National coach Julian Nagelsmann (2nd from right) and his new ensemble
Photo: imago/Mis
Some people in the already sold-out arena in Frankfurt’s city forest may be rubbing their eyes this Tuesday. A German national team has never played football in such eye-catching jerseys as against the Netherlands. The pink and purple version, actually designed by (current) supplier Adidas as an away version, celebrates a much-discussed premiere against “Oranje”.
Julian Nagelsmann, who has previously worn a red coat when visiting the stadium, has the least problem with this: “I think it’s good that it’s not always the same,” says the national coach. “I like courageous decisions.” And even though the jersey may look different in the next classic, the national team, which was finally convincing in the 2-0 win against France in Lyon, will not be given a completely new look. “We are not planning on making changes six or seven times,” promised Nagelsmann. “We will go through with the idea.” The 36-year-old ultimately made clear distributions of roles with a fixed core. This will not be changed in consideration of the Bundesliga classic next Saturday between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. But the two former main suppliers only provided two players for the starting line-up in Lyon.
Successful radical cure
The international match against France, which was admired by more than ten million television viewers, provided the first indications of where the path under Nagelsmann could lead in the best case scenario. His gambits finally worked. “It was nice to see,” piped the soccer teacher himself, without immediately patting himself too hard on the back. His radical treatment with changed hierarchies could prove to be the right one. The first eleven still combines enough talent to stand up to any top nation. Also the “Elftal”, who have just put Scotland, Germany’s first group opponent at the European Championships, in their place with 4-0.
Nagelsmann once agreed that the German Football Association (DFB) would look for two high-profile comparison opportunities from friendly associations shortly before Easter. He has never been afraid of challenges. Not as a child who tried out almost everything in nature in Landsberg am Lech. Not as a teenager who went on the most daring descents on a mountain bike or skis. Not as an adult, who at the age of 28 is still the youngest Bundesliga coach in history at Hoffenheim. The joy of experimentation, perhaps even volatility, are somehow part of him.
One or two mistakes are also common among decisive characters who don’t spend ages pondering whether they really should do this or that, only to then always remain in the old patterns. Nagelsmann likes to break new ground. Otherwise he wouldn’t have agreed quickly after his dismissal in Munich a year ago, when sports director Rudi Völler and managing director Andreas Rettig met him for a discussion and asked whether he would take over the DFB team until the home European Championships.
DFB wants to extend quickly
At first it seemed clear that this project was limited until the summer. But the dynamics in this business are different. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf made it public that “the chemistry is right” with Nagelsmann. But the association cannot unconditionally extend the contract if its flagship fails again in a preliminary round. Now Neuendorf intimate Rettig has also confirmed in the “Doppelpass” discussion group that the association would like to keep both Völler and Nagelsmann: “We are very satisfied with both of them and are very interested in extending with both of them.” The agreement with him should be easier Be a sports director who, at the age of 63, doesn’t want to move anywhere else again. However, there are still many doors open to Nagelsmann internationally after he moved on here from Hoffenheim via Leipzig to Munich. It seems unclear whether the DFB will just give up another transit station.
Nagelsmann is basically bothered by the fact that as a national coach, compared to a club coach, he has so few options for shaping the daily work on the training field. »The change is huge. “These are very different jobs,” he recently revealed at a fan press conference. Still, continuing until the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico is not without appeal. Nagelsmann just wants to know about it before the European Championships. When nominating the national team squad, he somewhat flippantly said that it was advisable for everyone his age to “take care of their future.” If a contract offer comes where he sees himself, he will just sign before the European Championships. In doing so, he had put his current employer under pressure – whether he wanted to or not.
Since then, not a single press conference goes by without a contract question. Nagelsmann could react with a tight lip, but that’s not in keeping with his character. As part of the France game, he said that he was apparently not interested in “financial things”. “Nothing is excluded,” but also “nothing is a given.” When he has an offer, “I have to see what it says and what the employer’s idea is – first of all, I want to play as good a European Championship as possible, that’s my main focus.”
The test matches now against the Netherlands and then against Ukraine and Greece at the beginning of June should not be a failure either. Best of all, they are as well received by the public as the new DFB jersey, which, according to the manufacturer, is selling better than any other replacement jersey before.
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