The Shocking Downfall of the German National Team

You've probably noticed that Germany used to be very good at football and now they're not.
Europe's most successful national football team have been dumped out in the group stage of the last two World Cups, having reached at least the last eight of every World Cup for the preceding 60 years.
It is a staggering decline, so in this documentary, HITC Sevens takes a look at Germany's rise and fall, the reasons for their current plight, and whether the situation is salvageable ahead of Germany hosting Euro 2024.

[@yaldabaoth2]

As a German, we collectively feel like we haven't won a game since the 2014 world cup final.

[@bababababababa6124]

To be fair you NARROWLY beat Oman 😂😂😂 that’s something to be proud of am I right 😭😂

[@parker-ii7fg]

I think it was greatly underestimated just how significant the experienced old guard of Lahm, Klose and Schwienstieger were to the German national team. They were the central trio carrying that team and since they retired Germany simply hasn't been the same.

[@apeacefulfriend2936]

​@@dean1234deanfair enough. But since 2018

[@silvesta5027]

I remember Germany’s confederations cup win in 2017. The reason that felt so impressive was it was essentially Germany’s SECOND team. And even so, they swept the competition. It was a dominant display. Seeing that (and as someone who doesn’t closely follow German football) I expected to see them go from strength to strength - but they’ve been on the decline ever since…

[@HumanBeingsRThinkingBeings]

Before Pep - Germany sh&t at WC During Pep - Germany won WC 🏆 After Pep - Germany sh&t at WC Basti - Pep ruined German Football?🤔

[@a.e.a.]

As a non-German who grew up in Germany I believe the biggest problem with the German team is the rift between the team, media and most importantly the fans. Issues from outside the pitch dominate the narrative around the team and a lack of drive is noticeable especially with the older players.

[@kyakuwbengui9529]

I have been in Germany for 2 years now and I can see exactly what you saying

[@bababababababa6124]

It’s for that reason why I feel like the better national teams in 2023 have most of their players playing abroad. Less drama at home that way

[@adampark4238]

Society has changed in Germany from mannhiem to the westerwald I've seen the change

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

Germany are amateurs, England have had that exact issue for around 50 years.

[@needfoolthings]

"Die Mannschaft" is one of the worst working marketing ploys I've ever seen. NOBODY uses the term.

[@RossoBianco1895]

I believe a major problem are the football youth academies in Germany. There's too little focus on character and personality development, it's too technical and lack age-specific training. In the end you get players who are technical and tactical good, but lack leadership, character and problem solving skills. This has been criticised by many coaches and sport psychologists, but has yet to be addressed by club and federation leadership.

[@manniking233]

Yup. Peak Germany didn't outplay you. They bludgeoned you to death with stern will and hard graft and effort. Germany was never supposed to be entertaining. They were the Grinches who ruined Christmas for everyone. They basically were what Real Madrid are to European club football. You hated them but couldn't help but admire their constant hunger to win.

[@sgthakunamatata1596]

I don't see how more leaders and bigger characters can compensate for a lack of strikers, full backs, center backs and even goal keepers.

[@baldassodouniversoparalelo6972]

Germany created a generation of robotic tactical players. German players are not technically gifted, that's a myth, german players are tactical, they can operate within a system, although when an individual play to break a defense is required the germans can't do shit. The Bundesliga, wich used to be a great league (Kaiserslautern, Werder, Dortmund and Stuttgart were title contenders) until the 2002 so called "reboot", now is a joke of a league where only Bayern wins trophies cause they're the only club who can afford a world class player from abroad, the rest of the league has to field the robotic tactical players the youth systems all over the country creates.

[@johnterry3312]

@@sgthakunamatata1596 the striker or lack of one is the main thing, with a world class striker they may have been able to mask their issues but they literally can't produce a decent goal scorer as a nation.

[@bordaz1]

@@baldassodouniversoparalelo6972 I think you've got a good opinion on this. The lack of individual brilliance is one reason why, even in their decades of excellence, West Germany found it difficult to beat Italy and their Catenaccio, while on the other hand we always see that replay of Brazil scoring that goal against Italy in 1970 which required technical brilliance from all 11 players. It looks all that Das Reboot has done is produce midfield players that would rather be Xavi & Iniesta than Gerd Muller & Phillip Lahm

[@honnebombll]

I still remember an interview of the Mexican Coach after they beat us in the 2018 World Cup, he said "we knew for 2 years now how the germans will play and prepared for that." The reaction of the DFB was to keep on playing like that till basically today. Keeping the ball, passing around, no center striker only wing attackers, false 9 and all that out of time nonesense. The problems are known in principle and that means that there will be a lack of the right players in the next few years, but the real limping thing is that, despite this, nothing has changed in the training of young talents, which means it wont get better in the foreseeable future. So in conclusion since 2018 they know that their way of playing is outdated, and they still haven't changed anything.

[@bertog8080]

As a Mexican fan I very surprised we even won, the German B team destroyed us in the confederations cup 2017

[@lisaruhm6681]

From a german: the inevitable downfall was noticeable at latest in 2018, and since the debacles of the early 2000s, the DFB has never changed anything major in terms of youth development. The players are missing mentality.

[@adampark4238]

Grass roots isn't the same in Germany anymore the change in Germany as a whole is horrendous to see

[@soundscape26]

@@adampark4238 What's so horrendous to see?

[@adampark4238]

@soundscape26 the change in the country the crime being attacked mates daughter being raped

[@adampark4238]

@soundscape26 go look at Tompkins are Benjamin Franklin historic areas being destroyed. The westerwald isn't the same

[@i_know_youre_right_but]

@@adampark4238fascist detected.

[@BulletClub444Life]

As a German I can tell you that I genuinely can't care less about the state of the national team. The sheer arrogance, unwillingness to admit any wrongdoings, lack of any performance principles and more brought me to the point that I can only laugh about the team. I honestly hope Euro 2024 will be a complete embarrassment so that they finally wake up and change things drastically.

[@Indicasativa55]

I felt exactly the same about the English national team around 2002 and iv never really cared the same for international football since if truth be told

[@BulletClub444Life]

Ngl it always seemed weird to me how England performed at mayor tournaments. I've become a fan in 2004 and was mostly scratching my head seeing how they did until like 2018. But tbf at least the FA seemed to have done many things right, especially with the youth teams (an area that's become shocking here in Germany). And I mean Southgate isn't exactly a top tier coach/manager, but he's light years ahead of Flick. I often see English fans hate on him, but they have no idea how good they have it when Germans are stuck with a prick like Flick (sick rhyme lol).

[@Lorric101]

@@BulletClub444Life I've been staunchly pro-Southgate since 2018. People criticise the way we play but it's really effective. We've conceded one shot on target in 6 hours of football in our qualifying group. We're a really difficult, frustrating side to play against with high energy players who'll give you no time on the ball and a keeper and defenders who have been playing together for years in an England shirt and know exactly what their role is. We score loads of goals despite being criticised as boring and defensive, but we favour a slower more patient style of building attacks and usually won't settle for anything less than the creation of a good chance before pulling the trigger. England's shots to goals ratio is very good because of it. I don't know why people can only appreciate attacking football and not how difficult we are to play against. I love going huge periods of games with no threat on our goal. I love seeing opposition players getting frustrated when everything they're doing is just getting shut down.

[@BulletClub444Life]

@@Lorric101 I don't get the hate. What's the point of playing a style that's more risky when you don't get any results? It's fine to be more pragmatic and the results justify Southgate. Not to mention there are more than enough capable players he can choose and there are definitely more to come in the near future.

[@JayTechZM]

@@BulletClub444Life Results? Failing to beat a tired Croatia in the semi final of a world cup, repeating the feat against an even more exhausted and as it turns out terrible Italy at the Euros and parking the bus for 88 minutes aren't results. Frankly speaking Southgate has taken this England team as far as he can. The FAs arrogance might just keep the senior national team from winning. Has he done a good job in building confidence in the English national team? Absolutely. But the man can not navigate a tournament win to save his life and Qatar proved that when it gets hot for Southgate it gets ugly. Should've walked after Euro 2020 and let the next guy give England a chance at victory either in Qatar or Germany next year. Don't be surprised if the same thing happens next year with England.

[@hekra6784]

As a German I have to admit you nailed it. No matter how much talent this team might have they are unable to score more goals than they concede.

[@RazAr-]

Mexico is in the same boat, when we beat you we cursed ourselves 🫤

[@nadoio]

As a Brazilian I can relate 😂😂

[@alfthehatter]

Also I think the semifinal match against France in 2016 that you mentioned is the first stage of the downfall, in that game I see too much sterile possession and wasted chances and how we were brutally exposed to France's counterattacks due to playing a way too high line (I think most would remember the Giroud memes from one specific counter). I think this match shows the blueprint on how to defeat this Germany side where teams such as Mexico, Japan and Korea showed in the World Cups, and Low was unable (or unwilling) to fix it.

[@wokeaf1337]

Meanwhile Germany won 2017 the last title, of the confederation cup with their second team.

[@sentaodepana4988]

Maybe if they play more vertically like Japan and have someone who scores, they could play with high lines without a problem

[@peterhammer4644]

Germany was somewhat unlucky against France in 2016. They dominated the first half totally but I do agree on the risky high line. Though it was very high also in 2014.

[@ninersdd21]

@@peterhammer4644 Germany was definitely the better team in the first half against France, then after the PK the wind seemed to be taken out of their sails.

[@TheGuyWhoTakesYourGirl]

I needed a minute to figure out that last sentence, because i always read the english word "low" til i finally realised that you wrote Löw as Low, probably because your keyboard doesnt have the ö 😅 In german most of the time you can replace the ä, ö and ü with ae, oe and ue. So you could write Löw as Loew instead if you dont have the ö on your keyboard.

[@ItsJesssee]

One of the minor reasons is losing Klose no one has really come up to replace him they really lack a killer striker playing Havertz up top 😂

[@lukealvarez3744]

Havertz performs for germany in major tournaments icl. I think the defence is the bigger problem. That was why they got ko in the group in 2018 and 2022

[@bundesautobahn7]

That's the thing: The lack of a genuine 9. And we see how things are growing even worse after our early exit from the U21 Euros.

[@gothia1715]

Thats because Löw and Bierhoff screwed up our youth strikers over a long time with their stupid false 9 vision. We won 2014 not because but despite of Löw. The man just collected the fruits from the german youth academy boom in the early 2000s. But then he shot us in the foot with his wannabe Pep Barca vision. Thankfully we got Füllkrug... If only Flick would use him as the concrete breaker he is instead of Werner who gets lost against deep lines or Havertz who isnt even a striker. We got good players. All we need is finally a competent coach with a solid plan. As long Flick keeps on building on Löws failure of a foundation we will be the laughing stock of international football. Flick is completely lost. He played 22 diferent backlines in 24 matches. Just wtf...

[@justfrank5661]

Why always Havertz?? Why not Füllkrug??

[@bazingacurta2567]

Dude, please use commas.

[@jacekhansen2644]

I'm Polish, I've noticed Germany gradually declining since 2014, but when we beat them that's when I knew the situation was dire given how horrible our team is

[@Kaiserin]

Our team is terrible, but honestly it should’ve been a draw. I fully believe that shot from Wolf crossed the line, but it was a good game! Szczesney is such a good goalkeeper

[@Ze_Moose]

Will Poland ever get another player like Robert? 🤔

[@schnitzelfilmmaker1130]

@@Ze_Moosetheir youth ranks seem very good rn, U21, U19 and especially U17

[@jacekhansen2644]

@@Ze_Moose I would hope so but Polish football has generally been declining and our youth systems are broken

[@Jutrzen]

Bzdura. W eliminacjach do MŚ 2018 Niemcy nie tylko wygrali wszystkie mecze, ale mieli też największa liczbę zdobytych bramek i najlepszy stosunek bramek zdobytych do straconych. Dopiero mistrzostwa to był zjazd w dół.

[@Ifeno]

As a German, thank you so much for making this video. I've been saying all of these things for years but no one wants to hear it. People just look at our massive collection of famous midfielders and go "Your team is great, why aren't you playing well?" when the reality is that this team has more holes in it that any German team I can remember.

[@Lordwxbb]

As a German, this video is spot on. It’s been so hard to watch them play. Everything has been in shambles with the talent we have. Just hope we don’t get completely embarrassed at home for euros 2024

[@archimedes2261]

That’s happening in Germany?? I thought it was being hosted by different Euro nations until final location is decided like 2020.

[@matthiasschroeder2014]

​@@archimedes2261I think even most Germans don't know that it will be in Germany in 2024...Communication has been very low key... Completely different compared to 2006

[@optidalfprime3904]

It should be a complete embarrassment. Maybe then something will change. The Team and managers think they are still world champions, perhaps being dragged through the mud while the German people boo them will bring changes. As an Italogerman, I have witnessed the italian and german national team being garbage after their title run. Italy still has not recovered. I'm hoping for germany to be faster.

[@ashtongodfrin6999]

As an Englishman, I should be laughing at how bad Germany are nowadays, but I'm not. I can't understand how such a generally dominant national team has become such a laughingstock in quite immediate fashion. I genuinely believe that were Germany not the hosts for Euro 2024, they would've been in danger of not even qualifying for the tournament. Those betting websites that have Germany as 3rd favorites to win the Euros behind France and England are just being generous. Germany aren't even the 6th or 7th best team in Europe right now, and I genuinely feel sorry for the local supporters.

[@bjornna7767]

Will definitely watch no game at all, like the years before. I f****** don't care about this castrated political vehicel any longer.

[@andrewroberts4736]

As an Englishman, I think the decline in German football internationally is really sad. They were the team we judged ourselves against since 1970 and world football is in need of a strong German national side.

[@gothia1715]

Thats because Löw, Bierhoff and Flick ripped out and destroyed our own football idendity. Their vision was a german wannabe Pep Barca with a false 9. Füllkrug aside we suddenly lack good box strikers, who would ve thought... We will only come back only if the DFB finally buries this dead end vision. False 9 is dead since many years now. Prime Götze aside we never had a player who fit that role anyways. The change can only happen if Flick goes or gets fired because he is part of the whole thing. The man uses Werner, a counter striker, or Havertz, not even a striker, against all those parked busses while our only concrete breaker Füllkrug starts on the bench. But thats not all, Flick used 22 diferent backlines in 24 matches. No wonder its easy to score against us. And then he keeps on going with Löws practice of putting privildged non-performers like Kehrer in the team instead of self-appointet black sheeps who perform well in their club like Süle. We have good players. But a coach without a plan...

[@therealuncleowen2588]

Absolutely correct. International football is far better when Germany are difficult to beat.

[@DimEst19xx]

Arrogance is a trait of personality that doesn't lead to good paths and Germany had plenty of that.

[@Allschmoi]

​@@DimEst19xxCare to explain why or are you the type of guy to accuse a whole nation to be arrogant without any further explenation?

[@DimEst19xx]

@@Allschmoi I thought we were talking about the team here. Maybe you misunderstood my word Germany but I was talking about the national team.

[@justaravensfan43]

I live in the USA, but I know someone who’s dad is originally from Germany. He said that fans are starting to lose interest in the team and there is a disconnect between the team and the fans. For example, he said that no one was excited to watch Germany in the World Cup because they knew their team wasn’t good enough.

[@ravanpee1325]

Yes and to much virtue signaling about LGTBQs instead of focusing on the sport

[@Accu91]

I think beside that, it was also a great rift regarding the host country. Not that many Qatar-fans here in the public.

[@formless4541]

The German fans are doing better than the english fans used to do They were always excited and delusional about how good England was

[@logancoleman4507]

@@ravanpee1325 the original creator of the vid literally calls you a moron for this take, I don't think a single player cared about the gesture until 10 minutes before the game when they were told to

[@ravanpee1325]

@@logancoleman4507 "In 2018, the German national team had an infamous divide in their locker room with one side being referred to as “Bling Bling”, while the other group was labeled as “The Bavarians.” According to a report from Sport1 (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Germany held a contentious discussion among the squad in the days leading up to the World Cup that revolved around what kind of statement to make in wake of FIFA banning the “OneLove” armband. Not everyone wanted to take the focus off of the game...even if only for a second: Ilkay Gündogan and Antonio Rüdiger belonged to the group of the players that originally did not want to protest and preferred to focus on football. These differences of opinion led to tensions and created small groups within the team, but that now has been settled. Tension ahead of the Japan game probably was not what Flick had in mind, but this was a controversial and delicate subject for the German squad, which has taken strong stances on social issues in recent years. Of all people, it was Jonas Hofmann, who offered up his account of what went down. “We talked a lot about politics. At some point, we said that we have to focus on our job. That’s why we’re here. We worked through everything meticulously and addressed things that weren’t going so well,” Hofmann said. In modern times, we often hear “stick to sports” levied at players by fans, who don’t want their social issues, politics, religion, etc. intertwined with their sporting events. In this case, however, it was the players themselves who could not agree on if they should react to FIFA’s ruling. To “stick to sports” or to not? That was the question.

[@samueldurfee3865]

I think a big part of it is that we might not have realised at the time JUST how good Lahm was. Obviously he was regarded as world class at either fullback spot and had the vision and brain to play as a holding midfielder under Pep (tho I think Loew switching him back to RB was the biggest tactical factor in WC14). Him, Muller, Khedira, Kroos, and Schweinsteiger were so versitile that they could play at a high level even in an uncomfortable position or role which allowed them to accomadate the likes of Ozil whose only real value comes when playing one exact role. Oh and its fairly easy to be consistent when you get about 50 combined years of Maier, Kahn, and Neuer.

[@f1i273]

Muller is not versatile he’s very much a system player, if he can’t play in a free roaming role behind the striker & attack half spaces then he’s very useless.

[@peterhammer6915]

Lahm is top3 fullback of all-times easily. His importance was huge. If I would be Flick, I would put Kimmich as right fullback.

[@bury_the_elite65294]

Very good, informative video as always, Alfie. As a fan of the Bundesliga & Die Mannschaft, it's quite sad to see how they've slumped in the last decade or so. I'm sure they'll be able to rebuild their national team in good time. I don't know if you're a rugby league fan (being from Yorkshire, I'm only guessing whether or not you are), but in Aussie RL State Of Origin parlance, Detuschland were once the Queensland of the world game, now they're the New South Wales of it (well, maybe not quite that bad!) I thought it was topical since Game 3 of the '23 SoO series takes place in just over an hour in Sydney. Here's to Queensland making it a 3:0 series win (I've probably jinxed them by posting this, but what the hell...)

[@MrReese]

I think everyone knew that with Löw in 2018 and 2021 nothing great was gonna happen, but everyone was hopeful with the appointment of Flick. However, the sad truth is that Flick only continued the strange direction that Löw started years earlier with random formations, not playing the best players who are in form but holding on to players who used to perform great many years ago, not having a clear direction and system that makes sense, and so on. Germany does have the players to be at least top8, but Flick is not willing to use them properly. He botched the WM 2022 in terrible fashion and just continued on his path afterwards. I don't know what is going on in his head, but I wonder if a change at the coaching position might actually be necessary because it doesn't look like Flick still has the backing of the players after all of this. Anyway, enough of Germany, let's talk about the Austrian Wunderteam! 😇✌

[@raistormrs]

everyone? i feel ignored, since i never expected anything from that man and i was like.. why, just why... when he took over, because it made no sense to me. i would have liked to be proven wrong but i wasn't. well, at least i can keep saying "told you so" until he is gone. that's something... 😅

[@MrSmith1984]

I do wonder if the DFB should lobby the German Government to automatically grant German Citizenship to all Austrians as well. Which would mean that Austrians would be eligible to be selected for the German NT.

[@MrReese]

@@MrSmith1984 I don't think there is a written rule that prohibits appointing someone with a different nationality to become DFB head coach. I think it's more of a pride thing.

[@MrSmith1984]

@@MrReese I wasn't suggesting that the Germans appoint a Non-German Coach. I was suggesting that the DFB should push the German Government into changing the Citizenship Laws of Germany...to allow the federation to call up Austrian Players to play for the German NT. In contrast, Germany are probably stronger in the coaching department than perhaps any nation in Europe.

[@MrReese]

@@MrSmith1984 Wtf? That is insane - and it also doesn't work like that. The players play for the country they have citizenship for. Players can also obtain citizenship they play in a certain country for a certain amount of time, which makes them eligible to play for the national team of the country they play in. But when a player has caps for their home nation they are usually not allowed to switch - and you can bet all your money that Austria calls someone up to play for their national team a lot sooner than Germany would, so the case you are talking about would never happen, even if it were somehow possible - which it isn't.

[@H8B7L]

Im just one of 82 mio armchair coaches, but IMO the obsession with the Spain/Barca teams from 13 years ago is the biggest reason of the downfall. They suddenly wanted to play pretty instead of the effective but boring german way. They wanted to play a false 9 like Barca with Messi because they had also those great winger, but pretty much ignored that Messi is a one of a kind that literally could play every offensive forward/midfield position and be world class at it. I genuinely believe that the success will be back if they played with a real 9 and a real 6, no matter how good they are.

[@josebatxu32]

As a Mexican, beating Germany in 2018 felt like a miracle. Ochoa made 18 saves that game, 18!!!! Most of the WC games Germany has lost recently are very similar, a dominant German team that can't for the life of them get the ball in the back of the net and costly mistakes on defense, mainly on counterattacks. I do believe the giant is still in there somewhere, sound asleep, they just need to focus their efforts on finding goalscorers and developing a defensive wall and they will probably get back on their winning ways

[@opleafsbaby5810]

They have talent they just need to figure it out

[@alfthehatter]

Nice video as always Alfie, I still wonder what would've happened if Low did not surprisingly omit Sane from the 2018 squad. I still wishfully imagine him clutching the missing goal against Korea. Also this might be stretching it, but I think the rivalry between DFB and Bayern somewhat contributes to why Bayern does not have German defenders in their first team instead opting for buying overseas players.. of course it might just be that German defenders are just not as good nowadays :/

[@HustlerHorstRuediger]

Matthäus wasn't as flashy as Maradona but he certainly was a beast and one of the best players of his generation.

[@grobariza]

all time

[@then33k4]

also one of the dumbest

[@robertodelmar8911]

Matthäus was a beast all around, and I was always a fan of his game. Germany hasn’t had that kind of general in their midfield since he retired.

[@grobariza]

@@robertodelmar8911 yes i agree not remotely on the same level

[@canonjean-mignon4985]

Matthäus, Beckenbauer or Lahm were always the type of players that Germany appreciated more than the Littbarskis, Hässlers and Möllers. It's a mentality thing. Because of this defensive orientation, the only teams they feared were italians.

[@ItsJesssee]

Italy and Germany fell of massively but Germany takes the lead because they’ve underwhelmed so much in recent years

[@vb2388]

True but atleast Italy won the Euros recently unlike Germany who have failed in every major tournament they competed in since Euro 2016..

[@Kuddochan]

Italy still at least won the euros in 2020 and looked very good doing so

[@brokendoll3368]

@@vb2388 I guess nobody ever counts Confed Cups. Germany won in 2017. With their at the time B-Team, kinda.

[@leometz7287]

​@@brokendoll3368nobody cares about Confed cup. It's just a test tournament a year before the world cup

[@encorefootball]

​@brokendoll3368 I'd rather win the UEFA Nations League than the FIFA Confederations Cup. I know the Confed Cup no longer exists, but it was doss games against New Zealand, Mexico and Tahiti

[@JustFootballThoughts]

Very well put together. Thanks for the video and your great work behind it.

[@Rakshiir]

As a german, when I look at our national team and the team that won the world cup, I think the main issue is not player skill, but other aspects of the team that are missing. Players that are actual leaders of the team are kind of missing right now. We had several players who had the respect of their teammates and seem like they can take matters in their hands without the trainer needing to intervene, pushing the others into action or back into focus, players like Schweinsteiger, Müller, Lahm, even Neuer back then. It also feels like many players don`t really give it their all. If you look at Schweinsteiger, what he did during the games when we won the world cup, it is clear that he was not only proud to play for germany, but really went all out. Doesn`t matter what happens to him, as long as he can run, he will play and throw in EVERYTHING. He is just the best example, because most other players also felt like they wanted to play, they wanted to be there in the joursey and wanted to win. Current players don`t display the same level of energy and commitment, which is kind of odd considering nobody forces you to play for the national team, and if you don`t perform well as a team, it kind of looks bad for you as an individual player as well. The issues in the game, where it often feels like the defensive behaviour is lackluster, allows the enemy way to many chances by being unfocused or simply making mistakes - and the offensive feeling not very creative and without enough pressure to push the enemy team into mistakes are to me minor issues to the above mentioned, those could be solved by better communication ect. If I look at the recent years of sport in germany, Football is still the most prominent sport, but the plyers don`t really showcase why - the individual skill as I said isn`t the issue, we still have plenty good players to choose from. If you just look at the ice hockey national team, what they put into their tournaments, I feel like there is a big difference for example. They really feel like they showcase hunger and wanting to win way better - and that is a sport where we don`t have the world best players, so from a mere skill level other national teams have way better rosters. I am not as familiar with basketball and handball, so I can`t say much about those sports to compare them. Unpopular opinion though: About the hand gesture/free speech incident. I disliked it. And it is not because I think everything was or is fine. But here is the thing: the national team went there to play a tournament. So your focus should be on exactly that. Considering how much talk was about that matter, I would argue at least some players were a bit unfocused. But even besides that, what I personally dislike about these things is not the basic idea behind it, but it feels not genuine to me. Let me explain why: Everyone knew about these issues since the tournament was announced to take place there. Did anyone care about these issues enough to not have it there? No. Did anyone do anything about these issues in the years leading up to the tournament (and I am talking more about political figures, because those are the ones that might be able to do anything)? No. Does anyone care now for the issues that are still present? Also no. So what did that gesture even accomplish? What was it for? Just to be able to proclaim "we did something" when it's not even really the case? To signal how virtuous we are? To me it just felt like someone posting online on a discussion about an issue a simple "yeah I hate that too, something needs to be done by someone" comment, but not actually doing anything. Obviously that whole deal has nothing to do with the actual decline and wasn't the main reason for the tournament performance, at best it was a minor variable, but I really disliked how much people liked to talk about it without actually doing anything. If you talk but don't act, you don't need to talk in the first place.

[@Janitoro458]

That’s not an unpopular opinion though. At least not in Germany. It’s the popular opinion.

[@thecrimsondragon9744]

What do Schweinsteiger, Muller, Lahm and Neuer all have in common? All are ethnic Germans, all are home grown talent. Now the squad is diluted by too many foreign players with foreign values so that internal understanding is no longer there, not to mention a same kind of love for the country. If you look at Ozil and Gundogan, both are potential traitors whose loyalties remained with wannabe Caliph Erdogan, who made his stance against Germany clear which would ultimately harm the German people. Such divided loyalties and we wonder why there's a lack of passion, chemistry and internal coherence within the team.

[@dineshp5203]

Interesting thing is that only teams with a proper 9 in squad have performed well in recent world cups. Argentina immediately replaced lautaro with Julian. France struck with giroud. Morocco struck gold with en neysiri. A proper 9 is an absolute MUST to win the World Cup now.

[@stinky_nut_blast]

It ever was.

[@jaskrip]

Germany has a proper 9 now (Fullkrug) but for some reason they didn't play him in the WC until like 15 minutes before the end of the second group stage match vs Spain when they were 1-0 down.

[@nd6648]

​@@jaskripfullkrug is not even near a good striker. C'mon, dude. In every world cup tournament there will be at least 5 teams with strikers better than fullkrug

[@he_football]

I have never seen a team with this much quality drop off so badly. Sure it's not like in 2014 anymore but these are still world class players

[@roryslaine7896]

The criteria for being "world class" has significantly dropped off since 2014 though. I think it's more to do with mentality than actual footballing ability. A germany 'B' side from 2014 would smash todays team.

[@schnitzelfilmmaker1130]

@@roryslaine7896ffs England’s U21s would wipe Germany rn

[@schnitzelfilmmaker1130]

Kimmich is the only consistent player tho other than literally the U21 eligible players. Havertz, Rüdiger, Sané, Goretzka, Brandt, Gnabry, even Gündogan when he puts on a German shirt

[@yasin_GD]

Are you the guy off tik tok

[@he_football]

@@yasin_GD yep. you can find my stuff here too

[@irfanahmed4523]

As a non-German and supporter of the German National Football Team; the main problems are the lack of a leader-like role in the team, the outside interferences of Media and Clubs ( especially Bayern Munich) and imbalance in the team ( more midfielders than solid forwards).

[@andrekoerber7334]

Right, the last real leaders were Ballack and Kahn.

[@lewismacleod8735]

One thing I would mention is the cohesion of the team allowing average players to perform better and the focus on technical ability losing the spine the team used to have. Germany were very blessed with the likes of Schweinsteiger who was top 5 midfielders around 2012-2015 and had the ability to do anything and a very surprising ability on the ball. Compare him to Kimmich who can’t defend as well as basti could and doesn’t have the physicality and leadership presence that was iconic from basti in 2014. No Phillip lahm replacement either. The bromance between lahm Schweini and podolski was also a massive selling point that fans love and this belief and support led the likes of podolski and klose to become icons and dependable players despite being kinda average at club level.

[@t.d.1051]

The main problem (from a germans personal perspective) is that when watching the german national team since at least 2016, what i really miss is spirit, mentality and beeing proud to represent Germany at the world/european stage. Teams like Colombia, Poland or Ukraine recently literally go to the limit for their national colors, while the german team gives me the impression of underpaid workers who really dont care about their job. We dont have proud players anymore, we have emotionless mercenarys who can speak politically correct sentences but fail to evoke any kind of excitement for the german fans. As someone who once was a giant fan of our national team, sadness has long turned into active mockery. Every football fan makes fun of this soulless clown parade and with good reason.

[@garyanderton]

The German and Danish team were more busy dealing with Pride and political correctness rather than actually playing football. When Argentina were asked the same question, Messi basically stated he is focused on football. Difference in mental state.

[@wamnicho]

Well that's what happens when you have mass immigration, the new immigrants and even their descendants don't really have an attachment or pride for that country especially if everything nowadays is about money and not culture or history or fatherland etc

[@cesanael]

The problem is the lack of nationalism national identity they are focused more on diversity and bringing non germans to the team and feeling politically correct

[@MrJacksparrago]

@@garyanderton It's a mix between that and half the players not being actually german (the same thing is happening all throughout Europe tho), so they don't really care about the national team.

[@johnziegelbauer4999]

@@cesanael Massive immigration = less national identity...

[@morehbein6207]

Nooo, we dont wanna hear about our national team anymore. It's a forbidden topic😭

[@danielmunsaka2051]

Even the women's team recently lost to Zambia

[@pierrejansevanrensburg4209]

Welldone with your Bloemfontein pronunciation. Outstanding vid as always 👌

[@SomeOneHere247]

High quality review. Thank you very much!

[@DerTranceUP]

I think, the biggest problem is that the youth system of a lot of Germany's 2 Tier Teams are much better than the National Team youth system. There are a lot of great young strikers and defenders in Germany

[@bimapriambada1098]

Nah, if they are great they will get called to senior team. They lack of quality after Boateng, Klose, and Hummels left on those positions so idk how you can say that.

[@nd6648]

Hell no. Germany lacks quality. Face it

[@MrJacksparrago]

@@nd6648 Nah, the problem is mostly happening all throughout Europe, they just give opportunities to african guys and not the german, spanish, italian, etc. so you get players that run really fast but are awful at everything else. Even France has problems when Griezmann is not offering some order to that mindless "talent".

[@jonassimonsen6607]

​@@MrJacksparragowhat kind of racist mindset is this? The Africans run and are strong but the Europeans are talented??? By Africans do you mean the black people born and living in Europe? Maybe the reason you see more black people in teams is because (second gen) immigrants are more common nowadays and receive the same opportunity. Talent and athleticism has nothing to do with race. Bigot

[@theemanuella9456]

@@MrJacksparragothe national france team is better than Germanys look at the players ethnicity:) I call that Karma 😛😛😛

[@HandyWein]

I think mentality is the key here. The skill is there, but they lack commitment

[@Kaiserin]

This video is great! Just one correction, the brace off the bench vs Costa Rica was Havertz, Füllkrug scored the 4th goal :D

[@empirate100]

As a German: hell yeah I've enjoyed this video! Public discourse here rarely says it as it is (players worse than a generation before, oldtimers like Müller need to retire asap, train up young defenders, can't score goals from so many chances created without a top-class striker...), and this has been an enlightening analysis.

[@poki580]

"oldtimer" hes only 33 lol

[@empirate100]

@@poki580 After 2014, he never found his form again when in the national dress. Often detrimental to the team, rarely helpful.

[@MrJacksparrago]

It's not hard tbh, take german players (not africans) and give them the chance to improve and stop corrupting your national team with africans, then you will see that your national team is as good as it was. You only have african strikers and then wonder why you can't win, it's not rocket science, they have always been awful at football.

[@unkownlegend531]

He is good with club but sucks in National

[@bababababababa6124]

Germany and Belgium continue to prove that FIFA rankings shouldn’t be taken seriously 😂

[@Kaijufied]

They’re in 15th wdym

[@bababababababa6124]

@@Kaijufiedtill too high. There are many countries under Germany that really should be above them

[@schnitzelfilmmaker1130]

@@bababababababa6124San Marino should be ahead of Germany right now, I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if they got a win off of Germany at the rate Germany are going right now. It’s free wins for everyone this year.

[@yasin_GD]

​@@schnitzelfilmmaker1130that's nonsense

[@rosnajulia]

​@@yasin_GDit's just a joke

[@seandelap8587]

In fact I say since 2006 Italy as a nation is not churning out the world class players as was routine during the 80s and 90s I mean how many of the current Italy squad would have gotten into previous Italian squads not many I expect

[@nishant54]

😂 not even few you fool.

[@soundscape26]

Italy deserved a video not that different from this one.

[@s.i2898]

@@soundscape26how when they won the last euros? When will you get a life?

[@-www.chapters.video-]

00:00 Germany's dominance in football 01:00 Consistency and success in World Cups 02:07 Recent decline and poor performances 03:39 The pressure and intensity of international football 05:00 Germany's pragmatic style of play 06:43 Revamp of German football in the late 1990s 08:11 Success in the 2014 World Cup 09:55 Struggles to replace Miroslav Klose 11:59 Germany's defensive struggles 12:28 Germany's attacking approach in the 2022 World Cup 13:09 Criticism of Hansi Flick as national team head coach 14:05 Germany's relationship with Bayern Munich 14:59 Germany's outdated tactics 15:58 Inconsistencies in Germany's team selection 17:18 The impact of Niklas Volkrog 19:02 Low expectations for Euro 2024 21:01 Germany's lack of leaders and talent 23:40 Developmental problems in German football 24:15 German team's performance in Champions League 24:36 German teams in UEFA Youth League 26:00 Decline of German players 26:42 Flick's challenges as Germany's coach 27:56 Germany's struggles and decline 30:06 Conclusion

[@nmarcus7233]

Not all heroes wear capes

[@yvandeboer4188]

Nice as always keep going the good job

[@TheMarslMcFly]

Our biggest problem is the lack of a proper Striker. Yes, our Defense is major ass as well, but that could be fixable if they just would play another formation than this dreaded 3-4-2-1 with Havertz up front. He isn't a Striker but currently probably our best Option.

[@lisaruhm6681]

Füllkrug is our best option if front.

[@user-sr3sf]

Unfortunately Thiaw is the only Good German center back, Süle and Ginter are horrible, Rüdiger is descent but he is a bit overrated.

[@lisaruhm6681]

@@user-sr3sf Id say Rüdiger and Ginter from recent performance are the only good ones.

[@fynnb.6732]

​@@lisaruhm6681thiaw all the way

[@TheMarslMcFly]

@@lisaruhm6681 Lücke is halt in Ordnung. Wenn man wieder so nen kaltschnäutzigen Hund a la Klose hätte wären Dinge aber way easier. Des is halt weder Havertz noch Lücke.

[@abakella]

Schweinsteiger just said in an interview that when Germany switched to a more quick and passing-oriented style of play, they lost their fighter underdog mentality that made them successful. I wonder how they can reclaim that identity

[@MartinCanada]

Yup, the Pep-virus (tikki-takki football) destroyed the German national side. That's what happens when one forgets one's identity and tradition.

[@renji6461]

@@MartinCanada Germany literally won the WC14 while Bayern played under Guardiola so what is your point

[@MartinCanada]

@@renji6461 The Bayern crew's influence on the German national team is significant in terms of management, players and ethos. Play out from the back, sweeper-keeper, possession style was evident in the German championship victory in 2014. My point is that this "foreign" approach, has now run its course with obvious effect (#15 world ranking), sadly displacing elements of the traditional German approach (e.g. a watertight defence, never-say-die resiliency, on-field leadership, a clearly established best-XI) that were keys to success in days past. Some of what has sadly been lost will need to be recovered before the German national team will return to the the podium once more. Basically, the rot was already there in 2014 and the win in Brazil should not blind one to that fact.

[@renji6461]

@@MartinCanada no yeah you are right actually. Pep was managing them for 1 year when they won WC. Obviously his effect didnt show yet and only came to full display when he left Bayern and Germany collapsed. Their whole identity changed

[@aguy4823]

​@@MartinCanada pep improved England

[@om2231]

Honestly this is easily one of the best football channels on KZbin. The ability to create a 30 minute, interesting video every 3 days is ridiculous. Never stop ❤

[@VeryIntellijent]

When I think of the German NT, I don't think of a particular "technical" philosophy, but rather a team of world class players and crucially, big characters, who all work their socks off and do their assigned jobs on the day. I always thought that mentality, leadership, and unity was fantastic for winning national team competitions. But I don't see that so much nowadays.

[@michaelosgood9876]

France are now doing what Germany perhaps should have done from 2014. It took a great team to stop France going back to back in World Cups. Such is the 'production line' of players France now have, theyll be hard to beat at Euros & 2026 World Cup. A neutral perspective

[@ezraezra2928]

It's obvious. As long as they have the great Kylian Mbappe, this team is unstoppable. Moreover, Mbappe is still turning 25 this year (he was born a few months after Zinedine Zidane's France won the first World Cup at home soil).

[@soundscape26]

@@ezraezra2928 Well, they _are_ stoppable but yeah, Mbappe is obviously a great player.

[@raketensven3127]

France's depth is incredible. I bet you can still form a winner national team from the 2nd and 3rd row atm.

[@bhutochakrabarti4173]

Unpopular opinion but I guess if ftance don't win the euros or wc in this decade then I'll guess they have massively underachieved given the talent .

[@anthonymcken6050]

Have the French replaced Germany at the top table of international football?

[@oKnuTo]

while i dont feel like they should have ever won anything hte last 3 tournements the results were way worse then the performance. the lack of a quality stiker just hurts way to much.

[@bigwave7207]

That’s a good point. They create a lot of chances with their strong midfield and wingers. To be fair though the defense as a whole is a complete train wreck

[@deborahluck539]

Damn, you are so GOOD! Never miss a single video❤

[@reidpattis3127]

I just came here after Hansi Flick was sacked as the head coach of Germany. I think this is the correct move. They need a much stronger coach and better sense of direction.

[@constablekennedy7705]

The German National Football Squad is Truly a Shambles right now ⚽️

[@ruthlessalbo6113]

As an Albanian who has been a German fan since I was 3 till now practically my entire life, I feel that Pep going to Bayern caused Germany to play a different style than what we’re known for. Went from Gegenpress hard running and physicality to tiki taka Spanish bullshit.

[@necroposter9667]

As an Albanian who has been a German fan since I was 3, we are going to make a comeback in the euros, but will lose to Uzuni in the finale

[@rockgamiasedes677]

Who told Germans to adopt the Bayern style of play to the national team? Pep ? Or Bayern? And that was like 2016 right ? SO you are telling me for last 7 years Germany is playing tiki taka in respect to Pep and that is to blame? My friend, as an Albanian who has been a German fan , You are going to be disappointed in next 10 years as well . because taking accountability and responsibility for their own mistakes is NOT part of German arrogance. So they are not going to learn and they are not going to change. It's always someone else's fault.

[@asm7406]

What a shitty poor comment you write, the tikitaka is one of the many strategies that Guardiola has, also your poor comment is contradictory because you only magnify Guardiola's legacy, if Germany's Guardiola style doesn't work for them, it's because they don't have players to support it. idea works.

[@ruthlessalbo6113]

@@rockgamiasedes677 it was other managers trying to emulate what Pep was doing, Bastian came out with a quote himself actually saying the exact same thing I said. That because of Peps style we’ve stopped playing like true Germans, but of course there is most definitely a massive drop off in talent no question about it but still we aren’t playing like true germans

[@somethingwithultra7231]

@@ruthlessalbo6113 Does this mean Cruijff, Van Gaal and some others' Barca legacy helped destroy Germany in the long run? What a genius play by Pep! 💀💀💀

[@aalkhalaf1]

Well done analysis 👌👍

[@SmokingBirds]

Amazing Video Essay!

[@needfoolthings]

What is noticeable in the national team is true for this entire society. No mentality, luxurious values, lots of "individuality", but no personality.

[@46JCK]

Bastian Schweinsteiger I feel had a decent point the other day. “When Pep Guardiola joined Bayern Munich, when he came to the country, everyone believed we have to play this kind of football, like short passes and everything. We were kind of losing our values. I think most of the 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. That’s one of the reasons.” Coming immediately after they made 3 out of 4 finals, going 1-2 in those finals. He replaces Jupp Heynckes who JUST won the Champions League with Bayern. He shows up at Bayern in 2013 and Germany wins the World Cup in 2014. Pep didn't accomplish the main goal of winning the Champions League while there. It took Bayern 3 seasons after he left to get back, winning it. Also getting there a year before he managed to do so with City, which he lost the following year against Chelsea. Now you can argue and say, BUT HE WON 7 TROPHIES AT BAYERN. Sure but so did Hansi Flick in almost 500 fewer days including a Champions League Title, that Pep didn't get for them.

[@aimanazrie8944]

weird but ok

[@nhovyjann]

So what's your point?

[@laurocoman]

You make it sound like Bayern is the ONLY German team and no other team exists. If anything, Bayern itself is to blame for the lack of competitive national football. They turn their own league into a nothing-burguer with no option for anyone. Curious how you make it look like Guardiola's fault but somehow not Bayern's.

[@bigboss4178]

@@laurocoman >You make it sound like Bayern is the ONLY German team and no other team exists it is what it is

[@MrJacksparrago]

The elephant in the room is that they just give more opportunities to african players just because they ran fast, and not german guys that run a bit slower but have an actual brain to play football. I mean, no wonder Guardiola won Champions League with a mostly white team.

[@liloruf2838]

As a young German, 2014 was the first big win i remember but since then it's a shame what happened to our male team but also in general (Quatar). It made me focus more on the womens, and with the current championship I'm a growing fan of them❤️❤️❤️🙏

[@arcanum_est6296]

it`s amatuer sport

[@NataliePine]

I hope Germany's exit from the women's world cup hasn't soured your enthusiasm for the women's game!! It's so much fun and I enjoy it a lot more than the men's (and Germany are such a good side! Much better than the group-stage exit would imply)

[@arcanum_est6296]

@@NataliePine woman football is worse than the football from the school playground.

[@zackilhdz]

​@@arcanum_est6296cmon that's just unnecessary hate. even they are better than you and me, unless you play for your national team lol

[@arcanum_est6296]

@@zackilhdz na its Not Like this. Just watch the U15 Amateur Boy Team win 12:0 aginst the Australien women national Team

[@mortanos8938]

As a German I can claim that no nation yammers as much as we do. SO WHAT if we are having a losing streak. First other nations need to get close to the list of wins we have had. I am honestly glad if other nations win for a change, although I would preferr to see nations win it that have never won before such as (Germans are gonna hunt me down for this) the Netherlands. Most of all I would love to see Africa or Asia take its first title. Anyway, I am very confident that Germany will come back in due time. We still have 11 years until the 20 year cycle is due. 1954, 1974, 1990 (that one came 4 years early) and then 2014. So the next title is due in 2034. But you never know, Germany is always good for a surprise and fail that, patience is a virtue 😉

[@BALHAM69]

a documentary of Borussia Dortmund and how they were extremely close to bankruptcy in 2002 time and how Bayern had to save them. The extreme difficulties the club has had to manage within to get back to where they are #thepeopleschannel

[@Bale4Bond]

That's a great idea. You should post this in every video!

[@Xacbert74]

Bayern never saved them. There was a loan of 2 mio for a few months but the debts were above 150 mio. Bayerns loan was a drop in the ocean.

[@raketensven3127]

I'd rather see a Walter Frosch docu!

[@ravanpee1325]

@@Xacbert74 Of course, because it's about liquidity and not about the overall debt

[@Xacbert74]

@@ravanpee1325 Bullshit, Watzke disputed that myth many times.

[@Scott-hu3np]

Why does the Havertz, Musiala, Wurtz sound so much like the Lampard, Gerrard Scholes thing of the 2000s

[@encorefootball]

That's a great observation

[@maverikmiller6746]

Thanks for this detailed explanation.

[@JustFootballThoughts]

What I have seen occuring time and time again over the past few years is that top coaches want to play without a real number 9 and it mostly fails, looks mediocre or the same system just does better with an actual number 9 even if it's not a top level player. You just need a guy in your team who wants to score goals at all cost. This is why Füllkrug is better upfront than every other world class player Germany have.

[@MrJacksparrago]

Reason for that is easy, everyone in Europe just wants black players that run a lot and are awful at everything else, so instead of having Bundesliga full of german strikers, you get Bundesliga full of african strikers, then when you want to form a national team you see that no 9 is good, the exact same thing is happening in Spain, we have gone from having the likes of Raul, Morientes, Fernando Torres, David Villa to having... no one, because every striker in La Liga is some awful black african player.

[@lunazen8661]

@@MrJacksparrago Ur just being racist at this point.

[@AnnoyinDreamer_]

Hopefully we get a documentary of the mexico national team downfall also.

[@chrisschaller9547]

They were never really that good though to be fair

[@CaptainX100]

As a German, this already annoys me! Because in 2018, 2021, 2022 we had heaps of world champions from 2014 in the team, and beyond that many Champions League winners from Bayern, Real and Chelsea and players from other European top teams like ManCity, PSG, etc.. That was all a pure question of mentality! 2002, 2006, 2008 or even 1986 where we have reached the finals or semifinals, we had substantially worse players in the squad!

[@danielknauss5019]

That WC 2002 run they went on was almost stopped at the quarterfinals and if the referee had been competent enough to see an obvious handball on the goal line, US Soccer would likely have prevailed and made the semifinals for the first time since 1930.

[@YourboyAz85]

Fantastic analysis as always

[@depekthegreat359]

Since Germany won the FIFA World Cup back in the year 2014,their form have started to slump which is because of the management problems several times and some of their results have been shocking,good friends!!!They will slowly bounce back from their slump through their rising talents and experienced players as well as their well suited formation consistently and they are one of my favourites ever,good friends!!!LONG LIVE,GERMANY!!!🇩🇪

[@lukealvarez3744]

2018 World Cup was when it was noticeable. euro 2020 was the end of the era of ur champions from 2014. 2022 World Cup a new era started terribly.

[@depekthegreat359]

@@lukealvarez3744 I agree but Germany national team is one of my favourite national teams ever but France national team is my most favourite national team,good friend!!!🏋️‍♂️

[@lukealvarez3744]

@@depekthegreat359 Im English and I never count Germany out of tournament regardless of their current performance. Im confident they will come back strong for next year for the euros especially as they got the home advantage!

[@user-ed7et3pb4o]

@@depekthegreat359how can you support both Germany and France😂

[@depekthegreat359]

@@lukealvarez3744 I am an Interracial person who is part English,Sri Lankan and Indian and I also never count Germany out of the tournament and would bounce back through that tournament,good friend!!!🏋‍♂️

[@martynarmstrong4730]

Excellent and thorough analysis and timeline of Germany's recent decline. I'd love to see a similar analysis of The Netherlands - I can't wrap my head around how poorly they perform at tournaments, despite their wealth of talent. I also think Podolski played a massive role as a versatile winger who contributed goals. When they Klose, they eventually lost that outlet as well.

[@encorefootball]

Euro 2008 and 2012 were a disaster for 🇳🇱, but since Euro 2016 Netherlands have been awful with no squad depth and playing Memphis Depay as a false nine. Wout Weghorst? The man makes Andy Carroll look like peak R9! 😂

[@user-bh4gw7ck4d]

Netherlands don't really have a complete squad. Good players in certain positions and people like Blind and Jansson getting starts in other positions.

[@chrisschaller9547]

Koeman is the worst manager in football so that’s the main reason why they underperform despite having one of the best national teams on paper in the world

[@ThundurusT]

They just need a good manager. Netherlands performed very well under Van Gaal. Koeman is total shit.

[@ReznoR85]

We lack quality, simple as that. In the past, NL produced many attacking talent. Nowadays, we only have some good defenders. I am a fan of Frenkie de Jong but he's not world class as well. Attacking wise... don't get me started on that subject.

[@peterhammer6915]

great analysis!!

[@francescganau7679]

The problem is national teams are judged too severely by KO tournaments that are too luck-dependent. Argentina would not be a worse team if they had lost penalty shootouts to Netherlands or France in 2022. Spain would not be worse if Robben scored against Casillas. Nationalism mixed with football analysis leads to biased and rushed conclusions often resulting in too much pressure on teams and consequently lowering football quality😊

[@yoloswaggins7121]

Yeah 2 bad games and you're out of the tournament and your ranking plummets.

[@daarom3472]

this. There are like 12-14 teams with a realistic shot at winning a WC and only 1 can win it every 4 years. Even semis is only 4 teams, which means that 2/3 of the teams "underperform".

[@654jimbob654]

Not saying you're wrong but what other than KO tournaments do we have to judge national teams on? Friendly matches? Qualifiers against far weaker opposition?

[@PoeticPoker262]

​@@654jimbob654I'd love to see a Super League like tournament between the top 12/14 national teams. Scrap the Nations League crap and let the top teams have a real league to find the best. Oh, England would absolutely finish last too 😂

[@tajj7]

Yeh agree, its why I felt the criticism Southgate got after the World Cup was so over the top. England outplayed France for a lot of that game and Kane blazed a penalty over, if they had played like that 10 times, England would have won 7 or 8 times, but its knock out football and things can not go your way.

[@matteohaverkamp9486]

Alfie will always back Southgate, but the fact is that England are literally the Tottenham of international football. They both have had enough talent to win trophies, and they both haven't won any notable trophies since the 60's

[@peterbushby9009]

Spurs have won 3 fa cups and European trophy s and league cups

[@matteohaverkamp9486]

@@peterbushby9009 That is not anything to write home about.

[@somethingwithultra7231]

@@peterbushby9009 Congrats as your top 6 england club has won less trophies in decades then some smaller European clubs.

[@seeechzig8213]

I read "German", I read "downfall" and I expect this video to be about an entirely different topic lol

[@astr0ncore]

We have objectively good players in the German national team. I am not a big fan of some of them but in their league clubs they are playing pretty well. But I have the feeling that especially the players for the defense and the strikers don't really care about their performance in the national team, or at least are not willing to perform with 100 percent to win the game. The last time I remember really seeing that was with Schweinsteiger in 2014 world cup.

[@Alfie_1]

Hopefully, as a Brentford fan, Kevin Schade can help Germany, provided a really nice assist in his second appearance for Germany against Belgium.

[@bababababababa6124]

Eh scoring against B*lgium should be routine anyway 😂

[@Alfie_1]

@@bababababababa6124 I was just stating it factually that it was Belgium, not implying that it made it any more impressive.

[@schnitzelfilmmaker1130]

@@Alfie_1Adeyemi is much better

[@Alfie_1]

@@schnitzelfilmmaker1130 And Harry Kane is better than Callum Wilson, doesn't mean that both can't help the national team. I won't lie I think Schade could push on to that level.

[@schnitzelfilmmaker1130]

@@Alfie_1 maybe but I definitely don’t see Schade being as good as Adeyemi long-term. That said, unfortunately I’m not too high on Schade right now, he’s got unbelievable pace and vertical leap, has decent movement too, but is so average at everything else. Hopefully for both Brentford and Germany fans he can actually develop some skills lol. But at the moment, he’s too limited in what he can actually do.

[@k0zargamng851]

Post #6: Alfie you should really consider doing a video on the Bosnian men's national team, from being ranked 13 in the world in 2014 and qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil, to not qualifying for a single tournament since, yet managing to win their uefa nation leagues group, but genuinely hitting our lowest point with a 2-0 defeat to Luxembourg. Aging players, players who represent other national teams that are eligible to play for Bosnia but aren't seeming interested, just the genuine geopolitical mess that Bosnia is with how the Dayton agreement was meant to simply end the Bosnian war yet became the country's de facto constitution. I think it would make for a very interesting video, and could even span additional videos like how Velez Mostar are forced to play away from their original stadium in Mostar as it is on the Croatian side of the river, with their old stadium being taken over by Zrinjski Mostar. A club that was actually banned in Yugoslavia because of their nationalistic origin

[@oboykenningtonsavage7535]

Omg I'm in Mostar right now was thinking that'll be a good idea Velež vs Zrinjski for Alfie to do a video about

[@oboykenningtonsavage7535]

I saw both stadiums yesterday

[@alia1824]

Blame Muslims. They can’t even eat pork, that’s pathetic. Who doesn’t love bacon! 🥓

[@matijakovacic3361]

Oh, sod off.

[@brochocho2132]

Nice, in depth analysis.

[@neuronneuron7304]

In my opinion the situation with German National team today is exactly what happened to Germany in lates 90s and early 2000s. After the winning EURO 1996, Germany was simply declining. There was nothing out there. From 1996 to 2006, there was only a silver medal in World Cup 2002, and that was all. Generation of Klinsmann, Brehme, and Matthäus were gone, and there was no one who would replace them. The world cup in 2006 in Germany changed everything. So, I hope Euro 2024 which is going to be in Germany will also put some light into Germany, and hopefully we will see a raise of Germany after Euro 2024. I am a big supporter of Germany since 80s.

[@gothia1715]

For me Flick turned out to be a huge disappointment. After his success with Bayern i put big hope in him. I thought he would change things, instead he just kept on going with Löws dead end overly of complicated and ineffective nonesense. I also thought he would let players play who deliver but instead he does the same stuff as Löw with having priviledged players who dont need to deliver and appointing others as black sheeps who turn out to be good. Best example here are Kehrer and Süle. The former has almost no playtime in his clubs but still gets the call. Süle on the other hand had a strong season at Dortmund but Flick once spoke out badly about him so he never gets a chance again. How to cut into your own flesh 101... Then we have a horrible lack of #9 box strikers. The fruits from the era when Löw and Bierhoff had say over german youth developement. As we know Löws thought was that the false 9 is the future and that we got to play like Peps Barca. Turned out to be an absolutely horrible decision. Our young strikers seem to have never learned how to really hit the ball. All they do is passing to the opponent keeper. And Timo Werner is a one trick pony. He is a pure counter attacker. As soon he has to deal with a deep backline its like we re playing with one player less, he gets completely lost. For me he is a good joker when we re in the lead and the opponent is forced to open up but never a concrete breaker. And almost everyone plays concrete and counter attacks against us cause everyone knows how well and easy it works. And Havertz is no striker, nothing more to say here. For that concrete breaker job we had a miracle. Niklas Füllkrug suddenly had his second spring and stepped up from mediocrity to a dangerous #9 who can score against everyone. But for whatever reason Flick keeps on going with that false 9 bullsh*t in the starting lineup with either Werner or Havertz and benches Füllkrug. Everyone here in Germany just wants to see him play cause we re sick of that stupid passing around without creating anything until we loose the ball into a counter attack. We have good players. And we have a young football god with Musiala. All we need is a coach with a plan and a set starting lineup which only gets minor changes depending on how good they players forms are. But Flick has no plan. Dont quote me on that but someone told that we played with 22 diferent backlines in 24 matches under him. He needs to go quickly before we have the next horrible tournament where we get kicked out by underdog teams. And the next one turns out to be our home EC. If Flick has any decency he should just go before we get humiliated in our own tournament.

[@krokobert]

Amen

[@asm7406]

No, noob and pseudo-german

[@fatmanonabike238]

Not hard to be successful with Bayern though like managing Celtic

[@mikka02253]

its the players ofc

[@aimanazrie8944]

@@mikka02253 yeah sure

[@briannao9251]

Manuel Neuer playing as a midfielder in the dying minutes of that game vs South Korea that caused Germany to get knocked out in the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup lives in my head RENT FREE!! 😂😂😂

[@papabear90]

Why was nobody blaming flick? He was obviously a terrible manager for Germany.

[@peterweiss123]

Much needed Video! Even though its a pitty you dont give a solution!

[@republikpropaganda2319]

San Marino can get their second win if they play against Germany

[@sihlemasondo2898]

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@Ivander85]

Germany had its difficulties after winning the Euro 96 but their struggle didn't last for nearly as long as the current one. One of the issues is the players that are selected are imo not always the ones wo deserve to be there but the ones that look best on paper. Another factor is youth development, they should take note from what France have been doing.

[@linuslsc6346]

It lasted for almost 10 years. The only good tournament back then was 2002 when Kahn and Ballack carried us into the finals.

[@ninersdd21]

@@linuslsc6346 And drew a VERY soft schedule along the way(Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Cameroon, Paraguay, USA, and Korea)

[@dekooks1543]

no they SHOULD NOT absolutely not do as the french have done. Germany and spain are the last bastions of european football ingenuity. If you guys fall its over for good. Have you watch the french play ? they cant string 4 consecutive passes together they simply use their pace merchant players to create chances. But when up against defensively disciplined teams they crumble. Its a disgrace to football

[@marvelfuturefight7503]

​@@dekooks1543honestly France have the talent but deschamps makes them play like the old Italian teams...sit back and counter...it is perfect for their pacy players

[@karadanianoI]

The Germany national squad is the living incarnation of the phrase "victory has defeated you my friend"

[@ryannurse2890]

In honour of the England U21s winning the Euros, can you do a "Where are they now" video for the England starting XI at the 2009 Euro U21s final? There's a fascinating mix of future England superstars, players who never quite made the full England team, and players I've genuinely never heard of.

[@nicolinzini520]

26:04 I think you hit the nail on the head. All of the players you mention are good on their day, but are not consistent players, prone to many off-days.

[@AS19Motorsport]

If they keep this form going, Flick will literally recreate that scene from “Downfall” 😳

[@T.E.S.S.]

"literally"

[@wtorules4743]

Superb video. It must have been such a joy for you to document Germany's temporary demise. Some great laughs in there too.

[@carlkontermann5637]

Its not about tactics. It is about politics. Its ONLY about the display of the right political Attitude, the principle of Performance has been abandoned. It does not count as a failure anymore if you fail in germany. Its always "good effort"😅

[@BigPurp9]

That Fulkrug jumpscare at 16:34 was terrifying😂

[@CaptainX100]

Well, despite the current problems, as a German football fan you can be more than satisfied with the history of the German national team. Germany is in fact the most consistent national team in football history, despite the fact that Brazil has one more World Cup title.

[@dominicstevenson8932]

Maybe it is mainly a selection issue - there are functional and decent defenders and strikers who are German. As it was touched on only the video as such, not picking them seems like the problem. Losing to teams whilst you're trying to work out who you're picking and what you're doing with them isn't so bad. Musiala. Adeyemi and Moukoko are all absolutely incredible players, Schlotterbeck and Klostermann are a fairly solid two centre backs to pair with Rudiger or even on their own. I feel as though we've seen the dip and we're actually on the upswing - picking the Muller-types for way too long seemed to be the actual problem. Also, Havertz is 24, he's very young.

[@sentaodepana4988]

Moukoko struggles in the last Euro tournament and Adeyemi is good as a Winger but no as a 9.

[@MrJacksparrago]

"Musiala, Adeyemi, Moukoko". There you have the problem, those guys are not german, they don't give a damn about the national team, and are way worse than what a true german player would be if he was given the chances those awful african players were given. Lmao it's happening all throughout Europe and people refuse to see it.

[@sentaodepana4988]

@@MrJacksparrago Your´re right, the some african players are world class in the daily basis but in International football they´re disastrous, maybe its becauses his identity and roots. Like Turkish and Magreb palyers that chose they roots raher than the place were born.

[@ThatOneAlligator]

@@MrJacksparrago fick dich, als ob Süle oder Havertz bei der WM iwi besser aufm platz ausgesehen haben nur weil sie deiner Meinung nach "echte" Deutsche sind. Musiala war letztes Turnier gefühlt einer unserer einzigen guten Spieler. 2014 waren Boateng, Özil, und Khedira alle unter unseren besten Spielern.

[@theemanuella9456]

@@MrJacksparrago”i refuse” you are not God LMAOOO KARMA IS BITING YALLS ASS AND I LOVE TO SEE IT 😂😂

[@rodrigomaggio1208]

its common that happen sometimes. But they are going to recover. Every big team suffer something similar

[@doppelplusungutmensch1141]

German football fans don't even care about the national team anymore. It's only about rainbows, pride flags, politically correct statements, climate change, antisexism, antiracism, antiwhateverism and the right political stand, instead of football. There was a time in which the streets were empty when Germany played. Now nobody cares anymore, not even the stadiums are full. Whenever Germany played, no matter if they won or lost, the comments in the social media are complaining about the team not having anything to do with football anymore.

[@jackmanley1473]

Germany's (relative) fall has been a shock, but I'd love to see a breakdown on how & why Belgium's Golden Generation (~2008-Now) never managed to win a single trophy. It's one of the greatest assemblages of talent in history, and all they have to show for it is a 3rd Place Medal.

[@RevanSurik]

"It's one of the greatest assemblages of talent in history" More like, one of the most overrated assemblages of talent.

[@user-bh4gw7ck4d]

You must be a millennial lol

[@Trancymind]

Belgiums 2nd golden generation was as good as Belgiums 1st golden generation (1980-1986).

[@LMFLO628]

As a Belgian, I always had the feeling there was a bit too much hype.. some top-class players but in my opinion, mixed with only good to mid-class players at some positions. That's not enough for a trophy (eg. Pieroni 2008, 2010 when not even qualified, Ciman as RB 2016 against Italy, Mirallas as CAM 2018 against Argentina.. paired with little depth after the top 11. And don't forget about the fights inside the team (Courtois stealing the Girlfriend of De Bruyne or the fight of Vertonghen vs Hazard 2022) always a sign that there is something wrong inside the team.

[@pritapp788]

They were not golden and there were better teams out there. Similar story to England 2006

[@jOker-pr5tj]

very nice video!

[@NurComments]

It took a foreigner to take a real look at this situation. I've been searching for discussions of this since the 2:0 against columbia, and no serious commentators are being objective on this in Germany. It's really hard to realize and analyze from within, everyone is holding on to arguments such as individual player level in the bundesliga etc, no one wants to give up hope for our next "midsummer dream" at EU24... it is not looking good.

[@dcapitan7]

I'll need to watch your video, but my initial reaction is that the 🌎 has improved in ⚽️, so the gap has narrowed between Germany and a number of its opponents. Some folks do not fully appreciate how good Japan actually is. When the Blue Samurai play their usual style, they look a lot like Spain. However, unlike Spain, they change their approach against certain opponents. EDIT: I've watched the video. As usual, your video is pretty good. However, Algeria are not minnows. They have been one of the top teams in Africa for some time now. The Desert Foxes' 2014 WC team gave Belgium a good fight, losing 2-1, drew Russia and dismantled South Korea. Their 2010 WC team lost to Slovenia 1-0, drew England, then lost to the US on a late goal by Landon Donovan. In the 1982 WC, they defeated West Germany. Algeria clearly do not fit the profile of a minnow.

[@tayxicfox9512]

We've never truly replaced Klose since his retirement Muller doesnt have the production of 2010 and 2014 The team is talented but we need a lethal goalscorer

[@ferdinandhoessler4861]

Hi Alfie, being German watching this makes me hurt. It is spot on and it is so sad to see this happening. Like you said, it was coming. That false 9 is so stupid.

[@alexanderschulze7767]

This analysis absolutely nailed it!

[@haevinc]

The team had problems in 2002 in 2006 as well but never failed and disappointed us this harsh. The problem is the lack of spirit, German warrior-never-giving-up spirit is dying. Football players like Rummenige, Klinsmann, Muller, Lahm, Shweinsteiger aren't respected as much as they should be. I know football is changing and becoming money game but still Heinkes's bayern is the best example of what it needs now. I'm not even German, born in 1990 and supporting Germany since 1998 WC. I never supported because I wanted all titles and winnings, I always supported the character the team that is almost lost.