Bayern Munich and German national team legend Lothar Matthäus hit Sky Germany to lay out his thoughts on Germany’s exit from the World Cup. As expected, the pundit was extremely blunt with his assessment.
Obviously, Matthäus was unhappy at Germany’s unwillingness to change or alter plans when there were issues (as captured by @iMiaSanMia):
I had hoped we would have learned from the things we saw against Ivory Coast and Ecuador. I thought Julian Nagelsmann would have drawn his conclusions from those
matches. What Germany showed against Paraguay was simply far too little. I didn’t see any clear game plan. From the outside, it didn’t look like there was any unity on the pitch. If what Paraguay showed was enough to advance against Germany, then you know how to assess our team’s performance. Being knocked out by Paraguay was a disgrace
If Nagelsmann were to remain national team coach, that would be a surprise to me. While I can understand why he isn’t resigning himself, Julian needs to be honest with himself: Has he gotten the absolute best out of the team? My answer is a clear no! Julian got everything he wanted. He assembled his own squad. Rudi Völler protected him, unlike Oliver Bierhoff and Hansi Flick after the 2022 World Cup. Back then, Hansi had to deal with everything alone. Nagelsmann has not improved the team’s results. Not at the Euros and not in the Nations League Final Four.
I hope that Völler speaks as frankly internally as he does with us experts. Every stone must be turned over. We have to look closely and see what went well and what went wrong.
Matthäus also thinks that while a coaching change could help, but also that an overall strategic direction is needed for the squad:
Jürgen Klopp has been mentioned as a possible candidate for years, as he has done very well at his clubs. He is a motivator and someone who takes a firm stance. I would like to see more clarity at the DFB overall. Different opinions are fine, but ultimately, we need to discuss what’s best for German football. If you don’t communicate openly and only focus on harmony, things won’t work. You won’t become world champion on harmony alone.
Finally, Matthäus insinuated that there might be a disconnect in what the team needed from the manager in a stressful moment and how Nagelsmann handled the stressful situation ahead of the shootout:
Before the penalty shootout, both teams formed a circle. Paraguay’s coach emotionally fired up and motivated his team, while Nagelsmann read something from a piece of paper. I don’t know if the players even understood him.
There were several instances where there appeared to be a lack of alignment between the players and coaching staff. In this instance, Nagelsmann might not have correctly read the room and created an environment filled with tension and nerves for the shootout.
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