Just 10 days before they open Euro 2024, Germany are in turmoil. Again. 

The latest scandal is having to deal with a controversial survey which found that 21 per cent of fans – of 1,304 participants  – want more white players in the national team. Some 17 per cent called it a ‘shame’ that Ilkay Gundogan is captain due to his Turkish roots. 

It’s exactly the divisive, culture wars-stoking tripe that a team would rather not have to combat on the eve of a home tournament. It’s a distraction in what should be a time of serenity. 

Joshua Kimmich and manager Julian Nagelsmann have blasted the survey, which preludes a documentary by broadcaster ARD. 

In truth, it’s just the latest in a flood of problems infecting the German national team in recent years. Instability is par for the course now.

With Germany’s problems deeper now, Mail Sport explores the list of issues to have plagued them in the run up to the start of their European Championship campaign. 

Germany are battling problems on and off the pitch heading into the European Championship

Joshua Kimmich blasted a survey which suggested 21 per cent of German fans want more white players in the national team 

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Players unconvinced by Julian Nagelsmann 

Let’s get this one out of the way first. While the team trust Nagelsmann and do not outwardly dislike him, they’re not fully convinced either, according to Bild.

The feeling is that Nagelsmann, 36, has made several key errors managing at international level despite clearly being a talented coach. 

Those mistakes include a propensity to over-experiment tactically, a drive to fix all their problems at once, and his public criticism of their defence. 

Perhaps the most bizarre idea was playing Kai Havertz at left-back in defeats by Turkey and Austria last November. Havertz has played for most of his career in midfield and played up front for Arsenal this season. 

It smacked of desperation, particularly as he had only had a handful of training sessions there. 

Leroy Sane has also been shunted onto the right wing, despite enjoying most of his success with Die Mannschaft on the left wing down the years. 

Players have reportedly felt overwhelmed with him repeatedly stopping training to point out mistakes and scheduling video sessions to look into their mistakes.

On the surface such ideas are hallmarks of elite football and a necessary requirement to get better. However, the feeling is that he sometimes treats his role more like a club job than an international one, where the focus is typically less on tactics. 

Germany’s players have reportedly been unconvinced by Julian Nagelsmann’s strategies  

Players have reportedly been left confused by his tactical experiments and drive to fix every problem at once 

Openly slamming his players has left a bitter taste in the mouth. 

After their 2-0 loss to Austria last year, Nagelsmann said: ‘We’re not defensive monsters. We won’t be defensive monsters next summer, either. That’s not us. Our players play at clubs where they have to focus less on defense and more on attack. But if you lose the ball cheaply, you get in trouble.’

It’s fine pointing out errors, but suggesting that players won’t improve is another thing entirely. 

In seven games, Nagelsmann has won three, drawn two, and lost two. Very much a mixed record.  

 

A disastrous 2022 World Cup campaign and plummeting rankings

The 2022 World Cup was disappointing on the pitch and a farce off it. Four points in a group of Spain, Japan, and Costa Rica was semi-respectable, but not enough. 

This was the second time in a row that Germany had crashed out in the group stages. They hadn’t done so before since 1938. 

Losing 2-1 to Japan after throwing away a lead late on set the tone for a miserable tournament, but that didn’t kick them into gear.

As revealed by Amazon’s documentary, Armel Bella-Kotchap and Julian Brandt both turned up late to team meetings before their next match against Spain, much to the anger of then-boss Hansi Flick.

Hansi Flick’s reign with Germany was marred by a low mood, ill discipline, and ultimate failure

Players were late to team meetings, with Armel Bella-Kotchap one individual to infuriate Flick

As Flick said: ‘Guys, it’s a matter of discipline. Even if there’s a lot going on right now, be punctual from now on or else… you’ll make a contribution to the cash box.’ 

Germany’s isolated hotel at Zulal Wellness Resort in Al-Shamal, surrounded by drifting sands, left players with little to do. The mood dropped. 

‘Right after the Japan defeat I looked around the dressing room and it looked to me like we’d already been knocked out,’ said Kimmich. 

Motivation was a scarce resource. Flick had been a dominant figure when he managed Bayern Munich. In 86 matches, he won as a many trophies as he lost games – seven. 

But his unconventional methods didn’t pay off at the 2022 World Cup. 

The 58-year-old used the example of geese to get his side pumped up ahead of the Japan clash.

Presenting a video of them flying in a group across the sky, various subtitles were attached on a rolling ticker after Flick had said: ‘Let yourselves be inspired (by this video).’

The ticker included phrases such as ‘World Cup 2022 our big flight’ and ‘let’s learn from geese and take off on our flight together’. It might have worked in primary school, but not here. 

Julian Brandt (left) was also guilty of poor timekeeping ahead of the crunch clash with Spain

Flick also used some unique motivational techniques, including the example of flying geese

Paired with their World Cup failures, a disappointing Euro 202 campaign in which they only reached the last 16 has seen their rankings droop.

They were top of the world ahead of the 2018 World Cup but found themselves ranked 15th in 2019 and currently sit 16th. 

That puts them below the likes of the USA, Colombia, and Morocco. 

 

Problems at Bayern Munich

If Bayern Munich are functioning serenely, there’s a greater chance of the national team doing so as well. Six of Germany’s provisional squad play for the Bundesliga giants, including their three most influential players. And they are not functioning serenely. 

It has been a chaotic year for Bayern, who have endured their first trophyless season since 2011-12.  

There has been a dressing room split over Thomas Tuchel this year, with Kimmich and Thomas Muller standing against him as reported by Bild, while Manuel Neuer was in full support of him when the going got tough. 

Indeed, there was a split of pro- and anti-Nagelsmann factions when Bayern sacked him. Neuer was said to be supportive of his dismissal, as well as Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sane, who are in Germany’s provisional Euros squad.

Kimmich, meanwhile was against it, while Muller felt ‘neutral,’ as reported by Bild. 

Problems at Bayern Munich, Germany’s biggest club, could filter into the national team 

Manuel Neuer was reportedly supportive of their decision to sack Nagelsmann last year 

Nagelsmann was on a skiing trip in the Austrian Zillertal, enjoying the international break with his 30-year-old girlfriend Lena Wurzenberger, when he learned of his imminent sacking in March 2023.  

Meanwhile, Gnabry has suffered six periods of absence this season due to a combination of injuries and illness, missing large chunks of the season. He is ruled out of the Euros with a torn hamstring, a huge blow to the hosts. 

 

A weakened squad

For all the off-pitch issues, it’s worth pointing out the obvious – Germany are not as strong as they used to be.  

Take it from German broadcaster DW, who last year listed a litany of issues. Players ‘struggling for confidence’, their defence being ‘a persistent weakness’, their ‘awkward’ attack ‘lacking a world-class number nine’, their mentality lacking ‘an absolute will to win’.

A year on and it’s the same story. Respectfully, the casual football fan will not have heard of the majority of their squad. They’re not global stars as they used to be. 

Niclas Fullkrug is in pole position to lead the line and he represents a decent option but does not strike fear into the hearts of defenders like Gerd Muller, Miroslav Klose, and Rudi Voller did. 

As of the 2021-22 season he was playing in Germany’s second tier. This season he managed 12 goals in 29 Bundesliga games for Borussia Dortmund, a respectable total but nothing like Harry Kane’s 36. 

Germany’s main striker, Niclas Fullkrug, is a solid option but doesn’t have the same reputation as some of their greats 

They crumbled against Japan last year, losing 4-1 in Wolfsburg in a mistake-addled showing 

Their defence is in a transitional age. Between them, the eight defenders on their provisional squad list have 147 caps, 68 of which belong to Antonio Rudiger. 

Going into the victorious 2014 World Cup campaign, Germany’s defence had 301 caps, with top stars like Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, and Per Mertesacker. 

The nadir was losing 4-1 to Japan last September in a performance branded a ‘disgrace’ by the legendary Voller. 

Rudiger was slammed for ‘very strange defending’ after he delayed a sprint back to win the ball ahead of Japan’s third goal, despite the opposition racing clear. 

Nico Schlotterbeck, usually a centre-back for Dortmund, struggled as he was shifted out to left-back. 

Once regarded as a winning machine and the ultimate tournament team, Germany have lost their allure. 

Bastian Schweinsteiger puts it down to tactics and the influence that Pep Guardiola had on German football during his time at Bayern Munich. 

He said: ‘When Pep Guardiola joined Bayern Munich, everyone believed we have to play this kind of football, like short passes and everything. We were kind of losing our values. 

Bastian Schweinsteiger (right) has argued that the national team has lost a sense of identity

‘I think most of other countries were looking at Germany as a fighter, we can run until the end and everything. The strengths got lost through the last seven, eight years. 

‘We forgot about that and were more focused on playing the ball nicely to each other.’ 

 

A troubled FA 

Strong leadership emanates down the pyramid and provides a firm foundation. Germany lack that. 

Controversy has been rumbling on for years. Incumbent president Bernd Neuendorf hasn’t rocked the boat as violently as some of his predecessors. 

The four before him all stepped down in disgrace.  

For example, in 2021, German Football Association (DFB) president Fritz Keller resigned after a scandal in which he compared his deputy, Rainer Koch, to Nazi judge Roland Freisler. 

Only two years before had Reinhard Grindel stepped down after accepting a luxury watch from a Ukrainian oligarch. He had also been slammed by Mesut Ozil for overseeing a culture of ‘racism and disrespect,’ as the player put it. 

But the current era isn’t much better.

Bernd Neuendorf heads a German Football Association which has been recently embattled

There have been tensions between Neuendorf and FIFA president Gianni Infantino – but the German FA president was roundly criticised for sitting with the FIFA chief in Qatar 

Following their failure to get out of the group stages, DFB treasurer Stephan Grunwald warned of a bleak financial future for the organisation and national team. 

‘It’s comparable to a club being relegated from the Champions League to the second division.

‘Things can’t go on like this for the next 10 years, because if they do, the association will no longer exist.’

There is also a tense relationship with FIFA. Neuendorf hasn’t agreed on much with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. 

Tensions arose around the Qatar World Cup, when Infantino encouraged people to ‘focus on the football’ and leave aside political wrangling.

Neuendorf had been one of Infantino’s most vocal critics, but was under the cosh when Germany went along with FIFA’s ban on the One Love armband under the threat of sporting sanction.

Lothar Matthaus felt they had let down the team, saying: ‘Oliver Bierhoff (former sporting director) is of course responsible because he couldn’t handle the pressure and unrest from the outside. Not only him, but the president and the people in charge at the DFB – they all let the coach and the team down.

‘I hope the DFB will speak honestly about their mistakes. I think of President Neuendorf, who criticized everything here in Doha before the World Cup and then I see him during the game sitting in the stands next to Gianni Infantino and smiling at the camera for three minutes. 

The FA have also been slammed for parting ways with Adidas, their historic kit provider 

‘The players notice that, they’re put under pressure to set an example and protest, but then they see the people who are demanding it smiling in front of the camera.’  

This year, the DFB were slammed for ending a 70-year association with Adidas as kit suppliers in favour of a lucrative deal with Nike. 

Nike reportedly agreed to pay about £86million for a deal which will start in 2027. 

Adidas were synonymous with Germany’s legendary moments in football and politicians felt the DFB lacked patriotism in their call to part with history for cash.