Former Bayern Munich star Bastian Schweinsteiger pulled no punches in assessing Germany’s poor effort in a 2-0 loss to Slovakia.
“I played 121 games for Germany and there was never an attitude problem. When you hear the anthem and put on the national team shirt, you have to give everything on the pitch – regardless of whether it’s a friendly or a World Cup final,” Schweinsteiger said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “I’m sorry. But not for a single minute of the game did I believe we would win. This
is a tough setback. We were really bad. We didn’t play good passes, we didn’t pose any threat. Our body language after going 0-1 behind was gone immediately.
“If you want to win anything, you have to show resilience. The players have to realize that wasn’t good. I didn’t sense any danger today. The coach can talk all night long, but the players have to understand it for themselves. We’d be lucky to qualify for the World Cup if we play like we did today.”
Schweinsteiger is correct — Germany lacked energy and fight…and it was bad.
Very bad.
There is not much time to regroup and a lot needs to be changed. Time is ticking…
The German national team hit the road to face Slovakia, looking to get off on the right foot for this round of World Cup qualifier action.
That did not happen.
Julian Nagelsmann — as he is prone to do — did some experimenting with his lineup and it did not work as the team dropped a 2-0 decision. The players were bad, the coaching was not great, and it was not a banner effort overall.
There is plenty to discuss from this match, so let’s get to it. This is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show:
- A look at the starting XI.
- A rundown of the scoring and substitutions.
- Some final thoughts and takeaways on the match.
