Terrible evening for Tah
The referee really gets Nagelsmann mad
11.09.2024, 06:28
The magical goal festival against Hungary was followed by a turbulent battle with the Netherlands: In the second game of the Nations League, the German national football team showed something that pleased the national coach. He was still in a bad mood.
Julian Nagelsmann was in a bad mood immediately after referee Davide Massa blew the final whistle. Not for the first time on Tuesday evening. The players of his German national team were just on their way to run a promising counterattack towards the Dutch goal when the whistle sounded that ended the game. Nobody knows whether Germany would have won if the game had continued for a few seconds longer. What Nagelsmann did know, however, was: “We had a great chance blown away in the last second when we were running alone towards the goal. I don’t quite understand it,” he complained on RTL.
The DFB team and the hosts, the team of national coach Roland Koeman, parted ways after a 2:2 (1:2) draw. A turbulent game remained without a winner, and both teams were unbeaten in the Nations League. Three days after the magical night in Düsseldorf, when the German footballers poured their European Championship euphoria into a goal festival against Hungary (5:0), the first real test of endurance for the new DFB team, which seemed to have found its feet surprisingly quickly after the retirements of the old masters Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller, Manuel Neuer and İlkay Gündoğan, was now taking place in Ajax’s home stadium.
In the second minute the bell rings
The Hungarians were too weak to seriously assess the importance of the victory. It was a completely different story with the semi-finalists of the European Championship. And the Nagelsmanns found out after just a few seconds what kind of caliber of team was standing in their way. In midfield, Robert Andrich decided too late to make a real tackle. Ryan Gravenberch, who once had a hard time at FC Bayern, played an excellent pass into the space that neither Nico Schlotterbeck nor Jonathan Tah had in sight, to Tijjani Reijnders. He ran away from everyone and pushed the ball under Marc-André ter Stegen (2nd).
What a start. And the Dutch kept at it, repeatedly looking for Brian Brobbey, who used his beefy body well against Tah. He had a terrible evening, didn’t win any of his five tackles, walked the fine line of being sent off and stayed in the dressing room during the break. After a year of almost consistently outstanding performance, he didn’t get anything done this time. Will the drama surrounding the controversial and failed move to FC Bayern still have an impact? “In total there were four or five fouls and I was worried that he would get a yellow-red card,” said Nagelsmann. “The referee gave me a hint during the break and I didn’t want to risk it.”
“We convey the belief. The players believe in themselves”
Yes, the referee. He wasn’t always against the German team, as Nagelsmann somehow thought afterwards. The DFB team had fought back before the break. Two well-played attacks led to the goal. First, Deniz Undav enhanced his debut in the starting eleven with his first international goal and then captain Joshua Kimmich scored from Undav’s “bad pass” to take the lead at half-time. It wasn’t entirely undeserved, but it was a little lucky.
The more dangerous team was the Dutch. But the DFB team never panicked under pressure, repeatedly fought for their share and demonstrated their resilience. This is a quality that the national coach places great value on. “Blowbacks are the hardest thing in football. You have to fight them,” said Nagelsmann. His work is working: “We convey belief. The players believe in themselves.”
Things got really wild after the break. Denzel Dumfries scored to make it 2-2 (51′). Brobbey had his feet in the game again this time, getting past Schlotterbeck in the penalty area and playing the ball perfectly into the middle. Dumfries had little trouble there, partly because David Raum didn’t notice. In return, Germany made it 3-2. Raum crossed dangerously into the penalty area. Florian Wirtz passed to Kai Havertz, who, under pressure, pushed the ball just over the goal from close range. Nagelsmann turned away in despair (52′). Next scene: The Germans passed the ball to each other in the penalty area. It wasn’t dangerous, but Xavi Simmons clearly hit Jamal Musiala, who this time couldn’t unleash Düsseldorf’s magic, on the foot after his cross. A whistle? No whistle! Nagelmann shook his head several times, discussed it with his assistant coaches, with the fourth official. It changed nothing.
In Musiala’s case, it was “a clear penalty” and he had seen it “on the iPad” during the game. When he saw the scene on TV, Nagelsmann said angrily: “He just clearly came too late and hit Jamal on the foot. I don’t think we can disagree. Unfortunately, it’s a foul. In midfield, you’re guaranteed to get a foul. The scorecard for him doesn’t show the full number of points.” Musiala, the man who was hit, said: “I don’t want to talk too much about the referee. I have to look at the scene, but it feels like there were a few situations where things didn’t go our way.” But the national coach wanted to emphasize one thing: “The referee didn’t whistle well on either side. But it is what it is. I often get upset, but that usually doesn’t help.”
“In the end, it’s all about consistency”
Once the anger over Massa had subsided, the national coach was able to make peace with the game and his team’s performance. However, not without finding fault with a few things: “Very entertaining, it went back and forth. Both defensive departments were a bit too vulnerable. But it was an exciting and open game. Offensively, we were stronger and tried to create more. Holland often outplayed them relatively easily. Unfortunately, we made a mistake in the man-to-man pressing in the first situation. The way we came back was good.”
Nagelsmann did not want to be too harsh on his defense, which had plenty of problems with the Dutch attacking force. He said of Tah’s terrible evening: “He had a tough time.” And he recommended Nico Schlotterbeck: “What I love about him is that he wants every ball. But there are moments that are not moments of winning the ball. You also have to put up a fight sometimes.” His counterpart, meanwhile, was really euphoric after this duel: “A big compliment to Germany and Holland for this game,” said the impressed national coach Roland Koeman.
Nagelsmann took a lot of positive things away from the ten-day course. “The whole group had a very good few days. It’s a pleasant team that exudes a lot of passion. It’s fun to work with them,” said the 37-year-old, stressing: “Everyone has shown that they’re really keen.” In October, the DFB team will first visit Bosnia-Herzegovina, then play the return match against the Netherlands. They already have “a lot of world class” and there isn’t “one point where we need to improve,” said Nagelsmann. But: “In the end, it’s about consistency. We’re still lacking a bit there.”