Between packed boxes in the team hotel, Antonio Di Salvo and Joti Chatzialexiou puzzled over the reasons for the “super meltdown” with blank eyes.
With plenty of new problems and many questions, the dethroned European champions made the journey from the Black Sea coast back to Germany with the deeply frustrated U21 coach and the DFB national team manager. Instead of the hoped-for successes as an encouragement before the home European Championship, the German U21s brought home a miserable preliminary round knockout and new worries from their failed European Championship mission in Georgia. The next heavy mood dampener after the deep crisis of the A-national team leaves a disturbing overall picture of German football – and that a year before the long-awaited EM summer fairy tale.
“The worst case scenario really happened,” said Chatzialexiou after the 2-0 defeat in the last preliminary round against England in Batumi, which sealed the U21s’ historically poor record at the European Championship and their earliest exit since 2013 as bottom of the table. “That’s just not enough if you want to become European champions and qualify for the Olympic Games. As a football nation, you have to act differently,” demanded the 47-year-old. After the unsuccessful start of the A team towards the home European Championship, the U21 are now also making trouble.
Völler: “Reflection” of the A-Team
Even before the final knockout, Völler had described the U21 disappointments as a “reflection” of the A-Team and warned: “It’s certainly no coincidence.” However, there will be no personnel consequences for the time being. National coach Hansi Flick and Di Salvo, whose contract was extended until 2025 before the tournament, are allowed to continue. “Hansi knows we have to deliver,” said Völler. This also applies to Di Salvo, who was struggling with his emotions the day after the appearance. “We’re always constantly and critically questioning ourselves,” said the 44-year-old, who also referred to the major injury concerns and the many setbacks for his team. “In the end it wasn’t enough and there are several reasons.”
The senior national team had disappointed in recent years under Joachim Löw and his successor Flick, especially with the World Cup debacles in 2018 and 2022. In contrast, the U21s under Stefan Kuntz were a reliable supplier of successes and football enthusiasm with three final appearances and two titles. “We always have fluctuations,” said official Chatzialexiou. He warned that despite the disappointment this summer, “German football shouldn’t be buried either”. Nevertheless, the failure of the U21s once again relentlessly exposed problems in German youth football.
Talent education needs to change
After two unfortunate performances by the U21s against Israel (1-1) and the Czech Republic (1-2), a class difference was particularly evident against the EM favorite England. “It was definitely not courageous, it was without heart. There has to be more,” said midfielder Angelo Stiller. And Di Salvo also admitted: “We were clearly shown the limits. England was at least one class better. We have difficulties keeping up.”
Experts and those responsible have been warning for years that something needs to change in German talent training. The DFB has been trying to implement reforms with the Future Project since 2018. But this is also difficult because of the many interests. In the overall system in Germany, it is difficult to “sometimes get changes into people’s heads,” criticized Chatzialexiou. While the successes of the U21s in recent years masked the problems, they are now hitting the stage with full force. The European Championship title for the U17s this summer seems like a single outlier, but at the same time it is also an encouragement despite all the sadness.
U21 players without recommendation for home EM
Di Salvo and Chatzialexiou now want to take a deep breath, calm down and analyze the failure. The same applies to Flick after the disappointing performances of his national team. In September it will all be about stoking anticipation for the European Championships at home as quickly as possible – and building a team capable of winning the title. “The time for experiments is over, now it’s time for the EM year,” demanded Völler. However, nobody from the current U21 squad could recommend themselves for the Flick selection at the European Championship. At best, players like 18-year-old Nelson Weiper give hope for the next U21 tournament in two years – but they are not yet candidates for the European Championship at home next year.