There had been much speculation beforehand about where the German team after the resignations of Toni Kroos, İlkay Gündoğan, Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller stands.
What reaction would the German national team show after the European Championship exit against Spain in the quarter-finals? How important is the Nations League to them? clear 5-0 (1-0) victory over Hungary in Düsseldorf, at the start of the new international season, was able to clearly answer at least two questions.
The fact that they are really serious about the Nations League this time was shown by national coach Julian Nagelsmann on Saturday. Although he was forced to make six changes to his starting eleven compared to the quarter-final against Spain, there were still no major surprises. A first indication that he really wanted to win this game.
Because Pascal Groß and Robert Andrich started instead of Emre Can and Toni Kroos, the change was greatest in midfield and this was reflected in the opening phase. The Hungarians’ high pressing put the national team under enormous pressure on one or two occasions – and they appeared more shaky than confident.
With Kroos, they were missing a player who was more capable than almost anyone else of letting the opposition press through with clever feints or passes that went nowhere. Andrich and Groß found this a little difficult at first.
But as the two gradually gained confidence and found their way into the offensive line more often, Germany increasingly took control. The attacking line around Kai Havertz showed an outstanding performance, especially Jamal Musiala with three assists and a goal. The rest of the team also underlined with their performance against Hungary that they has some plans in the Nations League.
The only question that remains is where the team will be after the change. And that question cannot be answered yet, despite the strong start. The German team is well-rehearsed up front and has not made any mistakes in defence. But the impression remains that the defensive midfield is still finding its feet.
After a 5-0 victory, that’s certainly a lot of complaining, but given the weak Hungarians, the game wasn’t really a benchmark. That will probably wait until Tuesday, when the opponent is the Netherlands.
