Kai Havertz (r.) and the DFB team played with intelligence and fight against Jan Paul van Hecke’s Dutchman.
Photo: imago/Oliver Kaelke
Parting with a good feeling increases the joy of seeing each other again. “We spent ten very good days together,” said national coach Julian Nagelsmann at the end of the first international match phase in Amsterdam after the home European Championship. While the German national players had to concentrate on work in their clubs again on Wednesday, the national coach now has almost a month to analyze the two opening games in the Nations League. Nagelsmann and his team can look forward to the new duel against the Netherlands on October 14th in Munich with great hope. After the great enthusiasm in the 5-0 win against Hungary, the 2-2 draw on Tuesday evening in the Johan Cruyff Arena also provided some starting points for improvement.
Dominant reaction
However, the national coach left no doubt about the direction in which developments will go: “I am very confident that we will be successful.” There are good reasons for the national coach’s optimism. Basically, the DFB team also showed a good performance in Amsterdam – against a Dutch team that coach Ronald Koeman made even better with a few changes after the semi-final exit at the European Championships. Not at all shocked by Tijjani Reijnders’ early deficit after two minutes, the German players dominated the first half – and led 2-1 at the break after goals from Deniz Undav in the 38th minute and Joshua Kimmich in stoppage time.
The quick equalizer five minutes after the restart by Denzel Dumfries once again revealed the weak point – restlessness and disorder in the defense – just like in the 0-1. The national coach wants to slow down his players. “You don’t have to win the ball in every situation,” said Nagelsmann, criticizing some of the overzealous defensive actions that gave the Dutch their chances to score. Sometimes just defending space and opponents is something you have to work on.
Endurance test passed
“We will learn a lot from games like this,” said Jamal Musiala, describing the game in line with his coach’s wishes. This also applies to the Munich offensive all-rounder and the entire attacking game. In any case, there were enough chances to win on Tuesday evening. Nagelsmann doesn’t have to worry seriously about his defense either. On the one hand, it ultimately passed the acid test against a very strong Dutch offensive. Captain and right-back Kimmich spoke of a duel at a “very, very high level”. On the other hand, defense chief Jonathan Tah had a rare bad day.
Apparently the opponent had already identified Tah as a weak point. The Dutch allowed him to build up the game because he wasn’t as good as his central defender colleague Nico Schlotterbeck, who was attacked much more aggressively. The other way around in attack: The beefy striker Brian Brobbey repeatedly involved Tah in tough duels. After the first 45 minutes, Nagelsmann replaced the Leverkusen player, who was under heavy pressure after a few fouls and a yellow card. Stuttgart substitute Waldemar Anton wasn’t really in the game when the score was 2-2 – and allowed Brobbey to assist on the goal.
Impressive ball conquests
With further substitutions on both sides, the pace and quality were somewhat lost over the course of the second half. The DFB team lost control of the midfield after around an hour of play with the substitution of Emre Can. The Dortmund player is one of those players who should have a hard time staying in the squad. Another is Leroy Sané. He missed both games due to injury. But in view of the strong performances, in which the many ball conquests thanks to the disciplined pressing system were particularly impressive, Sané has to improve compared to his performances at the European Championships. The attacks, which were carried out with conviction and speed, as well as the somewhat good team defense, put additional pressure on the Munich player. He also got it from a Dutch expert. »He is now 28 years old. I think he should have been on Kylian Mbappé’s level for a long time,” Rafel van der Vaart praised Sané’s talent and demanded: “I hope someone kicks his ass.”
Nagelsmann still has enough time for the very important decisions. Because the goal is the next big tournament. “We still have 18 games until the 2026 World Cup,” calculated the national coach. The Nations League plays a significant role in this. The next two games on October 11th in Bosnia-Herzegovina and then again against Holland can decide about first and second place in group three – and as a quarter-finalist you avoid many strong opponents in the draw for World Cup qualification in pot one.
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