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Beaten, dejected: Thomas Müller lost with the German national team after a poor performance against Hungary
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
Bavarian detuning:
It was above all this one sentence by Thomas Müller that made people sit up and take notice.
"We made a lot of mistakes," said Müller, reviewing the first half of the Nation League game against Hungary.
And then: “Perhaps you have already noticed that the current phase in the club is not the easiest for many.” Müller let this sound through that he counted himself and the three other regular players plus joker Jamal Musiala, who had joined the DFB selection from the weakening FC Bayern Munich.
For 45 minutes, the German team played a game that national coach Hansi Flick called “very bad” and outsider Jonas Hofmann “really shitty”.
There is still a lot of work ahead of Flick and the German team before the start of the World Cup in November.
Mildly interpreted, it was a warning shot at the right moment.
The result:
The German team lost 1-0 to Hungary in Leipzig.
It is the first defeat under Flick - it deprives the DFB team of the chance to move into the Final Four tournament in 2023 in the Nations League.
Read the match report here.
Iron Hungary:
Christoph Kramer manages the amazing feat of letting his careers as a TV expert and Bundesliga professional run parallel.
For the 31-year-old, both are currently going extremely well: Kramer's Gladbachers are sixth in the Bundesliga, before the DFB team's Hungary game, Kramer shone on the ZDF microphone.
"If Union Berlin were a country, it would certainly be Hungary," Kramer summed up the guests' poisonous, well-organized style of play.
In addition to the basic order in the back three and endurance runner András Schäfer in midfield, the Iron and Magyars also have in common being at the top of the table: Union in the Bundesliga, Hungary in the Nations League group A3.
Scenes from a corner:
So it was not surprising how well and gripping the Hungarians, trained by Italian Marco Rossi, were in a 5-3-2 against the ball, how quickly and without frills they played forward - and how dangerous they became from set pieces.
Ex-Mainzer Ádám Szalai extended a corner kick from Dominik Szoboszlai with a heel into the goal (17th minute).
After that, the audience in Leipzig was apparently gripped by cold fear with every further corner kick by the Hungarians.
After 35 minutes, this was expressed in the fact that Szoboszlai, who is actually at home in the Leipzig Arena as a professional from RB, was attacked with various paper balls the next time he was played.
Fans had crumpled them from the remains of a choreography in memory of the late DFB honorary captain Uwe Seeler, Szoboszlai was puzzled.
Missing form:
What exactly the German team tried to do in the first half was not so easy to see.
National coach Hansi Flick had presented his thoughts before the kick-off, for example on the line-up for Timo Werner, who also returned to Leipzig at club level in the summer.
He should play his pace behind the defensive line: "We want to try to tear gaps with deep runs." That worked moderately, Werner collected seven ball contacts by the break whistle.
Other players who recently fluctuated in form in the club, such as David Raum or Serge Gnabry, also had problems, and too many German attacks petered out because too many game shifts across the field in a hasty manner ended up badly prepared for the opponent.
Kehrer corrected:
Flick reacted during the break with a change that was only defensive on paper.
Winger Gnabry had to give way to defender Thilo Kehrer.
Nevertheless, the adjustment via the domino effect improved the German offensive game: Thanks to Kehrer, Hofmann, who was in a better mood, was able to move forward in the outside lane.
Coupled with greater courage to play into the Hungarian formation, chances now arose: Péter Gulácsi saved Leroy Sané with a foot (51'), Müller's goal didn't count because Hofmann was offside (53'), Werner only scored Gulácsi (57. ), Sané the side netting (60th).
The power play somewhat corrected the impression of the disaster that had arisen before the break, but not the result.
Missed the target, but better than England:
For the German team, the Nations League may just be a collection of better test kicks.
But the failure also means: There will be no more than test kicks, this time possibly worse, in 2023.
As hosts of the EM 2024, the DFB-Elf skips the qualification, a place in the Final Four of the Nations League would have been the only chance of real competitive games next summer.
That didn't work, but it could have been worse: The final opponent on Monday (8.45 p.m., TV: RTL), EM finalist England, has already been relegated to the B league after a 1-0 defeat in Italy .
The DFB-Elf has at least spared itself this sporting disgrace.
