Former Germany player Didi Hamann has accused Julian Nagelsmann of not attending enough games as national-team coach, after a shocking last-32 exit to Paraguay.
Germany suffered their first-ever penalty-shootout defeat on Monday, as they were knocked out of the World Cup following a 1-1 draw in normal time.
Germany had trailed due to Julio Enciso’s goal on the cusp of half-time, but Kai Havertz brought his side level early in the second half. No goals could be found by either team in extra time, although Jonathan Tah had a potential winner ruled out by VAR, and the shootout began with Havertz missing a penalty. Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala netted their spot kicks, as did Nadiem Amiri, but Nick Woltemade and Tah missed theirs.
With that, Germany were eliminated in Boston, to follow a quarter-final exit on home turf at Euro 2024 under Nagelsmann. Before he signed on, Germany had exited the previous two World Cups in the group stage, and Euro 2020 in the last 16.
“I think heart and bottle comes from team spirit, from being together, from knowing you can trust your teammates – they’re there for you when you need them,” Hamann told RTE. “I just feel, under this manager, that’s never been the case really.
“They had the odd decent performance, but on average the performance has been underwhelming. It’s been like this in the Euros, it’s been like this in the qualifying campaign, and it’s been like this in this World Cup.
“They always talked about the mood and the spirit in the camp. It’s all well saying [it]; you’ve got to show it. Talk is cheap, and I’ve never been convinced that this is a team as united… and honestly it’s the manager. It’s the manager’s job to get the lads united.
“Now, this is a guy who rarely watches games, rarely watches games,” alleged Hamann, 52. “He’s never been once in Milan to watch [Yann] Bisseck play; he should’ve taken [him] to the World Cup. He’s never been in Brentford in two-and-a-half years to watch [Kevin] Schade, who scored 10 goals [8] last season and 10 goals [11] the season before.
“In the Bundesliga, he might be watching one or two games a month. There’s Champions League games where Real Madrid played. We had the Africa Cup of Nations in January, where he could have watched Ivory Coast and some of the potential opponents; he didn’t go.
“The Club World Cup last season, where you play these venues, the weather conditions, the heat… [Portugal coach Roberto] Martinez is here, [England coach Thomas] Tuchel is here. [France coach Didier] Deschamps, who’s won everything, is in his mid-60s, is in America for three weeks. Who’s not there? Our man.
“This is where I’ve got no sympathy for him. I think the team and he got everything they deserved, and they’re going home tomorrow.”
Hamann’s criticism of Germany’s Euro 2024 performance was perhaps harsh, given the consensus at the time was that Nagelsmann’s side were the second best at the tournament and were unlucky to draw eventual champions Spain in the quarter-finals.
Nevertheless, the national team’s poor form since their 2014 World Cup triumph goes on. Bar a semi-final run at Euro 2016, Germany have underperformed and there will be serious questions over whether Nagelsmann, 38, is the right man to lead the team any further.
Still, the former Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig manager ruled out resigning, telling ZDF: “I am available if the DFB [German FA] wants that. If the DFB doesn’t want that, they have to tell me. I’m not the type to run away, that’s out of the question. If the DFB wants, then I will prepare for the European Championship and the Nations League.”
