After a long era of introspection, Euro 2024 hosts Germany appear to have returned to an upward trajectory under Julian Nagelsmann, concentrating more on their thrilling attack than a lack of defensive depth.
It’s about talking about a 36-year-old coach or head coach who is in a recovery phase of his career (and that would possibly be too strong a term), but Julian Nagelsmann is on the verge of recovery after leaving Bayern Munich. Following his dismissal in March 2023, Bayern seemed to be the natural next step in his promotion. It was not like that. While he complained about his clothes, his character and, in one case, his skateboard, the shine disappeared when he was fired just 18 months after his appointment.
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The light has now returned, with Nagelsmann in charge of changing the mood around the national team. Disinterest and lack of commitment have increased since their triumph at the 2014 World Cup, as a reaction to scandal and poor performance, and were further affected at the last World Cup in Qatar two. years ago, which many Germans simply ignored.
However, back-to-back wins over France and the Netherlands in the foreign break in March this year have sparked something, and while they fail to come close to the impending euphoria, Nagelsmann’s fast-paced, straight-up football and artistic choices have ushered in a new era of openness-mind.
Germany will play a 4-3-2-1 this summer. They will be ambitious with the ball and will use their inverted full-backs inside. Toni Kroos returns to give one last hurrah before retiring from the game, which adjusts the caliber of ownership in midfield. Behind the false nine Kai Havertz, Nagelsmann will also use the number 10 twins: Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz.
It may just be fun.
Thanks to his story, Maximilian Mittelstadt. Su career has taken off over the past 12 months with tactics that no one could have predicted and that will possibly make him secondary material for the hounds this summer.
Last year, at the same time, Mittelstadt had just been relegated to the second division with Hertha Berlin. They were horrible, they finished last in the Bundesliga and he had nothing remarkable. But in July he joined Sebastian Hoeness’ Stuttgart for €500,000 and took part in one of the most impressive changes in German football.
Hoeness led Stuttgart from last season’s relegation play-offs to second place and Champions League qualification in a year’s time and Mittelstadt, an inverted and wandering left-back who is a member of one of the Bundesliga’s toughest flanks.
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And he in the right position at the right time.
Mittelstadt is not the country’s German left-back, but he is a perfect fit for Nagelsmann. He also took advantage of his opportunity. He scored a brilliant goal against the Dutch in March, and more broadly shows a fearless commitment to moving the ball forward, which makes him incredibly fun to watch.
GOING FURTHER
Maximilian Mittelstadt is the solution to Germany’s left-back problems
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Musiala and Wirtz together. A few months ago, this was perceived as a problem. Yes, Germany had two young, world-class players. Unfortunately, they were both playing in the same position. This is a Steven Gerrard-Frank Lampard scenario from England’s recent past, with one player allegedly being compromised by the other’s intelligence.
Unlike some English managers, Nagelsmann managed to make it all work.
The two were in better harmony in the March friendlies and the combination of their vision, ball use and overall threat, led by Havertz’s clever forward pivot play, will make them one of the most dangerous tandems in the tournament.
If Germany is making great strides in this eurozone, this dynamic will be the cause.
Where have all the German defenders gone?
One of the greatest existential debates in the country is the relief in the number of specialists. The reinvention of the German coach at the turn of the century helped to form a small army of technical and flexible players, albeit – according to some – at the expense of more classic players. elements of the game, such as the central ones or the 9.
The Germans know how to make Mario Gotzes. Will they be able to assemble a Jürgen Kohler or a Miroslav Klose?
This is just theory, but a look at the team turns out that it is not.
Germany have enough capacity and energy to qualify in the most sensitive area of the pitch, but the centre of defence has been a challenge for years and its shortcomings still make enthusiasts nervous.
Jonathan Tah is his advocate. He’s been fantastic in the midst of Bayer Leverkusen’s near-unbeaten season, and Antonio Rudiger starts most of Real Madrid’s games for clever reasons, but Nagelsmann will have to spend the tournament protecting what looks like a skinny department.
How Euro 2024 at The Athletic. . .
Who remembers Peter Schilling’s hit Major Tom in 1983?You’d know if you listened to it, especially if you watched the TV series Deutschland 83.
Anyway, in the spring, after the video of Wirtz’s goal against France in the first minute was sent to Major Tom via user X, a petition started it as goal music in those euros.
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He stood his ground. . . until UEFA ruined the party. Only officially approved music can be used in the tournament, he said, and everyone rolled their eyes.
However, Major Tom is still alive, which means that Schilling returns a bit at 68 years old. The DFB, the German football association, had tested the use of Major Tom as a music of purpose – “torhymne” in German – this friendly match was opposed to the Netherlands in Frankfurt. Stuttgart’s Mittelstadt celebrated their second game with a raucous shot that hit the crossbar, their first goal on the outside, and Schilling’s shot went out of the loudspeakers with full force.
In a rare PR victory, the DFB used non-traditional means to leak the team’s announcement for the European Championship, player by player, and Stuttgart-born Schilling starred in his own Instagram thumbnail confirming Mittelstadt’s spot.
The summer one? Maybe.
It’s amazing how things have changed temporarily. Just six months ago, here in Germany there was no indication that a primary football tournament would be held this summer. There was even apprehension about it: the country feared embarrassment on the ground, but it also feared that the rest of Europe would point fingers and mock. their squeaky shipping systems. Deutsche Bahn’s rail network has long been a mess and the prospect of millions of new people relying on it to get around the country and attend games is not something that can be anticipated.
A German brand powerhouse? It’s not enough.
But how are other things now.
Nagelsmann’s side are not expected to be in serious competition for the title, but (just like when Germany hosted the 2006 World Cup, two years after the elimination of the Euro Championship’s organisational level) there is some hope that they can take an ambitious step forward and that even if they end up disappointed in France, England or Portugal, those players can at least announce what awaits them in the future.
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There’s also a certain humility in this team and that helps.
Nagelsmann has opted for good form and has been afraid to leave out the big names of the most important clubs (there are no Leon Goretzka or Serge Gnabry of Bayern, nor Mats Hummels, Julian Brandt or Niklas Sule of Borussia Dortmund).
The result is a team made up of a few veteran players for whom there is still a lot of affection, a few rising stars who are clearly destined for the moon, and a few others who deserve this moment and for whom, as a result, there is a lot of goodwill.
Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Stuttgart), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuhrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund), Leroy Sané. (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Forwards: Maximilian Beier (Hoffenheim), Niclas Fullkrug (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart, from Brighton).
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)