Berlin
Julian Nagelsmann, the national team coach, has consciously changed his leadership style with the national team compared to his time as a club coach. “At the DFB, I act differently. I speak very clearly internally, but nothing comes out of it. Even at the European Championships, there were games where the players performed poorly, but I didn’t express it publicly, even emotionally,” the 37-year-old said in an interview with “Stern”.
As a Bundesliga coach at Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and TSG Hoffenheim, he “was probably criticising the players too often in the press. The criticism was received, the players got the message, but nothing improved,” Nagelsmann explained. At the DFB team, he does things differently in this regard. “I take it in my hands to protect. It’s my team and it will always be that way.”
Nagelsmann “loves” his players
The very strong connection with the team is something new for Nagelsmann. As a club coach, he had “maybe three or four dream players”. “With the national team, you feel a different responsibility for the group.” The national team coach said: “Only you and your coaching team are on the shortlist. You love it. She gives everything for your people.”
After the unsuccessful international matches against Austria (0:2) and Turkey (2:3) in November 2023, it became clear to him that the mood had changed with the reduction in personnel ahead of the home European Championship. It was also necessary. “In March, against France and the Netherlands, everyone was like a self-help group,” said Nagelsmann. Then he told his players: “Okay, now we are playing France and the Netherlands. If we beat them, we will be European champions.”
Nagelsmann: I could have cried while the national anthem was played
Germany didn’t win the title in the summer, but they impressed with their dramatic quarter-final finish against eventual European champions Spain. The team also reunited German football and created a great sense of euphoria in Germany. “I get goosebumps every time I hear the national anthem,” Nagelsmann said. “To be honest, sometimes I have to concentrate not to cry.”
The DFB selection carried the European Championship euphoria into the new season with the first two Nations League matches against Hungary (5:0) and the Netherlands (2:2), with matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands in Munich scheduled for October.
