After the World Cup: Gislason has to ask these questions now

Out in the quarter -finals – the handball World Cup ended disappointing for the German team. Disappointing also because the handball that national coach Alfred Gislason had played too rarely. The bottom line is that the balance of the Icelander remains lean despite the abdication at the Olympic Games and the silver medal obtained.

The bitterness was huge with the German handball players after the lost quarter -finals against Portugal. At Alfred Gislason, the disappointment was apparently limited. He could not see a setback, rather the team grown during the tournament.
That is astonished, because the fact that the team developed further was little or nothing to see in Denmark and Norway during the day.

The Germans, who were one of the favorites in the run -up to the tournament, were more difficult to agree than through the preliminary round and had great effort against opponents such as Poland and Switzerland, which are far from the top of the world. It was no different in the main round. Against Italy, Gislason also had a handball played that did not tore the fans from their seats. A huge class difference was seen against the exception team Denmark.

No ease, no charisma

The German game was static and excruciating static and in phases – a game concept specified by the national coach was rarely recognized, of enthusiasm or brilliance in the game and tactical variants. There was no lightness and positive charisma.

Germany was much too dependent on individualists such as Juri Knorr and Renārs Uščins, who, thanks to their class, at least provided one or the other aha moment. They could no longer judge alone. Of course, this also applied to the two goalkeepers Andreas Wolff and David Späth, without whom the quarter -finals would probably not have been reached.

Missing alternatives

The boy Uščins, who had heroically triumphed at the Olympics, even had to bear too much responsibility in the end. Gislason had no alternatives to relieve him.

In March 2020, the Icelander took over the national coaching office of Christian Prokop, pushed through by Uwe Schwenker, head of the handball Bundesliga and Gislasons bestmen.

Prokop, that should be noted in the past, has formed the Bundesliga club Hannover-Burgdorf into a real top team with national players such as Renārs Uščins, Justus Fischer and Lukas Stutzke. Gislason also rely on the Hannover block.

Olympics as a runaway up

The balance sheet in five years Alfred Gislason: a 12th place in the 2020 World Cup, the worst placement of a German team at World Championships, the quarter-finals at Olympics 2021. A 7th place in the EM 2022 and a 5th place at the World Cup 2023 followed, and the disappointment remained that it had not been enough until the top.

Last year, Olympic silver was an outlier, but it was only concluded because a French world -class player made a mistake in the quarter -finals, which – said – otherwise only sees in a youth game. The mission of a medal (4th place) at the EM 2024 was also assigned to the disillusionment category.

Weakening competition

The prerequisites were actually good to move closer to the top of the world at this World Cup. Former top nations such as Spain, Sweden and Norway weakened and are no longer the caliber of the past few years.

With a squad in the width compared to other teams, the DHB team could have taken the chance at this World Cup if not. Why this did not succeed again, Gislason will have to face this question when dealing with the messed up 2025 World Cup.