DFB record player Lothar Matthäus appeals to national coach Julian Nagelsmann and calls for a rethink. Matthäus’ idea: The new DFB coach should be based on his interim predecessor.
A good six months before the start of the home European Championship, German football is still in the middle of a crisis. The worry lines are getting bigger and bigger – including Lothar Matthäus.
Given the team’s current performance, the 1990 world champion feels like he has been transported back to the time of former national coach Hansi Flick.
In principle, he understands that new national coach Julian Nagelsmann is tinkering and changing the system and, for example, trying out Kai Havertz in the unusual left-back position: “But we don’t have any more time,” wrote the DFB record player in his column on “Sky “.
In fact, time is of the essence: the European Championship starts in our own country in less than seven months. In its current state, the DFB team looks more like cannon fodder and not even remotely like a tournament favorite.
The record national player asks Nagelsmann to question himself. Above all, whether he made the right decisions in the last two games against Turkey and Austria.
Matthew: Why so complicated?
“I don’t know why people make it so complicated. Let’s play 4-2-3-1! Maybe as a coach you want too much these days. Julian doesn’t have to prove anything. He’s a great coach, I like him that way and how he plays. But the uncertainty that existed before his arrival is still there,” says Matthäus.
The 62-year-old puts his finger on the wound, including at the DFB. The association has failed to define basics in the past few months. “What do we want with our team? What system do we play? Which players are ideal for this system?” Matthew’s demand: “We need a clear basic idea!”
In his opinion, the system that interim coach Rudi Völler played against France (2-1) is “the one best tailored to the team”. The team must focus on its own strengths and not base itself on the opponent.
“Then I made the wrong decision”
“If I already have a vulnerable defense and want to set an example against Turkey and Austria, but then do worse than before, I have made the wrong decision. If I have a back three and two rail players, these two have to think more defensively.
However, players like Havertz, Leroy Sané and Julian Brandt are “trained offensive players and will not play in these positions at their clubs in the next seven months. This also causes uncertainty among their teammates.”