The room is barely larger than a broom closet, no window, no air conditioning, and a plaque on the wall that welcomes the guest with the sentence: “This place can be your home – or your worst nightmare.”
In that stuffy room under a Pratt stand
Nagelsmann’s predecessor Hansi Flick made similar statements in the late phase of his term in office. It was always about the incredible talent that the DFB selection supposedly had – but only the drones that Flick had hovering over the training pitch could see it. And rarely the spectators at the international matches in the stadium.
Things should now be different under Nagelsmann, 36. Anyone who last saw him on the training field in Foxborough, an hour and a half drive from Hartford, saw a young, energetic trainer who danced some of the exercises himself and spoke loudly. This was apparently well received by the players. Thomas Müller praised that Nagelsmann brought “a lot of power to the pitch”, Ilkay Gündogan was happy about the “clear announcements”, and Jamal Musiala, a master of the short answer, said: “Everyone is up for it.”
Nagelsmann’s superior Rudi Völler also joined in the eulogies: “Julian is exactly the guy who can create the change in mood that we absolutely need.”
Only Nagelsmann himself found it all too emotional. Atmosphere, team spirit, these are terms that make him think of the eleven friends myth from Herberger’s time. A cliché, “cheese,” said Nagelsmann. It’s not that easy, just hold your hands in the middle of the dressing room, shout a few encouraging words and you’re a great team.
In Nagelsmann’s perception, football teams are primarily communities of convenience. “We don’t have to create the atmosphere by constantly talking about it. It’s about playing football where everyone goes to bed in the evening and says: Wow, that makes you want to play!”
It’s also about results. Nagelsmann is aware of this, “Victory is very important,” he said. A trivial insight actually, but under Hansi Flick it had moved further and further into the background. He did not accept the number of points as a central measurement because it ignored what important work Flick did as a football educator at the DFB. Flick always talked about wanting to build a team for the 2024 European Championship and the years after. The fact that the path to the supposedly golden future turned out to be bumpy: a gift, only small minds can get upset about that.
With Flick everything was the future, he experimented to the point of excess – until the team lost all faith in themselves. In the 4-1 defeat against Japan in September, you could see the team’s disintegration in real time.
At Nagelsmann everything is now present. He only has a contract until the end of July 2024, nine months in total, and in this limited time he wants to get what he can get out of it. Twelve players that Nagelsmann nominated for the USA trip are 30 years old or older. Only under Erich Ribbeck, who worked as team boss in the late 1990s (and also played a lot of golf), did the German national team have a higher average age.
Nagelsmann is a pragmatist. He builds a team, he puts the individual parts together, but he doesn’t see himself in the role of a developer. Nagelsmann completely misses all of the fanciful, sacred things of his predecessors.
He wants to stabilize the DFB team, which has been deeply unsettled since the failed 2022 World Cup, with seniority on the central axis: He has brought back Mats Hummels, 34, as defense chief, whom Joachim Löw had already sorted out. In front of him he positions Thomas Müller, 34, in midfield, who serves Niclas Füllkrug, 30, at the forefront of the attack, or even Kevin Behrens, 32, who was called up for the first time.
Nagelsmann is at the DFB as if he were on assembly. The national coaching job means temporary happiness for him. He has to solve problems today, not tomorrow. An opponent like the USA seems to come at just the right time. Not a world-class team, absolutely beatable for the Germans.
But that was also said about Japan in September.
