National team coach Julian Nagelsmann: bold, expensive, inconvenient

AAll sports fans with a moderate interest in football need only hold out for a few days and then they can take a deep breath. The debate that ultimately defined everything will then die down before it picks up steam again with the German national soccer team’s international trip to the United States in mid-October.

“So he’s the one?” But under what conditions will this question be answered in the affirmative? What if Germany’s most important football team played the best football again? This won’t be a particularly big obstacle.

Nagelsmann must deliver immediately

With the signing of Julian Nagelsmann, one thing can be predicted with certainty: no national team coach, not even Jurgen Klinsmann, has been under as much scrutiny as he has, and there will be no shortage of comments of varying quality from all sides. And the 100-day rule, which is usually given to all new people so that they get used to it, will also not play a role. It’s best for Nagelsmann to perform immediately, which probably won’t put him under much stress. All coaches, be it a national team or a regional league, know that the first impression is often decisive for the future path.

It can be confirmed that the German Football Association (DFB) has mustered all its courage to make this commitment. Nagelsmann is not simple and convenient, it could not even be bought cheaply, but, fortunately, it was generally available. Therefore, the internal decision model for the most important position in the association was not considered.

The national team’s relegation after winning the 2014 World Cup caused too much damage to the DFB’s business and the loss of relevance was too great. The choice of the DFB has long ceased to be the last fire around which the nation gathers, and now even at headquarters in Frankfurt knows this.

Of course, there are problems inherited from his time at Bayern. However, based on his failure, a bold conclusion can be drawn that Nagelsmann is not mature enough to handle the even greater challenge of the national team. Carlo Ancelotti once failed miserably at Bayern – he moved to an even bigger club, to even bigger stars, and won the Champions League with Real Madrid. And has anything improved in Munich since Nagelsmann left?

With Völler at his side, the controversial new national coach may have the right partner, unlike Bayern’s Hasan Salihamidzic partnership. One or two personnel decisions will cause a furor, that’s for sure – but one or two tough decisions will also be required after many years of maneuvering. They say that success is where you make your biggest mistakes, and the period since 2014 is a perfect example of this. From this point of view, the starting conditions for Nagelsmann are quite ideal.