Group A | Germany, Scotland, Hungary & Switzerland

Synco said:
In hindsight, he probably adapted to Bayern's squad & recruitment more than he followed his own vision. As I remember, he had already (cautiously) hinted at that during his time there. And his decisions for the DFB team, with freedom to pick & choose, are pretty strong further evidence.
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I think that makes sense when looking at his treatment of the Bayern players. Especially Goretzka but also his decision to bring Kroos back and move Kimmich to RB. It is definitely suspicious that he basically built his Bayern team around those two and then did the more or less exact opposite for Germany.

But then again it might also be a reaction to current trends in the Bundesliga. When he took over, Bayern had won the treble with Flick football. In the meantime, Stuttgart and Leverkusen finished second and first with playstyles that are very different to the typical German pressing and transition style. That could have made him reconsider his tactical ideals as well. One way or another, so far he's done very well I think.
 
Zehner said:
I think that makes sense when looking at his treatment of the Bayern players. Especially Goretzka but also his decision to bring Kroos back and move Kimmich to RB. It is definitely suspicious that he basically built his Bayern team around those two and then did the more or less exact opposite for Germany.
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I think the case of Kimmich is even more interesting. Nagelsmann shifted him to RB for Germany, Tuchel did the same for Bayern the moment he was sacked. Kimmich reportedly just went on doing his job, I even saw reports that he was doing additional training sessions to get used to play RB again.

Somebody at Bayern decided that the double pivot has to be Kimmich + Goretzka and it wasn't their manager, and looking at Kimmich I doubt it was a case of "player power" as well.
 
stefan92 said:
I think the case of Kimmich is even more interesting. Nagelsmann shifted him to RB for Germany, Tuchel did the same for Bayern the moment he was sacked. Kimmich reportedly just went on doing his job, I even saw reports that he was doing additional training sessions to get used to play RB again.

Somebody at Bayern decided that the double pivot has to be Kimmich + Goretzka and it wasn't their manager, and looking at Kimmich I doubt it was a case of "player power" as well.
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Who could that have been? ;)

I honestly wonder how often such things are the case. Ten Hag at United is another very suspicious case of a manager abandoning principles that got him the job at a big club to begin with.
 
Zehner said:
I think that makes sense when looking at his treatment of the Bayern players. Especially Goretzka but also his decision to bring Kroos back and move Kimmich to RB. It is definitely suspicious that he basically built his Bayern team around those two and then did the more or less exact opposite for Germany.
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Yes, this more than anything else.
Zehner said:
But then again it might also be a reaction to current trends in the Bundesliga. When he took over, Bayern had won the treble with Flick football. In the meantime, Stuttgart and Leverkusen finished second and first with playstyles that are very different to the typical German pressing and transition style. That could have made him reconsider his tactical ideals as well. One way or another, so far he's done very well I think.
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I'm sure his ideas evolve over time, but no idea how it might have been on this matter specifically. All things considered, I find it likely these thoughts were older than Alonso's successes & the DFB gig.

Does anyone still remember the balance between possession and directness during his Hoffenheim stint? Pretty much the same as at RBL, or less vertical?
 
Scotland were completely out of their depth and looked like they didn't even have a proper game plan. This game was a nice confidence boost, but it says absolutely nothing about die Mannschaft's chances in this tournament.

I also found it concerning that Andrich managed to commit three fouls in about 20 minutes against an opposition that were begging for mercy from minute one. To a lesser degree this also applies to Tah. Maybe a consequence of their lack of international experience, Nagelsmann should keep an eye on that, before they feck up against an actual opponent.


I also don't think there's a big story behind Kimmich's positional switch:
  • He actually did have some (very) good years there, so there was always a good argument for keeping him in CM.
  • Goretzka declining is as much a reason for his problems as any development of his own, because it killed the balance for their pairing.
  • Bayern used to have a reliable/defensive-minded RB in Pavard (Süle), but not a lot of options at DM, now they don't have that CB/RB hybrid player anymore, but a bunch of options at DM in Pavlovic and Laimer (even if they aren't necessarily top players), so it's simply in accordance to the squad to think about moving Kimmich there and the same applies for the NT, with Henrichs being the next best player at RB and no great match for Kimmich available at CM. I mean it's not like Nagelsmann was the first one to come up with this: Kimmich was also playing at RB for Löw at the lst EC and for Flick at the WC.
 
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Unsurprisingly Germany first to qualify…


I believe Hungary had only lost 2 competitive games since 2021…
 
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