Germany is a huge footballing nation like Brazil who are a shadow of their former shelves. Since the Euros in France they have underwhelmed in international tournaments. Long – time coach Joachim Low resigned after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to arch rivals England at Wembley in Euro 2020. Despite , hiring two managers since the England debacle they have not improved.
Germany fans go into every tournament expecting to do well because of the pedigree they have in International tournaments (they have won four World Cups and three Euros) . Flick and Nagglesman have taken the blame for poor performances as there is a social response to always lay blame on the coach. However, in this case the coach should not take all the blame as the same crop of players have let the country down.
Underwhelming tournaments
Germany failed to get out of the group as defending world champions in Russia. This was a major shock as their group consisted of South Korea, Mexico and Sweden. Die Mannschaft lost their first game 1-0 to Mexico , followed this up 2-1 win against Sweden with a before a 0-2 defeat to South Korea in the final group game
Despite underwhelming at the World Cup Joachim low remained coach for Euro 2020. They did just about enough to get out of a tough group which consisted of Hungary, France and Portugal. Germany lost 0-1 to France in their first group game , emphatically dispatched Portugal 2-4 in the second game prior to concluding the group with 2-2 draw with Hungary in Munich. In the last 16 they came unstuck (losing 2-0) against a young and vibrant England team at Wembley.
Flick’s first World Cup campaign was a complete disaster. They failed to qualify out of the group for the second time in a row. Die Mannschaft were grouped with Spain , Costa Rica and Japan.
The four time champions kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 1-2 defeat to Japan , drew 1-1 with Spain in their penultimate match before bowing out of the FIFA World Cup despite a 4-2 win against Costa Rica in their final Group E game.
Nagglesman and Germany’s future
Germany must improve, not just to avoid embarrassment at the home tournament next summer, but for the pride of the nation and out of pure love of the game. It is unlikely that Nagglesman will extend his contract beyond the Euros if they don’t do well in the tournament . This means the likelihood is they will be looking for a new coach after the Euros which is not ideal as most of these players would have worked under three different managers.
There is still hope for the German national team. Young players such as Jamal Musiala, Florian Writz,Youssoufa Moukoko, Karim Adeyemi and Nico Schlotterbeck have a lot of potential. These crop of individuals can form the spine of the national team while Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sane, Joshua Kimmich and Serge Gnabry can act as their mentors. The next generation will be under pressure to deliver as the previous one played a huge part in Germany’s down period.