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Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann was far from happy with his side’s display despite Florian Wirtz and his teammates going a step closer to qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
A 2-0 win over Luxembourg means a draw against Slovakia in its final qualifying game would be enough to send Germany to the tournament. Rather than arriving in the United States, Canada and Mexico in style though, the four-time world champions are somewhat staggering there.
Friday’s win over a side only just ranked inside the world’s top 100 didn’t do much to appease critics of Nagelsmann’s side, with Wirtz again drawing a blank as questions remain following his move to Liverpool.
Although the 22-year-old was arguably one of his country’s better performers, he still wasn’t all that impressive - but then, none of Germany’s players were.
In fact, Nagelsmann counted his side lucky not to have been punished by Luxembourg, especially during an especially disappointing goalless first half.
“We have three points - football is a results business after all - but it was more difficult than we had hoped,” Nagelsmann said after the game.
“The first half was once again quite sluggish. We needed the second half to really get ourselves into the game.
“In the first 45 minutes we were too static, too inflexible, too unmotivated. The commitment was better in the second half.
“We would have deserved to concede a goal. That didn’t happen, and in the end we took our chances and won the game - that’s the most important thing for me.”
Far from happy with the way in which his players approached the game, Nagelsmann added: “I’d love to see a statistic showing how many times we played backwards. In the first half, I think we had only one or two balls played properly into the final third.
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“We acted too cautiously and kept involving our goalkeeper [Oliver] Baumann, which in most situations wasn’t even necessary.”
Despite the disappointing performance, Nagelsmann and his players are on the verge of qualifying for next year’s tournament. Anything but a defeat against Slovakia, who remain level on points with Germany after rescuing a late victory over Northern Ireland, will see them safely through without the need for a play-off.
“I’ve never spoken to a team about aiming for just one point,” Nagelsmann said about Monday’s final qualifier. “We will give everything to win the game. That is, and must be, our standard.”
English (US) ·