Germany vs. Northern Ireland: Nagelsmann relies on the old solution

With the ball at his feet, he ran through the center circle of Cologne's Bundesliga stadium, toward the touchline. Then he shot, and the ball crashed against the boards with force. This is the kind of play that national coach Julian Nagelsmann wants to see: plays that combine passion, determination, and aggression. Unfortunately, he won't be able to field the man who stepped up at the start of the final training session the night before the match and hammered the ball into the goal. That man was Nagelsmann himself.

After the 2-0 defeat at the start of World Cup qualifying against Slovakia, the match against Northern Ireland will be a test of character for an unsettled German national team. And a game of decisive importance for the ailing Nagelsmann, who overwhelmed the team with complex tactical plans during the dismantling in Bratislava.

The situation before the match in Cologne is a carbon copy of the situation in November 2023. About nine months before the start of the European Championship at home, the German national team had just lost 3-2 to Turkey and – even more dramatically – suffered a 2-0 defeat in Austria in a lackluster performance. The two friendlies raised questions.

Nagelsmann wanted to score points against Turkey with surprising approaches: The national coach, appointed just two months earlier, had deployed attacking player Kai Havertz at left-back. He then defended the criticism of Havertz, thus defending his own idea. In the following clash with the Austrians, Havertz again played at left back, but in a three-man/five-man defense.

The night of defeat in Vienna, in which a visibly frustrated Leroy Sané was shown the red card for violent conduct shortly after halftime, prompted Nagelsmann to rethink his approach. He brought Toni Kroos back to the national team and announced that he would field more "workers." The turnaround was successful, and reaching the European Championship quarterfinals was considered a success.

Now, just over a year after the tournament, Nagelsmann is under so much pressure that his suitability for the national team coaching job is being questioned. If he had taken a stroll through Cologne the day before the Northern Ireland match, he would have passed the "Express" newspaper kiosks. The front page of the Rhineland tabloid featured Nagelsmann's face, accompanied by the question: "Is he still the right man?" A reporter from Northern Ireland asked Nagelsmann at the press conference the day before the match whether he was worried about his job: "Being worried is never a good approach," he replied.

Just like at the end of 2023, Nagelsmann now has to find solutions to a crisis situation, only this time he has only 72 hours instead of four months. His answer seems to be the same. "Perhaps we need to rely less on quality and instead on players who give it their all," he said immediately after the 2-0 defeat to Slovakia. Meaning: Once again, the workers will have to fix it.

The day before the Northern Ireland match, Nagelsmann sat in the press room of the Cologne stadium and gave insights into his thinking. He announced that "some changes will definitely be made" in terms of personnel, meaning that one or two players would be replaced compared to the defeat against Slovakia. His task was to "sort through" the squad again and check for players who are suited to crises: "We need players who fit the situation."

Nagelsmann continues to believe that a lack of emotion was the main reason for the embarrassment in Bratislava, which is why he apparently sees no reason to make comprehensive tactical adjustments against Northern Ireland. "We won't see a completely different team in terms of content," he said. However, as was the case at the end of 2023, it is also up to him to critically examine the tactical experiments he has devised.

An indisposed defense around Antonio Rüdiger and newcomer Nnamdi Collins, an overly flexible captain Joshua Kimmich in defensive midfield, an ineffective Leon Goretzka at number ten, and a disused Nick Woltemade – against Slovakia, there were problem areas everywhere in Germany's difficult-to-understand setup. However, the opportunities for change are limited (also due to many injured players) and sometimes politically sensitive.

Nagelsmann could move Kimmich back to right-back against Northern Ireland, but would then scrap his pompously announced plan to entrust the captain with the defensive midfield role in record time. He could replace Antonio Rüdiger with Robin Koch or Waldemar Anton, but in doing so would demote the Real Madrid player, who was projected to be a leading player. It would be comparatively easy to include Robert Andrich and/or Pascal Groß, two players with "worker" qualities.

One thing is certain: Germany needs a win to end its longest losing streak since 2023. The team hasn't won four games in a row in recent years. Two years ago, they even went five games without a win. After the fifth, a 4-1 defeat to Japan, then-national coach Hansi Flick was fired.