At nearly 3 o’clock on a new day, right after the German team defeated Scotland 5-1 in the opening match of EURO 2024, people saw the wives and lovers of several German players entering their training camp in Herzegonaurach, nearly 200 km from Munich. It’s not a bad or forbidden thing at all, but falls under the so-called “Nagelsmann method”.

I don’t want life to be normal

It’s simple, nothing fаncy or philosophical. That is, players are allowed to bring their families and lovers to the team, a type of emotional freedom that the youngest coach of EURO 2024 also applies to himself. Joshua Kimmich’s young son even got to ride on the bus with the whole team. The German press wrote that coach Nagelsmann, only 36 years old, did so to relieve all pressure on the players and help them lead an almost normal life during EURO. This philosophy can be understood when the players no longer feel too much pressure because they are close to their families and in the arms of their loved ones. Before the tournament, Mr. Nagelsmann himself said: “The support of my family and the players’ families is extremely important.”

Coach Julian Nagelsmann brings many differences to the German team

AFP

Coach Nagelsmann concretizes this through action. On the opening day of the tournament, on the way to the stadium for the opening match against Scotland, in the bus, the players were shown video messages that their family members sent to each of them. Then on the stadium, Mr. Nagelsmann greeted his mother, while an air kiss to his lover made waves on social networks in Germany. Clearly, the coach has become more mature and is showing everyone that giving him the position of coach of the team is completely right. He also changed his philosophy a bit to better suit the situation when Germany lacked big opponents worthy of playing friendly matches.

Coach Nagelsmann adjusted the game to make it simpler for his players, with Toni Kroos and Ilkay Gundogan as the “pilots”, controlling the German ship from the middle of the field, making passes to open up playing space for their teammates. team in the simplest way. Germany’s first goal in the win over Scotland started from a pass from Kroos to Kimmich, while Kroos and Gundogan were the ones who laid the foundation for the goal to increase the score to 2-0. Kroos closed the match with 101 accurate passes out of a total of 102 passes he made. They are the base of a delicious cake with rich decorations by Florian Wirtz, Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala. Mr. Nagelsmann calls them “3 wise me𝚗”, because they know how to аttаck, create mutations and finish the match.

ELIMINATE negаtive reactions using special methods

Coach Nagelsmann ‘s impression at the training location in Herzegonaurach is very clear. He set up a large screen at the training ground and recorded it live, so that when there was something a player did not do correctly, he would show it on the screen. He calls it Open Air (outdoor) analysis. Before convening the final team list for EURO, he explained that 13 – 14 players had been selected and the remaining were those who would be selected later. By doing so, he eliminated the possibility of negаtive reactions from players who often had to sit on the bench, and he also made players who currently have too few caps for the national team realize that they will have to accept the role as priority number 2, even number 3. This method can be said to have one side or another, but for now it is working well.

Toni Kroos (No. 8) and Ilkay Gundogan (No. 21) were used perfectly by coach Julian Nagelsmann in the opening match of EURO 2024

Meanwhile, German team boss Rudi Voeller announced that this is just the first match, difficulties lie ahead, so fans should not rejoice too soon. The opening match against Scotland was watched by 22 million Germans on television, accounting for 69% of the television market that night, more than the 2002 World Cup final in which Germany reached the final and lost to Brazil (17 million people). Mr. Voeller braked, but the fans were pushing. And the German team became fresher and stronger thanks to the “Nagelsmann method”.