The German national soccer team loses against Turkey in the away game in their own stadium. Well-known problems are combated with new solution ideas. This doesn’t work sufficiently.
What actually happened in the Berlin Olympic Stadium?
Away game in their own capital: The German national football team had invited the Turkish team to a test match in order to take the next step on the way from the paralyzing confusion of the Flick era to a major tournament that was finally not desolate. The Olympic Stadium, where the final of the home European Championship will take place in July 2024, was not the backdrop for an autumnal German football fairytale.
Turkey, which had just qualified for the European Championships and sent a strengthened B team onto the pitch, once again showed the DFB team well-known weaknesses in their 3-2 win: Julian Nagelsmann does not have the defensive willingness that is at best limited under control. And the German national soccer team is simply not getting back on its feet in the long term.
The national coach, who had already created a very delicate mood of optimism on the trip to the USA, did not find the solution to Germany’s new favorite problem in his first international match on German soil: the defense continues to allow far too much, sometimes absurdly much for an ensemble, which is, after all, led by Real Madrid’s defensive titan, Antonio Rüdiger.
Against the Turks who were keen to play, but by no means brilliant, the German defensive structure was simply outwitted when they conceded two goals in the first half; too often, under pressure, the back line was unable to build up anything that would benefit their own game. And that’s bad news, as Nagelsmann had announced that defense would be the focus of the life support measures he was entrusted with at the DFB.
With the nomination of high-quality technician Kai Havertz as left-back, Nagelsmann demonstrated a lot of imagination and the will to find creative solutions to problems that had already failed his predecessors. But now there is no imagination as to how the shaky construct, which should be delivered in a stable manner by next summer at the latest, can be at least somewhat robust.
Teams & Goals:
Germany: Trapp – Henrichs, Tah, Rüdiger, Havertz – Kimmich (71st Goretzka), Gündogan – Wirtz (71st Gnabry), Brandt (82nd Duksch) – Sané, Füllkrug
Türkiye: Bayindir – Celik, Kabak, Bardakci, Kadioglu (63rd Elmali) – Yüksek (46th Özcan), Akbaba (34th Ömür), Ayhan, Yazici (63rd Yilmaz/ 71st Aktürkoglu), Irfan Can (63rd Sari) – Yildiz
Gates: 1:0 Havertz (5th), 1:1 Kadioglu (38th), 1:2 Yildiz (45th+2), 2:2 Füllkrug (49th), 2:3 Sari (71st/hand penalty)
Yellow cards: – Kabak, Irfan Can, Ömür, Bardakci
Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (Poland)
Viewers: 72,592 (in Berlin)
Click here for the match report!
What was good?
In the first minutes Leroy Sané and Gündogan. After that, only Florian Wirtz was constant. His security and cleverness on the ball and in interaction with his colleagues supported the German offensive game. His quick movements always caused danger, his passes provided depth and speed. Just as Nagelsmann wants it to be. Sané is a brilliant playing partner for the Leverkusen player. Jamal Musiala will be another if he gets fit after his injury. So far, the DFB’s two greatest talents have mostly played past each other.
During the trip to the USA, the new national coach seemed to have found an idea for the first time as to how the top quality of the youngsters could be transformed into top quality for the team. Gündogan is said to be the important anchor behind the swirling offensives. The captain showed what that could look like in the first 25 minutes. He was omnipresent in the first game against his parents’ home country. Against the whistles from the stands, he freed himself from the smallest spaces and directed his colleagues out of trouble or into good offensive actions.
What was bad?
What is currently a problem in German football is, in principle, being renegotiated every day. Sometimes it’s the offensive, where the search for a striker even brought Marvin Ducksch from Werder Bremen into the DFB team for the first time at the age of 29, and sometimes it’s the defense, which is primarily flanked by the search for good full-backs becomes.
The national coach put defense on the agenda as a priority at the end of the year. There needs to be more stability. The irrefutable saying that titles can only be won with good defensive work is still valid. Conclusion at half-time of the international double pack: The national team does not (yet) have a stable foundation. Things looked solid for 20 minutes because their own pressing worked well and the Turkish team was still looking for routes and a good understanding.
But then it started. Especially for the right side. There, Leroy Sané refused to do defensive work again and again. At times he stood listlessly to the side and only reacted when it was too late. This was also the case with the equalizer by the very eye-catching Ferdi Kadioglu. The interaction between Sané as a rail player and Benjamin Henrichs as the right-hand man in the chain was, to put it charitably, room for improvement. Henrichs came too late for the second goal conceded by the former and extremely enthusiastic Bayern talent Kenan Yildiz. The 18-year-old nailed the ball over the post and crossbar into the German goal with impressive conviction.
On the other hand, things were only slightly better with Antonio Rüdiger and the surprise left-back Kai Havertz. However, the last chain received little relief from the midfield, where Gündogan started strong but gradually disappeared. And where Kimmich couldn’t always be the boss he wanted to be and should be against the tough Turks.
Has Julian Nagelsmann actually lost his mind?
Germany lacks strikers; this problem has been discussed in recent years, basically since the departure of World Cup record goalscorer Miroslav Klose. The fact that Germany also lacks full-backs was pushed aside for a long time. Basically since saying goodbye to world champion captain Philipp Lahm. Moving Joshua Kimmich to the midfield center didn’t make the problem any smaller. Joachim Löw accompanied the problem until the bitter last day of his era as national coach, when it was discussed during the 2021 European Championship whether Kimmich should give up again or not. Hansi Flick, on the other hand, just kept throwing his defense completely into disarray.
And now Julian Nagelsmann claims to have had the golden idea: against Turkey, in his third international match as national coach, he made striker Kai Havertz the left-back. Without any warning. A completely crazy idea or even pure desperation? “He has a great imagination” with Kai Havertz, said Julian Nagelsmann before the game on RTL. He has “full trust in the world-class player” Havertz, who has too often been unsuccessful offensively in both the DFB team and his club Arsenal London. Now the national coach has invented a new position for the 24-year-old. When the Turkish had the ball, he moved to the left-back position; when the Germans had it, he had to break free of the chain.
Of course, Nagelsmann hasn’t gone crazy; over the years, Havertz has provided valid arguments for being on the pitch for top international teams. The game did not provide any reliable information about whether this will perhaps be the case more often than left-back in the future: the Turks tended to target the Germans’ sometimes confused right side of the defense, and the defending striker Havertz fulfilled his task without any failures.
How was it at the stadium?
It was the expected away game of the DFB team in the final stadium of the home European Championship 2024. With the exception of the east curve, which is filled by Hertha BSC fans during league play, the Olympic Stadium was completely in Turkish hands. Every now and then the German flags joined the Turkish ones in most areas. But they were just sprinkles of color. Julian Nagelsmann’s team was greeted by a shrill concert of whistles as they warmed up. But the well over 40,000 “Bizim Cocuklar” fans were of course much more interested in their own team.
They did not achieve the ecstatic volume of the Süper Lig stadiums. Which was perhaps also due to the sound system from DJ Teddy-O, who spun his records on the sidelines and drowned out everything. When DJ Teddy-O ran out of music, the team roster was read out. For number 21 of the DFB team, captain Ilkay Gündogan, the whistles and boos increased again. He is the one who decided against his parents’ country.
A few black market tickets were offered in front of the stadium shortly before the game kicked off. The sold-out stadium itself slowly filled up and was far from full at the start of the game. The anthems rang out, the Turkish national players draped their training jackets over the induction children, the German ones didn’t. Only Niclas Füllkrug tried it, but he didn’t succeed. The stadium shouted “Türkiye” and it could begin. The 37-year-old Pole Bartosz Frankowski, who had been put in charge of the game, blew the whistle and the stadium cheered every time the DFB team lost the ball. It was just the expected away game.
The voices about the game:
Julian Nagelsmann (national coach): “We didn’t have the emotionality in all positions. A few did very well, but some didn’t reach the level of emotion to push themselves to their limits,” said Julian Nagelsmann on RTL. The national coach particularly disliked the weak phase from the 25th minute to the break. “We did better in the second half,” said Nagelsmann. The 36-year-old regretted that his team missed further chances after Kai Havertz’s early 1-0 lead. “We have to close the game earlier,” said Nagelsmann. “Kai Havertz played an outstanding game. The only personnel change that was surprising today was our best man.”
Ilkay Gündogan (DFB captain): “We became too lethargic. I don’t know if we thought it would fix itself. We started the game well, then we were no longer determined enough. Against the ball there was no longer the pressure that we actually generate wanted. We weren’t aggressive enough. They score their goals after we make mistakes. Then it’s always difficult to come back, no matter who we’re against. I don’t know if lethargic is the right word, but just too passive. We’re getting in well, Then the self-confidence is actually even greater. Then we probably expected it to happen on its own. In the end, we were always one step further away, especially in the first half. It feels like we won the game today lost in the first half.”