady laid the foundation for his football dynasty in hundreds of hours of practice and devised the most complicated plays.
The former “concept trainer” Nagelsmann, on the other hand, only has four training sessions available before his debut on Saturday (9 p.m./RTL) against the USA – and therefore wants to keep it simple.
“I don’t want to give too much away,” he said at the start of the eleven-day trip to the USA. But when he was introduced as the successor to the hapless Hansi Flick, he gave some insight and announced: “Simplicity is an important point.”
Nagelsmann is following Rudi Völler’s example – and the players’ wishes. “Sometimes it’s easier to make simplicity perfect,” goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen enthused almost philosophically after interim coach Völler’s guest appearance against France (2-1). Völler’s plan was primarily to focus “on the basics,” as he explained.
Nagelsmann: DFB sports director Völler calls for “healthy aggressiveness”
“Beautiful football,” Völler now said, was “desirable, but duels or winning header duels” were the basis. Who would know that better than him? “When we became runners-up in 2002, we didn’t have the best team, but we were stable and compact.”
This is also how Nagelsmann approaches his task. “The headline” for his idea, he said, was “healthy aggressiveness.” In the direction of the opponent’s goal, but also when winning the ball back. The important thing is: “Nothing is complicated! It’s about giving the players support – things that are easy to implement.”
What this will look like in concrete terms will hopefully be seen in the next two international matches against the USA and against Mexico on October 18th. Despite all the simplicity, Nagelsmann wants to “create stress on the opponent so that it hurts him to play against us.”
But including the trip to the USA, he only has six international matches left before his European Championship squad is nominated. How can his plans be implemented in such a short time? “With a combination of the stability and willingness in duels that we saw against France in September,” explained role model Völler, “and Julian’s creative approach.”
The always hands-on Nagelsmann leads the way. “His way of getting people excited, coupled with his football skills and his ability to read games,” said Völler, “make him an exceptional coach and a stroke of luck for us.”