What’s Wrong With German Football?

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Over the last century, Germany has had one of the best football teams in the world.
They’ve won four World Cups, three European Championships and produced some of the greatest players the world has ever seen.
And yet, after nearly a decade of underachievement, they are currently ranked only 15th-best in the world.
Written by Seb Stafford-Bloor, illustrated by Craig Silcock.
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#Bundesliga #Germany #Football

[@leobestbote4244]

How a traditional football powerhouse like Germany struggles to find a world class Center Forward is still a mystery to me to be honest

[@M..n..M]

It's weird but also strangely a common issue: Italy and Spain (not a traditional powerhouse spain, but still...) have the same issue. Immobile is impressive at Lazio but he never was great for the National team and Morata is not consistent either. Even Brazil is relying on RICHARLISON. I can't really say what is happening there, but it is a common issue.

[@monkeytennis8861]

​@@M..n..Msame in England really, Kane aside

[@henrykearns4041]

@@monkeytennis8861Toney,Wilson and Abraham

[@Mysterialic]

Good strikers are a luxury nowadays.

[@12thMandalorian]

change Germany to Chelsea and it still applies

[@Luktoth]

As a Brazilian, apparently what's happening to Germany is quite similar to what's going on with Brazil. Football style identity crisis, corruption scandals, difficulty to renovate certain positions and the domestic audience not connecting with the Seleção as they used to...

[@gabrielmanera4555]

As an I agree with your point, I always admired Brazil Joga bonito but it got lost this years, which for me it's part of the identity of la Canarinha. In the case of Brazil I think it also has to do that, Brazilian players started to change their game style to be more attractive to the European market, it's noticeable when you look at Neymar an how he changed his style from when he was at Santos, to see that time of Neymar was amazing. Hope also Brazil can go back to the roots 👏🏻

[@anandam1]

They would have qualified for R16 if they had concentrated more on game against japan and not on sending message. They became a laughing stock after losing the Japan game

[@Maclib_]

I heard a stat that Brazil failed to beat a European country in a WC knock out game since 2002 which is one of the most insane stats I’ve ever seen

[@ToCam-fl8ry]

@@gabrielmanera4555 True but it's not really about changing your style to 'adapt' to European football/market, as for the last two decades, players in Europe have played joga bonito, with all the tricks and skills, as well. That's not what it is about. It's more about the longevity, and how the game evolved into a more athletic one, in general. The modern game favors more athletic players. It all started with the football organizations adding more and more matches to the football calendar in all competitions - league and international (of course because of money, to get more for tickets etc), so players need to be in better physical shape all the time and have to have great, pure athleticism to be able to play all these matches. Consequently, the whole game turned to the need for more athletic than technical players already decades ago, but now you see the consequences. In order for players to be able to endure this pace and play all these matches, they also have to be more athletic and abandon 'tricks', as tricks take away valuable energy and time, especially as the player gets older. So overall, the joga bonito style is not good for mature players and mature game, this is why 'maturing' and evolving as a football player now means abandoning the joga bonito and focusing on what is the key thing to do for the win, and it is scoring goals and running mainly, exactly what Haaland and Mbappe are doing. Notice, that the same, with time, happened to Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano when he was a very young, bright star during his first spell at United, and later for a few years in Madrid too, was a very skillful winger, constantly running and playing joga bonito, not just scoring. In fact, Cristiano was the role model for Neymar when Neymar started serious, pro football, and Neymar is on record saying this: that he loved to watch young Ronaldo playing on the wing for United, doing all the tricks and stepovers. Cristiano was also the first footballer who really brought joga bonito style to the Premier League, and influenced and changed the English league forever. It's all analyzed in depth in a few books about the history of the Premier League, and also in Cristiano's biography by Guillem Balague. But Cristiano, with age and because of his damaged knees (he has suffered from permanent tendinosis since 2014), also had to change his game so he stopped playing joga bonito as well, instead focusing on scoring goals and saving his energy in the era of more and more physically demanding game. So leaving joga bonito is actually maturing in your game, not a bad thing at all, it's rather a good thing. It is less entertaining to fans, but better for footballers in the long term. So Neymar is actually doing what so many experts have been begging him to do for a long time now: maturing in his game. Again, I understand that it's not great for fans who love to watch entertaining, beautiful football, believe me - I miss the pure winger& entertainer version of Cristiano as well, but these are exactly the demands of modern football. To sum up, this change in Neymar's game has nothing to do with the South Americans having to adapt to the 'European market'. It's all about maturing in your game, and simply adapting to what the game of football is nowadays, in general, everywhere. But this is why for me comparing Mbappe to the likes of Cristiano, is laughable if you really understand football. The fact is that anyone who actually watches games notices that Mbappe is already a modern footballer and a product of a modern, more athletic game - he is a winger, but he is not as skillful as Cristiano was when Cristiano played for United back in 2008. Mbappe is all about running and scoring, simple as that, while Cristiano, even tho he also was very athletic in general, still developed in a different era of the game, when joga bonito and technicality still mattered very much, so he was a master of skills and tricks, as well. This makes you appreciate Cristiano and his entire career even more, as we will never see a player like this again, who combines so many different features as a footballer, along with amazing achievements. Cristiano was a brilliant winger with skills and tricks, playing joga bonito in a very heavy, simple English Premier League, a genius goalscorer, world-class striker, and athletic marvel all at the same time, and in two best, different leagues, winning countless awards and trophies, and breaking all the records. Even Messi, tho he won the WC and with all his talent, Messi didn't manage to do it all in the two greatest leagues - so in Spain and in England, as Cristiano did. So yeah, we will never see this again. Mbappe, Haaland, Vinicius, and other youngsters are the future but that's why we already see, it's not the same as it once was. These young talents don't play with the same magic as young Cristiano or young Messi did and in the case of Cristiano - they don't combine this magic with pure athleticism and iron mentality like he did. It's just a different game now, and different players. And also, it once again shows, that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi come once in a lifetime. They are just unique.

[@richardm.227]

True. Apart from Germany there were always two national teams I liked to watch, the Netherlands and Brazil. The Netherlands have somewhat retained their status but have gone for more practical approaches rather than keep their identity fully. Brazil and Germany on the other hand are awful in my opinion. And honestly as a fan like so many others I can only shake my head and laugh at our administration. They are so corrupt, so unwilling to make uncomfortable decisions, so crusty, so inflexible and the funny part is, many myself included already said german youth development has issues in 2014 when we won the WC. It could be seen even at the height of success but everyone in charge turned a blind eye.

[@nazmussakib810]

A small correction. England knocked Germany out in the RO16 in Euro 2020 not the Quarter Final.

[@nishant54]

Doesn't matter 😂😂

[@crashingdown6924]

@@nishant54 matters more than you

[@nishant54]

@@crashingdown6924 Still doesn't matter 😂😂

[@glennaldosf]

It's a Tifo typo....

[@SwereBox]

The athletic is home to the best journalists blah blah blah, small mistakes like this show exactly how they’re not zzzz

[@Danzig_]

Also, a lot of German wonderkids didn't reach their full potential : Draxler, Meyer, Werner, Ginter, Leno, Tah, Heinrichs, Selke, Sané ...

[@ig0rfreire]

gotze..

[@LukaOJ01]

Sane is surely Bayern best player rn

[@Danzig_]

@@LukaOJ01 right now yes Past 3 years were very average

[@miguelpereira9859]

@@shiniusmerc2775 To me its Draxler. He was supposed to be what Kevin de Bruyne became basically

[@blueflame3531]

Kai Havertz

[@maximusg88]

As a German I can say that this was a great summary of everything that happened - well done once again, Tifo!

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Grab Food

[@mrthicc980]

@@NazriBwhat?

[@droid888racer]

@@NazriB Man watched the whole video just to spit his dummy out

[@anandam1]

Next time tell players to practise and concentrate on game and not sending a message on field. Losers....

[@maximusg88]

@@anandam1 lovely homophobia

[@josephweir6754]

When Bayern decide to buy an English striker it tells you that Germany doesn't have a world class player in that position

[@RandyMahnke]

We haven't had a world class striker since Klose

[@LukaOJ01]

​@@RandyMahnkeKlose wasn t actually ever world class. I don t remember any season that he was like key player for some team

[@hi-ls6lt]

@@LukaOJ01not for club. But for country he was class.

[@n1c3s43]

@@LukaOJ01 that's the wild thing. On club level Klose wasn't a world class striker. On Country level he definitely was.

[@piekay7285]

The 64% drop in audience during the 2022 world cup was more due to the public not wanting to support Qatar. Germany was (as far as I know) the only country where a boycott was a popular option

[@lonestarr1490]

Also in Denmark, I think.

[@TheMarslMcFly]

This. As much as the National Team currently annoys me, I usually watch their Games, especially at big Tournaments. 2022 I, and many people I know, didn't watch the WC to not support Qatar

[@1882osr]

@@h6fc8ih How is wanting to hurt Fifa where it fundamentally matters most naive? All the money ultimately rests upon the viewership

[@frankopanklaric]

No one cares about human rights. The team is deeply unpopular.

[@evanedwards2501]

​@@frankopanklaric... no one cares about human rights?

[@wrldkaran]

As Lineker, once famously said: "Football is a simple game - 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win." They'll be back and we will prolly hate them for it

[@akwilson1676]

I hope this losing streak continues. German needs this lesson in humility.

[@Golradir]

​@@akwilson1676why though?

[@kurkmo6616]

@@akwilson1676because Germany are well known for arrogance and overestimating themselves? That’s just bitter hatred from you and you know it is

[@geox8485]

@@akwilson1676As an England fan I don’t mind if Germany and Italy and some other football sides are out of form if it means we get more wins and a better chance of winning something Lmao. But I do feel bad for the Germans. Up until 2014 Germany had consistently finished within the top 4 and had never fallen out of the top 10 until 2018 and somehow the Germans went from being at their absolute best in all their history (2014) to their absolute worst in all their entire history (2018). And all in 4 short years.

[@prithvirajsrinivasan1077]

@@kurkmo6616 Exactly. They have been contemptuous to teams from other continents. Notably to Japan in the 2022 WC with Rudiger mocking Doan Ritsu. They have a reputation of looking down on other teams sometimes racially too.

[@bongs26]

Schweinsteiger might actually have a little bit of a point. If you look at Japan they've always played technical "pass first" football and where always lauded for it. But their new coach implemented a different "run and gun" approach which even meant leaving out players like Furuhashi who cant maintain intensity levels needed for this new side & they've now become a dangerous force in the international scene. Obviously I'm not saying that they should field a team of road runners & bricklayers, but there should be a balance. International football is only 10-12 games max..it doesn't have to pretty....

[@bushidobrown6742]

Pep joined in 2013 and they won the World Cup in 2014.

[@bongs26]

@@bushidobrown6742 They came 3rd in 2010 with the youngest average age squad. 2014 team was their golden generation. Sure He may have had an impact in a way..but let’s not act like his arrival was the catalyst for them winning.

[@robocop2423]

I don't think he actually wanted to criticise Pep himself. I think he criticises coaches trying to copy Pep without the player material necessary to do so. The quality of the squad has dropped since 2013/2014 but is still better than what current results show. If our coaches would utilise tactics that rely on fighting and team spirit to make up for the missing quality rather than blindly trying to play possession based football we would be far better

[@Leon_der_Luftige]

But Japans counter focussed playstyle is nice to look at when they all explode forward. Rushed but not hectic.

[@clearix1209]

@@bongs26 The funny thing is that the 2014 squad had some worse players on the bench, for example. B in contrast to 2010 in Germany

[@kkm969]

Around the World Cup 2014, Germany literally had a substitution for a substitution. They were a wrecking ball to play with.

[@mrmagpiepromotions]

I absolutely agree with Schweinsteiger. I always saw the German team as having technical ability but their physicality and mentality were most important, they were an absolute machine. They started to drop off when the focus shifted to nice possession football. You watch them hold possession and play the ball around nicely but you don't feel like they're this unrelenting force like they were when i was a kid in the 90s.

[@senorpython2262]

The problem is they did not prepare for the future after 2014.

[@R.MadridMessi-Cr7Barca]

They won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017 (last edition)..after that downfall seems to start

[@andreacaprotti7544]

One can recognise the exact same trajectory Italy went through after the 2006 World Cup: a steady but inevitable decline as the experienced group the word cup retired, underwhelming results and inability to integrate the new generation of players, in a way Italy still hasn’t fully recovered

[@senorpython2262]

@@andreacaprotti7544 Wow that is a really good point that flew over my head.

[@ehrenamtistso]

I think most nations (maybe except current generation of France) have to decide: keep playing a core that is in their prime, so your chances of winning something are the best. The downside is, when the old core leaves the team, the new team has to be rebuilt. Like Italy in 2006, Germany in 2014, or even Spain after 2012. If you win trophies it's clearly worth it, I think.

[@senorpython2262]

@@ehrenamtistso This also can apply to club level in some regard like the Inter-Milan Squad that won the treble in the 09-10 season.

[@amatornoctis9089]

In 2014 Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Klose, Mertesacker, Podolski, etc. were grown Men - not only in terms of age but in terms of character, leadership, mentality. In the current squad I can't name one single player who I believe can lead this team when it's playing in a knockout game and they're down 0-2. Whenever it gets tough this team collapses because they don't have grown men like Schweini or Lahm who always maintained composure and self esteem even in tough situations. Julian Brandt always to late to team meetings. Kimmich crying and complaining all the time, Havertz critizising the Fans for not being supportive when the team is a disgrace for germany, Rüdiger not running back against Japan and letting them score easily, Emre Can losing the ball under pressure. You don't win tournaments with those kind of human beings.

[@srijanpandey5238]

Underrated aspect of things that doesn't get talked about enough.

[@Festus034]

thats not true we still have leaders like muller, nueur, kimmich, Gündoğan, can ,rues and hummels we have plenty of leaders in this team

[@lonestarr1490]

@@Festus034 Kimmich is not a leader. On a football pitch you have to lead by example, not by yelling and pouting. And definitely not by insisting on being a No. 6 while you so clearly aren't.

[@Festus034]

@@lonestarr1490 I agree I don’t think he’s a 6 and everything thinks he is just because of his name but everyone has a different way to lead Gündoğan and kimmich are very different but they still lead by example the player do look at him in the German team and for Bayern

[@Atite_Lometen]

So they are missing leaders in their squad, being a grown man has nothing to do with it. You can be any age and show leadership and character.

[@ProjetBigorneau]

As a French national team supporter who endured the lows of the Domenech era (culminating in the disastrous 2010 Word Cup), I can only say that nothing is as hopeless as it seems and great football nations always come back.

[@clubeyxander5132]

So true!

[@Passportbros8]

I'm a black man. i feel disappointed when my brothers play for European nations. i see them as traitors. from my point of view. The German national team of 2014 had little to no black players. the only black player was Boateng. but i believe that the german national team should be played by ethnic Germans. i have no respect for any black man who plays for a european nation and rejects their ancestoral homeland in the continent so called africa. the biblical promised land. the land of canaan which is in the continent so called africa. the biblical 12 tribes of isreal. the Bantu people in western, central, south, east, of the continent so called africa.

[@MarcGrafZahl]

@@Passportbros8 I don't agree at all. Take Leroy Sané, for example. Right, his father is from Senegal. But Leroy was born in Germany by a German mother, grew up in Germany, learned how to play football in Germany, lived all his life in Germany (minus 4 years he played for Manchester City and lived in England). So why should he play for his father's home country if he has never lived there?

[@alexzero3736]

Well, Italy went the same path. But did they come back? Only partially.

[@yoshuareynaldo2295]

I found the 'no specialist regeneration' argument really compelling. This is exactly the same as Argentina's failure in 2010-22. Their team was filled with superstars, but most of them were AMFs and Forwards. Now Germany is especially weak on the wings. You could see Japan in WC loved to attack Sule's side of defence. Imagine Sule, Gosens, and Raum go against the likes of Saka and Grealish, it will be very fun to watch lol.

[@lonestarr1490]

Yes, that's a huge issue in how the next generation was or is being trained. The idea was to transition to a style of playing more like that of Spain, with many short passes, positional fluidity, etc. That was seen as the football of the future at the time (and why not, in the years in question Spain was winning basically everything). But by setting the focus on the skillsets most suitable to that style, they ended up training basically just attacking midfielders and nothing else. Especially large and physically strong players fell through the cracks.

[@otto_jk]

Argentina failed in 2010 because Maradona was a terrible manager who left treble winners Zanetti and Cambiasso out of his squad and Benched Walter Samuel their best CB.

[@NinjaDemon84]

you mean Germany is weak at Fullbacks, when you say wings you would mean Germany's winger which they are fine in. They lack is defence with Rudiger the obly world class CB, No real good fullbacks, Klosterman is decent, Schlotterbeck on the young side still has potential, Sule is incosistent and deffenatily should not play at RB. No ST/CF either, Timo Werner is ok but not clinical enough or traditionl ST/CF. Fulkrug is decent but on the older side and not world class and is more of a stop gap.

[@doncorleole2356]

Is refrase that a bit, German wings, attacking and central midfield are arguably the best in the world. But at Center back we have some quite error prone players that theoretically are great, but lack consistently. Our fullbacks are a joke, defensive midfield wise we don’t have any world class players, same with Center forward (and I say that although I absolutely love Füllkrug)

[@NinjaDemon84]

@doncorleole2356 Fulkrug is great I do like him and can do good but not World class and the fact he is like in his 30s I think shows he may not be around for long. Fullbacks for sure lacking, CBs I agree outside of Rudiger who is World Class, the others are also good but lack consistency as you said and are error prone. CDMs again lacking, I think Goretzka could do a great job but feel like he wants to be more of a box to box rather then a traditional CDM and apart from him there is definitely something missing there

[@ExileOnDaytonStreet]

It's not just the World Cup and Euro victories that had made Germany so impressive. From 1954 through 2014, over the span of SIXTEEN World Cups... the Germans went to at least the semifinals in all but FOUR of them. And even in those four "failures", they never finished lower than 7th in the overall standings (three QF losses and finishing 3rd in the 'second group stage' in the curious format of the 1978 WC). Their record in the Euros isn't quite as impressive, but was still pretty amazing even beyond the titles. From 1972 through 2016 (12 tournaments), they were either finalists or won third place in NINE of them. The three "early" exits were all in the group stage (albeit one of which was in 1984 when the tournament field was small enough that they technically finished 5th). That's genuinely astounding.

[@SuperRavensfan101]

Not to take away from the video at large but also Fifa's rankings are understandably respected because they're used to decide certain tournament seeding but at the same time, Ranking Mexico above Germany and as high as 12th is definitely.... a choice considering how poor both international teams have been over the past few years

[@AdamOBrien29]

Fifa's rankings have never been respected. Belgium were in top three for years lol

[@McRusen]

It's not a choice though, it's an ELO system. :) I haven't followed Mexico, but if they won against higher-class teams or had a streak against mid-tier teams, they earned their spot. Meanwhile, Germany has had a very poor streak over the past few years, especially against teams very far down the list, so DE, in turn, lost a lot of points. Definitely not top10 in its current form.

[@Marqk-]

I was also thinking what planet does USA beat Germany

[@geox8485]

@@Marqk-Honestly, in Germanys current form I think even the USA would dominate them. Germanys only notable win recently is against France and that was their B-Team. Aside from that Germany has been losing to mid tier teams all throughout 2023.

[@prithvirajsrinivasan1077]

Germany's ranking outside top 10 is pretty much justified given their run in the last 8 years. Their second WC exit in a row just pushed them down further.

[@Davyzzz]

The impact Pep Guardiola has had on football is immense.

[@walruuus4179]

I still find it wild how hamburg went from big three to being in the second division

[@Giooseb]

us too :(

[@doncorleole2356]

Big 3? In the 80s maybe

[@basedgod4807]

Schalke is more surprising to me. Never really watched Bundesliga back then but I remember them always being up there in the league and consistently in the Champions Leaguee. Just seen recently they got relegated I couldn’t believe it. That should be a video in itself.

[@hungnguyenkhanh9008]

As a Hamburg fan, I can only say we made the way to the Zweite Liga ourselves by terrible management. Before 2021, we incurred losses in 10 consecutive years from 2010, combining with chaos & power struggle at the Board of Management, repeated managerial changes (we had 18 coaches in a space of just 10 years), and the leak of talented players (Boateng, Son, Calhanoglu) but with no adequate replacements and millions of money being thrown into flop transfers. Tradition, large fanbase, the representing face of Hamburg - one of the richest states in Germany… we have it all, but we are just too big for our own good. Fortunately, the new board and the new sports director Jonas Boldt has been driving us in the right direction in recent years based on the recruitment of young players. Our financial status have also been improved, and after years of lacked consistency and continuity due to the constant coach changes, head coach Tim Walter has brought us the football identity we needed in his past 2 and half seasons at the club. Hopefully we will finally make it back to the Bundesliga at some point, or even this season.

[@tshepomooko5966]

I always used to think of German football as a well-oiled machine where the whole is better than than the parts. It feels like that changed in the years prior. I feel like Germany is going through what Brazil was (is) going through when they also started playing very European football.

[@SVEte100]

Great video as always. Great timing also. The DFB (namely youth sporting director Hannes Wolf) launched a reform of the german youth system in the last weeks, to address the issues you mentioned in the video for the next generation. They are promoting a new youth training philosophy with the focus on A LOT of short small sided games. They want to greatly increase time with the ball, shots on goal and the number of 1-on-1-duels in crucial areas for every kid. It won't help for the next EUROs, but I think in 5 to 10 years we will have a much bigger pool of top talents in every position available again.

[@orangetweleve]

I think Germans are great with fundamentals and technicality but lacks talent as for goalscoring, that’s their biggest problem, sure hard work will outperform talent but when talent gets provided the same fundamentals & techniques + hard work, there’s no competition. When was the last world class talented players that Germany produced? Some did ignited but went out rather quick like Götze

[@gamerdrache6076]

@@orangetweleve Wirtz

[@clubeyxander5132]

That's exactly what the Spaniards and the French have been doing for the last decade or two. I think it will work to develop new talent on the offensive side, but defense, not so much. It also doesn't help to grow a team spirit, either. The DFB hasn't yet acknowledged that their pampering to every need of their future star players at such a young age is preventing them from maturing as humans, and that's another basic problem, I think. Pampering children and teenagers never hardens them.

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

I love these new ideas.

[@TWOMUFC]

Make a video on : *What's wrong with Tifo Basketball 🏀?*

[@exiledskunk5046]

Personally i was worried about the day klose would retire. Not that i had some deep insights but it seemed clear to me that the team was better with him than Mario Gomez or whoever else was playing. Klose not playing filled me with dread, and the fact i felt we desperately needed him in 2014 filled me with even more dread since it was his last world cup.

[@MotorJan289]

I always had the feeling that the Team lacked of mentality. Thats why many Germans see the new Manager Nagelsmann who is known for beeing a Tactic Manager, as a difficult choice. But the Assistant Coach Sandro Wagner has more emotional abilities. So the combination could work.

[@majormononoke8958]

lol, Sandro Wagner? What does he bring to the table i wonder. I mean he certainly great at putting himself into the picture as we have seen many times.

[@PeacePetal]

Every great country takes a couple of decades off. Argentina from 1993 to 2021, Brazil from 2002 until now. Italy has also been looking shaky, but the hour of France seems to have arrived, and Argentina is back on form. This just seems to be how it works.

[@fistofren3483]

Well, this video leaves out an also very strong point in my opinion: the attitude of our current players. I mean even if we don't have world class players at the back and up front it still should be enough to hold up, with any respect, against teams like Colombia, Japan, Ukraine etc. That's a topic not even mentioned in this video. How did we beat France in our last match? Because we used our potential.

[@McRusen]

As we've seen in the Bundesliga in more recent years, it can have a huge positive impact to not choose "the best" players (the ones with the most skill) every time, but to choose players that fit the team, the strategy and the mentality. That are willing to run extra steps for their *team* mates. Löw somehow seemed to miss this later on, while Flick also seemed to struggle to even get everyone behind a common goal recently. Both also seemed to nominate a few players just because they liked them? As head coaches don't only train and motivate the team but also choose its members in the first place, I think that some mistakes have been done on this front as well. Not sure if Nagelsmann and his team will be able to change these team dynamics, but I sure hope so. :)

[@clubeyxander5132]

As I've said in another comment here, the sole reason why Germany lost to Japan was because of their gross underestimation of Japan. This runs very deep in the German psyche and maybe it's more difficult to correct than most people think because Germany has been so good for so long and countries like Japan has been so bad for so long. The reasons for the recent victory against France are: 1) The French team was in reality their B team, 2) The Germans had learned their lesson in their loss against Japan and had humbled up, and 3) Germans find it easier to not look down on France compared to countries like Japan. So you're right. Germany shouldn't have lost to Japan even once, let alone twice. They have better players, period. But the irony is that as long as you people have such a mentality, nightmares will recur. So the attitude must change. Knowing you're the better side is one thing, underestimating your opponents and failing to make good preparation is another story. And being a team, you must function as a team. This was one aspect the Japanese team was better than Germany at. We Japanese have always looked up to German football, so winning against Germany was unbelievably satisfying, but at the same time bitter sweet as well.

[@ft9kop]

The false 9 destroyed career prospects for natural 9, so naturally those players trained in other positions

[@mattsmith4589]

As an American Miroslav Klose and Mario Mandzukic is the last legitimate Strikers I’ve known for Germany that were legit. I’m 29 and the only name that has been mentioned besides those 2 is Fullkrug and he is already 30 his career is over in regards to being a future for German Football

[@Chinaziland]

the latter is Croatian

[@TK_Brainslug]

I new something bad is going to happen, when I saw that Bayern Munich was going for players from other countries instead of raiding our own league. Bayern was was always the backbone of the national team. But its not just normal national team the U21 and the women also bottled it. Both squads runs ended after their group stages.

[@md.abdullaalwailykhanchowd3974]

I've been a Germany fan since 2006 when i was just 7. While seeing Germany play in 2017 to current time, I can't recognize the team, not because of the transition, but because of the total play style.

[@whufc-essex]

Imagine glory hunting a national team 🤡

[@OMIMreacts]

?@@whufc-essex

[@munaali840]

@@whufc-essex a lot of people choose to support a national team if their nation doesnt qualify, some like a style of play some like the nation etc

[@K4m1K4tz3]

I'm from germany and I must say that the National Team lost me entirely after 2014. For me there is no player I can identify with anymore and most of them I even find extremely unlikable

[@clubeyxander5132]

Can I ask why? To me, you seem to have a lot of talent on your team. I'm even envious.

[@K4m1K4tz3]

@@clubeyxander5132 there are some points. First of all the most of the players come from Bayern München, which is the second most hated team in germany after Leipzig. I just can't wrap my head around supporting them every 2 years just because it's the national team. Then there is literal corruption inside the DFB. Beckenbauer bribing people to get the WC 2006, Grindel taking an expensive Watch as a bribe, etc. Marketing stunts went bad either, I hated this "Die Mannschaft" stuff. Our womens team is great though.

[@clubeyxander5132]

@@K4m1K4tz3 Thank you for your reply. it seems like there's a lot one can't see outside of a country. Bayern München is surprising popular among Japanese football fans, so I kind of automatically assumed that they were popular in their homeland, too. How wrong was I! Most people in Japan respect Germans so much that we usually don't think there is any major corruption in your society. I guess that was wrong, too. Well, in any case, most of us still don't think we're better than the German national team, but we are very proud we got two victories from a football powerhouse that we've been looking up to for so long. Thanks again, and wish you and your future national team well. :)

[@K4m1K4tz3]

@@clubeyxander5132 I'm glad I could clear some things up. I might add, that Bayern München is also the most popular club in germany. It's a really polarizing club. But I also think the national team should perform better. The players ARE incredibly talented. Maybe it has to do with many germans not caring for the team. Kai Havertz even said something like they feld left alone and without support.

[@clubeyxander5132]

@@K4m1K4tz3 It's so sad that players feel isolated and at the same time the people feel detached from their own national team. Maybe the players ought to show more enthusiasm playing for the team, maybe the fans ought to show more enthusiasm rooting for their team, I don't know. When things aren't going well, showing unconditional love to each other can help. In Major League Baseball (in America), there's a team called the Philadelphia Phillies. One of their star players, Trea Turner, fell into the worst slump of his career, and his fans booed him severely. Trea continued to ill perform until he hit rock bottom. Then, one day, one fan called out to other fans through his fan vlog to give Trea a standing ovation every time he bats, instead of booing him. From the next day, the fans gave Trea a standing ovation every time he batted, and cheered from him at every play he made. Suddenly, Trea's performance improved drastically, and now, he is in his zone again. Trea in return built billboards all over Philadelphia thanking the fans. Now, both Trea and his fans all look happier than ever. I know, it sounds like fairy tale, and it's probably just a coincidence, but sometimes a little bit of encouragement can cheer up the hardest of men. In the second game against Japan, the German players seemed very discouraged and disheartened while still playing the game, something I had never seen in the German national team of the past. My opinion is that European and South American players should show more dedication to their national team than concentrating to earn a larger contract, but there's so little a fan can do. When I was a child (that's a very long time ago), my favorite team in the World Cup was always West Germany, and my favorite players were Rummenige and Shumacher. Japan wasn't my favorite because we couldn't even qualify! In those days, the Bundesliga was the only league televised in Japan. That love still remains in my heart, so it makes me extremely sad to see the German team of today. Well, I'll be cheering for the German team to come back to their senses from far away, in Japan. I hope you people the very best!

[@mattweiss7645]

Or maybe, Football, especially in Europe, is just really hard and cyclical. Germany is not the 1st and won't be the last to go through a period of struggles. France and Italy have seen similar issues. And let's not forget Das Reboot. Germany will find great players again and be great again.

[@MummyNapkin970]

Yes, but. Germany has the players. They have a new generation of talent, that - while lacking in some positions - should be performing much better. Not wining the WC, but also not being winless against Ukraine, Poland, Japan, etc. Also, while you're right that almost all nations go through these cycles of failure and reinventing, the unique thing about Germany was always that they were sort of always good (besides the early 2000s). Just look at the amount of semi finals appearances or WC final losses. Germany's consistency over the history of football was what set them apart. This is what has been lost recently. And while it sounds silly but not being among the title favorites literally every tournament has caused a major identity crisis in german football

[@chigeryelam4061]

I think also it's quite common for dominant teams/companies/countries to become complacent and arrogant and so miss the fact that over time others have caught up and over taken them. They don't notice until it is too late that what was good enough before is no longer good enough. Perhaps Germany is in that position right now.

[@clubeyxander5132]

At least, in my opinion, that's the reason why they lost to Japan twice in a row.

[@bentn13]

Benfica trains its youth teams to be versatile, every player must have learned three positions coming up the ranks, still in the last decade there's specialist graduates like Ruben Dias, Antonio Silva and Gonçalo Ramos...even Florentino Luis is a specialist in the midfield.

[@Ese96Agoaye]

The women's team is also suffering a slump, having been dumped out of the World Cup at the group stage. When I was young, they were powerhouses, having won back-to-back World Cups in the 2000s, as well as winning the Euros multiple times, but haven't enjoyed success since winning Olympic gold in 2016 (or, if you don't count that, the Euros in 2013).

[@miche1df]

This might be a hot take but having a single club completely take over your domestic league and hoover up any and all good prospects that come out of the other clubs might be kind of a toxic influence on your national pool.

[@davinnicode]

This is true. Germany were always brilliant when there at least two domestic clubs actually competing with each other at the top. Just out of my head I think about the Bayern vs Gladbach days and the Bayern vs Dortmund rivalry

[@fernweh123]

Which is extremely sad, because not one team has either the financial means nor the moxie to fight for it (expect for union, but being first timers in the champions league makes it a bit difficult)

[@jeronjoseph5691]

to be honest last season was pretty competitive and dortmund bottled it so cheaply…maybe even this season could be…there r a lot of teams with immense potential lik stuttgart, leverkusen and even gladbach with seone at the helm.

[@dagaukrust5585]

Thats not really true. Most of the big players goes to the premier league. Its not like Bayern are doing something that dosent happen in other leagues either

[@Wolfgangsson]

not Bayerns fault. BVB was sipmly not able to find great talent as they were before

[@BayernSupremacy]

If you compare their matches from 2010 and 2023, the difference is clear. In 2010, they ruthlessly kept attacking no matter how strong the opponent is but now, they just pass the ball to the centre backs who give it to the opponent. Also, the goalkeeper rushes out of the goal to save it but no, he can't save it... probably they should now understand that everyone isn't Manuel Neuer.

[@kaikefernandes6413]

You could make a video about what happened with the Brazilian national team after the 2002 World Cup, and their consecutive failures in world cups

[@joseeduardogarciadiaz7800]

They Will be World champions in 2026 with ancelotti

[@sebastianstammer9265]

2010 a lack of proper atacking players, 2014 proper depth in key areas, no leader aside from thiago silva and no magic aside from Neymar. 2018 and 2022 no FB.

[@shifty277]

Loving the 60FPS video change! Thumbs up.

[@martinwinter615]

The problem was that in German efficiency the German youth development was clearly structured efficiently but also with this efficiency included the flaws which now resulted in the missing specialists in key roles and a deficiency in athletic cause training is in this part not fit to the individual but as team training.

[@asbgaming2568]

I have to say (and this is a wild theory) but the ageing population is also playing a huge role in this, the fact that not many people had kids during the 90s-2000s is now reflecting in how low our talent pool is after the Kimmich and Co gen...

[@AdithyaRA26]

Keeping it simple, Germany needs goals and a proper CF/ST who is an all rounder - can hold up the ball, make smart runs, positioning, link up play, etc. The likes of Gerd Muller, Klose, Thomas Muller have been excellent over the years. Now it's Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and more younger converted wingers play in that position which makes a huge difference. And yes, industrious football is missing, now every top team plays tiki taka or play out from GK

[@fernweh123]

Timo Werner makes me sad. Confidence gone from moving to Chelsea, being really injury prone. I want him to succeed damn it!

[@tahsin6892]

Im really glad someone came up with this video

[@thorebergmann1986]

Many already commented on this... but you summarized it well 👏

[@dylanparker130]

I can't easily imagine that there was a "furious reaction to the team not wearing the One Love arm band". Perhaps from journalists, but I doubt that fans clutched their pearls over it.

[@smonge98]

It just seems like our decision makers are always behind the curve. In ‘10/‘12 Löw was still trying to play football like it’s ‘02 or ‘06, while Klopp was already tearing apart the league with his gegenpresse. Even in ‘14 Löw was still fanboying Peps Barcelona tiki taka/false 9 untill after the Algeria game, while pep himself had already left that behind and adapted to new playing styles.

[@KhapriSun]

the issue also feels like one across the board in thw world of football. lack of world class centre forwards, football culture, the way the game is played etc. it's a strange one

[@StepBaum]

I think you pretty much hit the nail on its head. Good job :)

[@rubberroast1598]

In both 2018 and 2022 World Cup Germany dominated every game, but just couldn't score the goals. especially 2018 the chances they had compared to every opponent was huge, yet they couldn't score against Mexico or South Korea. Then 2022 they lost to Japan, and then only tied against Spain , which meant their win against Costa Rica was irrelevant. Japan somehow beat both Spain and Germany through some freak late stuff (2 surprise goals on Germany , and that fraction of millimetre over goal line score on Spain. Germany truly should have been to playoffs in both those world cups.

[@gamerdrache6076]

Germany had most x goals by far in the 2022 world cup they just can't score them

[@clubeyxander5132]

Your comment exactly shows why Spain and Germany lost to Japan in Qatar. On another note, your comment is confusing because the last time I checked, football was a game where the team which scored the most points won, and not the team who possessed the ball more. Ifs and buts don't win games, either. One last thing. Your theory of freak losses doesn't explain Germany's recent loss to Japan. In that game, Japan dominated in every aspect of the game. There must've been other reasons.

[@rubberroast1598]

@@clubeyxander5132 Yes that last Japan blowout was a head scratcher. Maybe after 2018 and 2022 its in their heads now and they no longer have a mental confidence that basically all German teams had in the past 100 years

[@majormononoke8958]

It is because Japan has a system that focus on the advantage of the 5 subs player, they are one of the teams that run the most and defend until a certain minute grinding the game. Than when the mass of subs come on they destroy the opposition. They also invest massively into fast players advantage with some volume for the whole game.

[@ERICTENHAG56]

​@@clubeyxander5132because of hansi flick

[@mrcx6142]

One of the reasons in short: They failed because they held onto the past instead of looking to prepare for the future. Holding onto Löw for years after he'd hit his expiry date, driven by a misinterpreted "He did so much for us, we can't let him go". And it's the same for a lot of the playerbase and, honestly, lack of proper integration/squadbuilding as newer players came. The "old guard" was relied upon until they were no more and what remained was chaos. Players like Neuer were held onto for way too long and their word was given too much weight to the point of them becoming a disruption.

[@majormononoke8958]

Lol, sorry but Neuer wasnt per se the problem. He has allways been better in the National team than Ter Stegen. Though we could argue about hunger for players like him and others. Ter Stegen has been much better than Neuer in the last years before Neuers Injury, but when he is in the national team he isnt on the same level as in Barca.

[@ezraezra2928]

German Football Results in Last 5 Years: 1.Men's National Team: 2 World Cup group stage exits (2018 and 2022) and Euro 2020 Round of 16 (You said the quarterfinals, which is a big mistake). 2.Youth Levels: Euro U-21 2023 group stage exit (It's disappointing because they were the reigning champions). 3.European Club Competitions: German clubs didn't win the Champions League since 2020. The women's version was even worse. Their most recent win was 2015 (Frankfurt). 4.Women's National Team: 2023 Women's World Cup group stage exit. Also, Bayern Munich was an obvious reason German Football is dead. They farmed the Bundesliga since 2013.

[@johnnylangen2839]

Less People in Germany have the German Soul and Spirit, which is what made them Succesfull. Always believing in the Win and fighting together as a Team while being smarter than the Others are what made Germany strong.

[@TheMixCurator]

Germany also had a large down turn after the Euro 96 win. Played poorly in the 2000 Euros (with a poor team) and had one of the easiest runs to the 2002 WC final. That period after that, when they were going to host the next WC Germany seemed to focus on youth / academy set ups and its probably that change that led them to the 2014 victory (Progress was seen in the 2012 Euros, where they lost to Italy in the semis). Also think that the domestic league needs improving, especially those trying to challenge Bayern. Also the struggles of Hamburg and Schalke haven't helped.

[@JakeStevyson]

the problem is that Bundesliga would didn't have other teams have a good management and signings in particular. some are blaming the 50+1 rule or Bayern being monopolizing the league.

[@gabrielmanera4555]

I always thought the same as Schweinsteiger, the were losing the identity when Guardiola took Bayern Munich, that's why they succeed to win back the champions League after he left. The problem it's that the damage was already done, like it or not Bayern Munich was always the structure of the Mannschaft. Obviously as the video say it was one of the reasons of the present of Germany's national team

[@anandam1]

They just won once and that was in 2020 when only 1 leg was played for all rounds

[@gabrielmanera4555]

@@anandam1 still they won it but with Guardiola they didn't 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@hitthurdeaux]

@@anandam1 Should also be noted that Bayern 19-20 was quite a departure from the possession heavy 4-3-3 Spanish-style of football that the Germans first looked up to and tried to copy, then went into overdrive when Guardiola came over. Bayern 19-20 pressed maniacally but was very direct with their playstyle.

[@sebastianstammer9265]

@@hitthurdeaux the german way, constant press, and ruthless atack.

[@jimmycrackcorn99]

In my opinion many teams have figured out how to play a successful low block and counter style of play. It's the natural defensive reaction to possession soccer

[@ksidhartha]

Love how the ball at 0:33 intro loses its air as a symbolic to German Football from powerhouse to average team.

[@justdecons7961]

Why are German coaches not being able to deliver good results anymore?

[@atulrcks]

Lack of strikers is the main problem , till 2014 they had players like Miroslav Klose , Mario Gomez , now timo Werner is not up to the mark

[@vincentmartino9122]

@@atulrcksand didn’t play Fullkrug at the World Cup absolute disgrace best German striker in the league and his only chance to break into the World Cup side and wasn’t used.

[@emymagkuchen]

​@@vincentmartino9122surely fielding havertz as a lone striker must work on the 4749383rd try

[@ppoison44]

if Germany only had one great striker like Klinsmann in the actual squad, this video would not be made, the problem is clearly being weak in front of the goal despite billions of chances

[@noreturn2231]

nah, the problem offensively is being infront of goal all the time and not being able to find openings to actually score. There have been a lot of games in recent time where germany was sieging the opponents goal and then simply just did nothing. The only person you could count on to create something was a 20 year old Musiala that tried to dribble his way through. For the rest it was just pass after pass after pass. And then getting counter attacked and conceding. The game against Japan was prime example of this.

[@Passportbros8]

I'm a black man. i feel disappointed when my brothers play for European nations. i see them as traitors. from my point of view. The German national team of 2014 had little to no black players. the only black player was Boateng. but i believe that the german national team should be played by ethnic Germans. i have no respect for any black man who plays for a european nation and rejects their ancestoral homeland in the continent so called africa. the biblical promised land. the land of canaan which is in the continent so called africa. the biblical 12 tribes of isreal. the Bantu people in western, central, south, east, of the continent so called africa.

[@StriderDSC]

They're the epitome of Frankenstein's monster. The top talent they have all play in possession based, pressing styles, usually with a back 4 (which they do not have a full starting XI of), while all the "depth" players often play in counter attacking teams setup with a 3ATB. This is the problem that Low and Flick could not solve. They could not find a way to utilize either group properly, often times trying to crowbar players better suited to a back 3 (FB, Gosens, Raum, Weiser, etc. and CB's like Rudiger, Sule, Hummels, etc.) to compliment the top talent that only plays with a back 4. You saw the end results. Schweinsteiger's comments may be hard to quantify, and perhaps he's right that a "return to first principles" might be the way forward, but Nagelsmann now has to sort out this same problem and it'll be interesting to see how he does.

[@horiamarin8213]

Not to discredit what has been said in the video, because the points made here are immense, but I think that the drop in the Fifa rankings also has to do with the fact that Germany hasn't played any qualifiers for this tournament and only competed in friendly games. It also happened to France prior to the 2016 Euros

[@chewjinghong]

USA above Germany in world ranking is wild . 😂😂😂😂 WTF

[@prithvirajsrinivasan1077]

Not the first time the West overpowered the Germans. cough cough 19th century.

[@kidpagronprimsank05]

Problem for German mainly is as video said, some more old school position like centre forward, and later entire defense. At least they produced good GKs and midfielders. Also, head coach didnt change how the team played. Both Low and Flick still more or less played more or less old tactics without required players

[@deanrwatson]

This was a problem, rooted in the early 1990s, when Beckenbauer, famously said in a conference post World Cup (you can google it) that Germany would be fine, with the influx of footballers from East Germany, post reunification. This was like saying if we double the buying of Lottery tickets we will win. There was no road map. This was partially corrected with Klinsmann post 2004, but with onus on Youth development coupled with offensive play, to the detriment of defense and other factors. In a limited League, with the best teams arguably only ever Bayern Munich Plus One Other (in the past normally Dortmund). If they have for instance, a sole striker position, and for best part of a decade and a half those positions are dominated by a Klose, Lewandowski or an Aubameyang, the system stalls as no players have a high level pathway to improve. The same occurred in defense. In other positions, to a lesser degree, same issues, Goalkeepers have to move abroad, to La Liga or Premier League. Like wise for Defenders and attacking forwards such as Sane. Midfielders, to Lique 1, La Liga and Premier League. The lack of a clear ethos for the game as a whole, and a limited pathway for youth products that don't fit the needs of the top one or two teams in the Bundesliga, have long been an issue that needs to be properly addressed.

[@alexzero3736]

You mean that national team shouldn't be dominanted by experienced players?

[@deanrwatson]

No, I am saying there is no clear path for those experienced players, to be shadowed, supported and eventually replaced by talented younger players, in most of the key positions, simply because they are not coming through the youth ranks and/or are then not getting adequate experience at (high enough) Club level. The older players then "age" out and there is no one, ready to take up the mantle. I think for instance, Klose was never replaced, Hummels had no successor, Lahm had no one following him, who is there that will follow Neuer? Not saying that under the right Manager the National Team won't get one last decent tournament. I am merely pointing at a longer time frame and bigger picture.@@alexzero3736

[@WilsonJimenez]

Is this video in a higher fps? It was really nice and smooth.

[@pjoazure]

As a German football fan, the reasons for the recent terrible performances at World Cups are pretty simple: Bad defense and bad philosophy of play. The defense is mostly an individual problem paired wih missing understanding between the players. We have no current world class defenders (maybe Rüdiger but I even see him blundering at Real) and the defense was rarely properly organized. Löw and Flick kept insisting on intense possession focused play but weren't concerned enough to think what to do when you lose the ball and get counter-attacked. And IF you want to play a style based on absolute control of the situation, you need a strong 6. We didn't use that either. Khedira was leaving his prime, Kimmich's and Gündogan's strengths have always been in offense. Like Tifo was implying, Germany has talented players but currently those are mostly concentrated around the CM and OM positions. Offensive swiss army knives but nothing more. You win the big titles with a great defense, not just a great offense. Sometimes it needs to be enough to win with one goal only.

[@ivanmcgann1989]

I'd argue the Bundesliga becoming one of the least competitive leagues in Europe has also not helped. Bayern seem to win it every year even when they play badly & the good players tend to leave the league or go to Bayern. Nowhere else feels like a destination only a step to your next move. Dortmund will probably never have another Marco Reus who turned down moves to stay.

[@shantshafwhaanjulius]

As soon as I saw DW Kick off soeak about the German downfall I just knew Tifo would make a video too, back to those days of Bundesliga 🤝 Tifo videos

[@BlackGriffin]

This video illustrates the issue very well, look at 5:56 They are playing with only 10 men!

[@Upthechels423]

Bayern signing more foreigners and Germany = Bayern basically haha

[@skjana06]

Agreed

[@shaqtaku]

bayern has more french players now than german players

[@lwandomadikizela2213]

Germany has problems at striker since Klose retired and their once formidable defense is now leaking goals for fun. The striker problems I've forseen long before the 2014 World Cup since they haven't had any striker that is consistent with Germany for years and the problem further got bigger since Klose left. Werner hasn't been clinical at all. Yes he can score goals but he's never a clinical finisher throughout his career. Havertz is #10 and cannot play as a striker and false 9 since he lacks the technical and tactical understanding of those roles. Then there's the decline of the Bundesliga since Bayern Munich has one it for 11 straight years and their rivals can't keep up with them. Many Germans are from the Bundesliga and 50% are mostly playing for Bayern Munich while the rest are playing for mid table clubs or some decent clubs like Dortmund, Leipzig and Leverkusen. When the only decent striker in Germany is a 30 year old Niklas Fullkrug then no shocker why Germany are struggling to score. The defense lacks leadership and the grit required to prevent conceding goals. Yes football has evolved to be more faster and more tactical flexible however the grit and hardwork is slowly eroding and the defense is the last thing to lose the grit and hardwork. Germany at next year's Euro have to put a decent performance for their fans to gain the believe and confidence. While I don't expect them to go all the way at this current moment but they can't afford to embarrass their compatriots in front of the world. Anything but a good showing will further cement why Germany are in the rut.

[@prsancho]

It feels like they need someone like Fernando Diniz as their coach. Diniz’ approach would fit in a side full with mobile technical players.

[@bernalshawn39]

It wasn't the quarterfinals at the Euro 2020. It was the Round of 16

[@aldomeylano9278]

Time for me to blame Bayern Munchen constantly winning the Bundesliga as a reason why German Football has been experiencing a sharp decline 👀👀

[@dzemilmehovic5271]

Bayern dominating aint reason Germany hasnt had proper 9 since Klose or real destroyer CDM since Schweinsteiger and Kramer, or that half German players now are divas and not leaders like literally everyone in DFB 10 yrs ago was

[@enoughahnaf]

Playing the moral card and focusing on the wrong things when they're probably one of the bloodiest countries to exist doesn't exactly help them either...

[@changhaizhu7854]

Hopefully teams like Germany & Italy can have better performance in 2026 WC in USA.

[@foo1261]

Great video and analysis! Though, the 64% drop in viewership was mainly due to the worldcup 2022 being held in Qatar. This was received very badly in Germany, since we value authenticity, as you described in your video.

[@haristaletovic2703]

Everything started falling after the shameful treatment of the Mesut Ozil!

[@johnnybravo9096]

You are mixing correlation with causation.

[@quantado9411]

They are punished for how they treated goat ozil

[@luciferl2003]

it has nothing to do with germany downfall because with ozil germany grouped in 2018

[@Delboy0]

My theory is Bayern have massively weakened German football on all levels. Bayerns policy of the last 12 years of buying all the best German players means fewer German stars play in the better leagues of the Premier League and La Liga, which means they don’t get used to playing top quality players every week and raise their. Bayern have stagnated so many potentially great German players by locking them into the lower quality Bundesliga and them not developing much because playing for Bayern in the Bundesliga is too easy, like Goretzska, Goetze, Hummels, Sule, Sane and Kimmich too. In the 1980s and 1990s more of the German team played abroad in the best leagues and this raised the level of the German national team. That is why agree with Bastian Schweinsteiger’s criticism that the German national team has too many Bundesliga level players, and not enough Premier League and international class players. Plus Bayern’s dominance means fewer top foreign players want to stay in the Bundesliga very long, so you have a foreign talent drain happening every season, this means the quality of the Bundesliga becomes less and the German players become weaker and not international class players.

[@raz1683]

Nope. Bayern players have massively helped Germany in their dominance. From the 60s up till now. The 2012-13 Bayern team with Dortmund on the rise really helped with their WC run. Their current issue is the DFB is rife with corruption and management has gone down so bad.

[@dzemilmehovic5271]

Bayern isnt reason Germany doesnt have a 9 since Klose, no consistent 1v1 players, leaders like Podolski,Schweini etc

[@divyanshsingh9369]

You're theory is incorrect.

[@christians.1543]

That theory is just wild and all over the place. Talent drain from the Bundesliga mostly happens, because there are just more top flight clubs that don't play in the BL than there are that do. German clubs don't have the financial capabilities or prestige to match the offers of foreign clubs that get money dumped on them by big corporations or even whole states. Idk what it is that you think happened, but Sane got better at Bayern, not worse. Kimmich had one performance-dip this year and was otherwise pretty consistent, Hummels played some of his best years at Bayern and is just not in his prime anymore, Goretzka had some struggles the last season, but you can not really blame Bayern for that (!?) and Götze and Süle had other problems apart from football. Götze struggled with his health and mental health after the worldcup and couldn't handle the big stage for a while, while Süle has lacking self-control regarding fitness and food (still a good player though). Also players like Havertz, Kroos, Rüdiger and Gündogan, while playing abroad at big foreign clubs, always failed to deliver when it comes to the national team in the last years. So that point is kinda bullocks as well. And there are big talents, that left Germany, whos carreers didn't turn out as well, too. (e.g. Draxler, Weigl, Schürrle) I don't say that more competition in german football wouldn't help german football overall, but the problems lie much deeper: -Structural problems with the DFB -No world-class players in key positions -The youth football in Germany mostly encouraging technical, fast players, but pretty much nothing else (therefore lacking strikers and centerbacks) And pretty much most of the stuff mentioned in the video.

[@Delboy0]

@@raz1683 I get it, you Bayern fanboys are very sensitive and will protect the name of your club, but the fact of the matter Bayern have stagnated too many German players who had opportunities to play in bigger and higher quality leagues. I look at Sane and he is nowhere near the quality he was at Man City because at Man City he was playing against international players every week, so it pushed his game to a new level. At Bayern he can play at 30% and win games because the high quality isn’t there and he isn’t pushed to be better. As Boris Becker said, you get better by player against better players. Goetze gave an interview where he said his one career regret is not joining Liverpool when he had the chance because he feels his career would have been better, Liverpool tried to sign Goretzska and Sule and they both joined Bayern instead and look at these players now, they are not international quality. It is not 1960 it is 2023 and the best league in the Premier League and with so few German internationals . England have reverse problems where because the Premier League has so much quality that any English player that plays in regularly is an international class player, which has led to England and Scotland becoming better.

[@sebasmana5798]

Moukoko, Musiala, Schlotterbeck are the future of Getmany

[@ridakesserwan8712]

the german squad was so busy with politics and gender identity that they forgot they're playing football, the *only* thing that matters. I can't agree more with Mesut Ozil and Bastian

[@machsusromadhon6710]

After Philipp Lahm announced of Retirement, I Posted Something on Facebook at that time "in the Next World Cup, Germany is not gonna make it to final"

[@muhammedgamal5871]

Good topic

[@joboee]

I think gathering data and finding talent has been much more accessible since the rise of internet availability for other countries as well. That knowledge gap that was commonly held by the 'power' countries seems to be shrinking

[@cristiandumitrescu1744]

Can you do something also about Italy?

[@matthiasmoser6096]

A nice summary, but I am.missing the inner conflicts (Dortmund vs Leipzig vs Munich) and the failing in the management to handle them.

[@elijahojo1286]

I remember we used to call them German Machines, they work so hard for 90 mins+ they could run and press all day and never get tired, they were also very ruthless. now I don't recognize them again.

[@Goreus]

While Flick was the first head coach to be fired ever, others wo left abruptly basically just were one step ahead and resigned.

[@maganomar292]

As an aside would love a video about the drama the USMNT has been dealing with this past year

[@muhamadrizkyramadhan7449]

Germany known for its Team Effort, they don't have that superstar or stardom player in their squad but they have really solid and packed players yet they still play as a Team not as an Individual. But the transition between senior and junior players it's not that smooth especially the retirement announcement, in the other hand said by DW that Germany FA lack of individual player because they always play football as a team unlike France who has Mbappe or Coman, or maybe Brazil with Neymar. It's pretty concerning and it's unbelievable how 2014 WC winner can be stunned in just no more than 10 years period.

[@orclibrarian8659]

Actually it's not so a problem of the lack of defenders or a striker, it's more the lack of a certain structure with the systems Löw & Flick wanted to play (3 defenders and 2 wide midfielders/defenders). We just don't play this system in Bundesliga except for 3 or 4 teams, and it's a different thing to exactly build up a Bundesliga team for this purpose than selecting among German players to do the same. Just keep it 4-2-something. And we don't have good defending midfielders anymore, who would also be the leaders on field (or we missed it to rely on the players we could have). It's a mess how poorly organised the team defends in transition after losing the ball high up the pitch: Another problem the team has, due to an overload of attacking midfileders put into wrong positions and misunderstanding often how they should run/pass - or even standing on others feet for naturally searching the same positions they play. Let's see now, what Nagelsmann does with the team.

[@otto_jk]

It's funny how Kimmich was praised for being so much defensively better than Trent Alexander Arnold while in reality he has many of the same weaknesses. Much closer to Pirlo than an actual DM.

[@jeterisawesome]

great vid

[@PinkSheep01]

Good man, Basi

[@lennyraptor3549]

n my opinion, the biggest problem in Germany is that for years important leadership positions have always been held by the same people or by people from their own ranks who have been there for years. This leads to working in the same way as 10-20 years ago, which was successful then but is outdated nowadays.

[@hugoludeke1943]

Directly after Flick was not the Trainer anymore, we´ve won 2-1 vs France. So maby, the Trainer was the problem. Let´s hope it will get better with the new one.

[@rodrigovillate6463]

No Warriors, no leaders, no heart. A Lot of nice kids without that spirit to fight, truly fight.

[@ciamgranda5786]

Everything Starts at the Youth Level... Pep Guardiola influence on technique and playing possession, patient football has had an impact on how youth teams approach games in England, they all want to do what Man City does this slowly changes how a player develops and remember England just like France always has fast Wingers but now with emphasis on technique you get players like Foden, Gordon, Eze... at the back you have Colwill, you have a keeper very good with the ball like Trafford even Jamal Musiala trained in England with Chelsea before Bayern he wasn't really part of the German setup. In the next 5 years you gonna see like 3 English Musiala's cause just like Spain emphasizing that type of football on Youth will guarantee you highly technical prospects.

[@rabiulislam8464]

I think the competition level of their League is a big reason. The Bundesliga is a League where lots of goal scored meaning the players plays there are more offensively perfect but defensibly not that good.

[@Jabberstax]

Germany is making the same mistakes England made for so many years. Mooving away from their traditionally strong way of playing to try and play more like Italy or Spain. It didn't work for us. It won't work for them.

[@prsancho]

Are there videos on Brazil and Italy?

[@Oliver-zm2ho]

What happened to the cool and distinctive art style that tifo videos used to have, it looks like stock images have been used or that AI has made the video