Völlig verheerender Ablauf! Julian Nagelsmann hat sich mit vielen fragwürdigen Aktionen selbst beschädigt

The days leading up to the squad announcement have been tumultuous. National coach Julian Nagelsmann is entering the World Cup weakened, having undergone a surprising negative development. A commentary.

Germany can breathe a sigh of relief – the culprit has already been found! This is historically important in this country, because when something doesn’t go as planned, someone always has to be blamed later. Should the German national team disappoint in any way at the upcoming World Cup, the analysis of mistakes is already done.

Then, as after the crushing exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, people will look beyond sporting details and consider the big picture. Back then, it was the question of the correct political stance and freedom of expression that supposedly hindered the team from performing better.

Four years later, the core of the problem would lie in the present, in these days around the end of the Bundesliga season. «There will be decisions that probably won’t meet with great understanding,» national coach Julian Nagelsmann had already revealed to kicker on March 1st regarding his nomination practices for the World Cup. It was the central statement in a remarkably extensive interview in which Nagelsmann, unlike hardly any national coach before him, sometimes unsolicitedly provided detailed individual player critiques.

He has proven this sentence right. This is already a foregone conclusion, which is ironic, even though the final squad for the tournament in the USA, Canada, and Mexico has not yet been officially announced. This is partly due to the communication disaster surrounding Manuel Neuer’s return as the number one goalkeeper, which has further shaken Nagelsmann’s credibility in public and almost certainly within parts of the squad.

Pitfalls Await Nagelsmann

On the other hand, and it’s fair to say this isn’t solely attributable to Nagelsmann, individual player selections have been leaking to the media for days, either indicating their inclusion in the squad or their impending vacation. These are developments that will not please the DFB and are unhealthy in their frequency – and are not happening to such an extent in any other major nation.

Therefore, there are unlikely to be any major surprises on Thursday; the suspense is gone. The main interest now will be Nagelsmann’s individual justifications, especially concerning the goalkeeper question. Several pitfalls await the national coach here, as the past has shown.

This includes Nagelsmann’s temporary demotion of Joshua Kimmich to midfield or contradictory statements regarding the roles of Leon Goretzka and, above all, Aleksandar Pavlovic, about whom he recently twisted facts on Aktuellen Sportstudio. Not to mention the Deniz Undav situation, which Nagelsmann himself caused.

Sportstudio Appearance Damaged Nagelsmann

Moreover, the appearance on ZDF last Saturday: While it honors Nagelsmann that he did not cancel the long-scheduled appointment, even though he had postponed the squad nomination by a few days in the meantime. However, his appearance was now linked with great expectations given the topic surrounding Neuer and Oliver Baumann, which had been extremely amplified by the media just hours before.

Nagelsmann disappointed these expectations entirely – because he said nothing substantial, not about a single player. Instead, he went so far as to claim that he had not even seen the 55-man preliminary squad list that must be submitted to FIFA in advance. Nagelsmann could have had a relaxed evening instead and saved himself the trip to the Mainz television studio. As it is, the appearance has undoubtedly damaged him.

Nagelsmann Has Undergone a Surprising Negative Development

This can be seen since then in countless comment sections, whether written by the media or the public. Nagelsmann has significantly lost credibility and thus undergone a surprising negative development.

Two years ago, around the home European Championship, the 38-year-old experienced a significant increase in popularity and had high approval ratings. Meanwhile, Nagelsmann is sometimes sharply criticized by numerous experts and the national opinion leader Uli Hoeneß for his course, and his perception among the general public has also turned negative.

There is no trace of a sense of optimism or even euphoria shortly before the squad announcement and the first group match taking place in a few weeks. And this, despite Germany having won all of their last seven matches. It will likely be impossible for Nagelsmann to change anything about this on Thursday from 1 p.m. onwards.

Germany’s Group Matches at the 2026 World Cup