DFB team: Julian Nagelsmann’s European Championship plan: The power of emotions

Julian Nagelsmann does everything he can to lift the mood. Almost everything. The national coach doesn’t want to sing along. For good reason: “I have to do my job.” Plus, it’s still far too early to get into the mood for this classic. “Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin,” chanted German football fans in Stuttgart on Wednesday evening. After the DFB team became the first team to qualify for the round of 16 at this European Championship with a 2-0 win against Hungary, the enthusiastic spectators were already singing about the final in the capital.

The national coach does not want to slow down the euphoria that was hoped for in advance. Quite the opposite. “The fans can dream, our job is to let them keep dreaming.” On the one hand, Nagelsmann himself is enthusiastic. He enjoyed the “brilliant atmosphere” and reported an “emotional moment” when “the national anthem was sung during the game.” On the other hand, the national coach is using the atmosphere of this home tournament and consciously incorporating it into his European Championship plan. He showed his players pictures of the celebrating crowd of fans from Hamburg.

Wonderfully new

Mood is of course a matter of taste. Between the cheap, bass-heavy and far too loud event music in all stadiums, you can sometimes hear wonderfully new things at a European Championship with 24 nations. In the Stuttgart Arena, the Hungarian supporters sang along with “Nélküled,” a soulful song full of devotion. Ultimately it brought little consolation. In contrast to the opening game against Switzerland, your national team has improved significantly after the second significant defeat in the Group A hardly any chance of moving forward.

Julian Nagelsmann also did a lot in Stuttgart to create a “good feeling” in his own camp and among his supporters. The national coach demonstrated the positive emotionality on the sidelines. With his total of five and some early changes in the second half, he gave regular players such as Florian Wirtz and Kai Havertz, but also Robert Andrich, Jamal Musiala and İlkay Gündoğan, the necessary relief, and others such as Leroy Sané, Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can, important playing time. And with the substitutions of Stuttgart professionals Chris Führich and Deniz Undav, he gave the home crowd in the Swabian metropolis additional moments of joy. There were loud thanks and celebrations.

Perceived improvement

Of course, the prerequisite for all of this is sporting success. Captain Gündoğan said after the game: “It feels like it’s getting better and better.” The facts also speak for this. The 2-0 win against Hungary was Nagelsmann’s sixth win in his tenth game; the DFB team has been unbeaten in six games. The national coach himself speaks of a “maturation process”. The general development of the DFB team can also be seen in the opponent, whose squad has not changed much since the last duels. In 2022, Hungary managed a win and a draw against Germany in the group stage of the Nations League. The 2021 European Championship game also ended in a draw. The national coaches were still called Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick.

The national coach himself described the special development under Nagelsmann on Wednesday evening: “We wouldn’t have won this game in November.” Back then, after the defeats against Turkey and Austria, he found the courage that seems to be paying off more and more. After the almost complete change in the squad, the victories against France and the Netherlands in March gave hope. However, there wasn’t much time to solidify all the new things in hierarchy and style of play. Niclas Füllkrug explained how we got this far in Stuttgart. The national coach has “already made many important decisions and changed a few things,” said the striker and added: “He gave us an idea that suits us and is not too complicated.” This is a crucial difference from Nagelsmann’s predecessors. Neither Löw nor Flick were prepared to adapt their ideas about the game to the circumstances.

Less prominent

The biggest and most important change can be seen in the team’s backward movement. Installing a less prominent but extremely passionate defensive worker like Robert Andrich in central midfield also helps. But what is crucial is team defense. With a good orientation for space and opponents, all dangerous situations were defused against Hungary. The new defensive enthusiasm in numbers: only three goals conceded in the last six games.

On offense, Nagelsmann relies on courage and a simple, fast game. Because mistakes are allowed, no one is afraid of taking risks, neither when dribbling nor when passing. If a combination of Jamal Musiala, Havertz and Gündoğan failed against the Hungarians with only one touch of the ball each in the 19th minute, an almost similar attack led to 2-0 in the 67th minute. The stations: Musiala, Maximilian Mittelstädt and goalscorer Gündoğan. How important it is to constantly put the opponent under pressure became apparent after just 22 minutes. The DFB team pressed the Hungarians in their penalty area, Gündoğan pushed energetically – and Musiala took the lead.

One catch and double effect

As already mentioned, Nagelsmann’s changes were smart. In order to keep the pressure and focus high and to test alternatives, Florian Wirtz and Havertz, who still seemed a bit overplayed, had to leave the pitch after almost an hour. Here’s a catch: Neither Füllkrug nor Leroy Sané could show that they belong in the starting eleven. The same was true for Führich, although Undav didn’t have enough playing time. Only Can, who was subsequently nominated, fit seamlessly into the DFB team’s good game.

In the end, however, the “good feeling” remained on everyone’s part. The national coach wants to continue to give everything to achieve this. “We want to win all the games,” said Nagelsmann, looking ahead to the final group game next Sunday against the Swiss, who only managed a 1-1 draw against Scotland. “It will have an impact internally and externally if you finish the group first,” he said at the end, explaining his EM plan, which is also based on emotions. And by the way, the national coach also did something for himself in Stuttgart: the clause under which his contract could have been terminated if the DFB team was eliminated again in the preliminary round can be deleted.