Getty Images Sport / Tobias Empl
Mar 31, 2026 04:08+06:00 / Translated by GOAL.com

"The team is making life difficult for themselves!" Julian Nagelsmann warns his players of a major World Cup threat

National coach Julian Nagelsmann has warned the DFB squad to adapt their style of play ahead of the World Cup, following their 2-1 victory in a friendly against Ghana.

Shortly after their 4-3 victory over Switzerland, the German national team also won their friendly against Ghana 2-1. In an interview with ARD, national team manager Julian Nagelsmann said he was generally satisfied with his team’s performance, but felt there was still room for improvement in one particular area.

"Because the game was going very, very well, we got a bit impatient and stopped sticking to our positions. It was a lot of freestyle again, just like against Switzerland. And then sometimes we simply aren’t secure enough on the ball to pull off that kind of freestyle," criticised Nagelsmann.

The squad is only partially suited to such a style of play. "There are certainly a few players who can play in any position, but there are also a few players in the squad who simply feel more comfortable in one position and are happier when they can hold that position and then play well in it."

If, on the other hand, the play becomes too "freestyle", there is a greater vulnerability to counter-attacks. Yet the team had implemented the tactics very well in the first 25 minutes. “It felt as though Ghana weren’t even in our half,” praised Nagelsmann. The German side had also had enough chances to settle the game early on. “Overall, in my view, we played better than against Switzerland, even if we scored fewer goals,” summarised the national coach.

AFP

Nagelsmann warns against an energy-sapping style of play in hot weather

When asked, he then went into more detail about his “freestyle criticism”. “The team is making life difficult for themselves,” Nagelsmann noted. Particularly given the high temperatures in the US, he said, it made sense to “avoid running unnecessarily long distances” and not invite the opposition to launch counter-attacks. “You can prevent seven or eight out of ten counter-attacks if you simply stay a bit more disciplined in your structure.”

The national coach praised his team’s attacking drive but urged a little more patience. “They want to win and score a goal, but it’s enough if we do that late on. The important thing is that we don’t concede two or three because we’re caught on the counter-attack.”

The German national team won the friendly against Ghana 2-1 thanks to a penalty from Kai Havertz and a late goal from substitute Deniz Undav.

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