Do you still remember David Fincher’s cult film “Fight Club”? At the end, Edward Norton’s character, covering his injured cheek with a cloth, takes his girlfriend’s hand and tells her: “We met at a strange time in my life.” And then the neighboring skyscrapers begin to brilliantly explode and collapse. The “Mayhem” project, previously conceived by Norton’s character, was carried out.
Julian Nagelsmann and the German team also found themselves in a strange moment. Furthermore, it was strange for both the team and the coach.
In the spring of 2023, Nagelsmann was suddenly fired from Bayern. Yes, the Bavarians had difficulties that season in the Bundesliga. But in March they still had not lost anything. And in the Champions League at that time, PSG had just passed the round of 16. And, in general, Julián was taken seriously and for a long time. And then, his firing after just a year and a half of work.
Julian Nagelsmann
Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
However, life has shown that the separation from Nagelsmann was only the first stage of Bayern’s managerial disintegration. In the summer of 2024, it got to the point where Vincent Kompany was appointed coach. After failing to win the Bundesliga for the first time in many years.
As for the German team, its crisis began long before 2023. The Germans failed in three major tournaments in a row. 2018 World Cup – did not qualify from the group. Euro 2020: We barely made the playoffs, but immediately lost to England. World Cup 2022: after the group stage we returned home.
The failure at the World Cup in Qatar was accentuated by a film that was released on Amazon after the tournament. In addition, he confirmed inside information that relations in the national team were very regular and that Hans-Dieter Flick, following the old regime, lost the locker room.
Hans-Dieter film
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
A little more time passed and Flick lost not only his wardrobe, but also his job. Germany has a streak of five games without a win. The matches were friendly, but that did not change the essence of the matter. In September 2023, Flick left the national team.
And so Nagelmann and the Bundesteam came together, like a boy and a girl who have just gotten out of a failed relationship. Each one is one of their own. They had known each other for a long time. Perhaps they even carefully fantasized about some kind of future together. It is true that they were only fantasizing: after all, the coach had a job and the team had a coach. But then they freed themselves and, hand in hand, went together to the euro.
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“Released” is often a very appropriate word in relation to the union of Nagelsmann and the national team. First of all, this concerns the players. There are fewer Dushnilov in the locker room than with Flick. In addition, Julian gave more power to the young people: mainly Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala.
And the coach, on the contrary, did not even take several respected footballers to the Euro Cup. Mats Hummels, Leon Goretzka and Julian Brandt will watch the national team’s matches on television.
Mats Hummels, León Goretzka and Julian Brandt
Photo: Getty Images
On the one hand, it is surprising that Nagelmann abandoned football players with so much class and experience. Yes, Mats is already over 30 years old, but he had a great season with Borussia, especially in the Champions League. On the other hand, in 2024, Hummels, Goretzka and Brandt did not play a single minute with the national team. Then Nagelsmann, apparently, already in 2023 realized that he did not need these people.
The young coach generally followed a difficult path. He is a club coach. But working in a club and in the national team are very different things. At the club you work with football players every day, you have time to develop connections and play difficult football. There is no such happiness in the national team. The players rarely get together and often arrive injured. And the result is necessary here and now.
The main handsome men of the Euro Cup:
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All the kits of the national teams for Euro 2024. English style, Belgian experiment and others.
And yet, Julián did not simplify anything. Germany plays complex football, with club football as its essence. It is clear that even without Hummels, Goretzki and Brandt there are enough players to play in a combinatorial and complex way. But there are other teams with a top-level squad, for example, France or England. And they play more easily. In the case of England, it is not even simpler, but more primitive.
Nobody says you have to play hard and nice. If you act simply and achieve results, there will be no questions about you. But the fact that Nagelsmann makes Germany cute and conceptual, like the latest models from the German automotive giants, evokes sympathy. It’s nice to see this team, it doesn’t seem monotonous.
It was interesting to even watch how the coach looked for suitable options. He changed his plans. I played with and without a pure striker. He tried Kai Havertz as a left back! That promotion remained a one-time event, but appreciate the flight of fancy!
Kai Havertz (No. 7)
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Havertz ended up becoming a wandering forward. The edges of the attack are already covered in flesh and the status of Musial and Wirtz. The big brains in the midfield are Ilkay Gundogan and Toni Kroos. In addition, next to them is one of the exhausted workers: Robert Andrich, who almost dragged Bayer to the end of the season without defeat, or Pascal Gros from Brighton, highly respected in the Premier League.
On the defensive flanks are the best Joshua Kimmich and Maximilian Mittelstedt, who had a great season in Stuttgart and burst into the national team like a comet. Antonio Rüdiger, Jonathan Ta and Nico Schlotterbeck compete for two places in the center; There is also room to expand. And Manuel Neuer in goal. Here you have a dream team.
The most “our” part of Germany:
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I remember that before the 2006 World Cup, Germany also had problems. There is a crisis in the football player training system, which is unattractive, despite reaching the final phase, the 2002 World Cup, and not being able to qualify from the group to the 2004 Euro Cup without a single victory. After these events, the German team was renewed: the young Jürgen Klinsmann became coach, the team became fresher and had an excellent World Cup at home. And then the greatness of the Germans only grew. It lasted about 10 years.
Germany has problems again before the Euro Cup. And she renews herself, invites a young coach again and becomes fresher before our eyes. History, they say, is cyclical… So let’s check it out!
Cheer up for yours!
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Who will you support at Euro 2024?
