Artist or worker? After the embarrassment in Vienna, a dispute over the direction of the national team broke out.
Joachim Löw suffers. Scratching, biting, fighting – the sophisticated type of football has nothing to offer. “I can no longer hear it when coaches and so-called experts always come up with German virtues,” the 2014 world champion coach recently said on 360Media’s Playmaker Podcast and made it clear: “If someone thinks that German virtues can be used today He is very wrong about winning games. For the DFB teams and the Bundesliga teams it is important to win the games through playful accents.”
But that’s the problem. The national team has won far too few games for the past five years – and no longer in tournaments anyway. That was the case under Löw and did not change under Hansi Flick. The hope that Julian Nagelsmann could quickly get the damaged flagship of the German Football Association (DFB) back on track has also been dashed after the alarming defeats against Turkey (2:3) and in Austria (0:2). Since the embarrassment at the Erste Happel Stadium, a dispute over direction has broken out. Almost seven months before the home European Championships, the question is: What does the DFB team need? Artist or worker?
Löw invokes “tactical and technical advances”. This was recently “missed”. Basically, he also hits Nagelsmann’s nerve. But the national coach was worried about the worrying performances in Berlin and Vienna. Maybe, says Nagelsmann, we have to “forego two percentage points of talent and throw in two more ‘workers’.” Because the 36-year-old is sure that his team will no longer become a “defensive monster” by the EURO.
Why not? For Jürgen Kohler, it’s “not enough to say we don’t have any defensive monsters.” Then you just have to practice it, wrote the 1990 world champion in kicker and came to the conclusion: “Defending is easier to learn than creativity.”
Obviously not for the DFB selection. There have been 22 goals conceded in the last ten games. The last time they had a zero at a major tournament was in the 2016 European Championship round of 16 against Slovakia (3-0). “Now it’s about structure and stability in the center and about winning duels. It’s not without reason that we became European champions in 1996 with Dieter Eilts and Steffen Freund,” said Fredi Bobic and brought “Robert Andrich and Rani Khedira” into play as candidates.
DFB-Elf: “Nobody really knows where they stand”
Nagelsmann has to make important and correct decisions regarding tactics and personnel before the international matches in March. “Players want and need clarity, but who even knows that they are in this team? Nobody really knows where they stand,” criticized record national player Lothar Matthäus in his Sky column and demanded: “Nagelsmann has to slowly adapt to one Core squad and a system.” This could also include moving Joshua Kimmich back to the problem position at the back right. “That’s where,” emphasized Bobic, “it’s most valuable.”
Rudi Völler wants to take the lead when it comes to hiring. “We have to bring five to ten percent of passion, energy and dynamism into the game,” said the DFB sports director. In this context he also spoke of “German virtues”. To the displeasure of Joachim Löw.