"Good learning": Nagelsmann lacks "bitterness"

Julian Nagelsmann witnessed one of the national team's weakest games in the past year and a half. IMAGO/ANP

Euphoria was high in Germany ahead of the Nations League Final Four in Munich following an eight-match unbeaten run (five wins). But instead of continuing to ride the wave of euphoria, the weakened team – missing Antonio Rüdiger , Nico Schlotterbeck , and Jamal Musiala , among others – suffered a setback, and not just in terms of results. "It was one of our weakest games in a year and a half," said Julian Nagelsmann on the ZDF microphone.

Above all, he was sceptical about the performance in the first half – even though it ended goalless. Unlike after the restart, the Iberians "didn't want that much" from the German national team in the first 45 minutes.

If you play man-to-man and individual players are not 100 percent active, not attacking, then you are outnumbered.

He cited the reason for the defeat not as the absence of key players, but rather as a lack of presence in possession and a lack of "feistiness" off the ball. For the latter reason, his team also failed to apply the usual pressing of recent matches against a highly variable Portuguese side. Even after goal kicks, which the German national team could have taken, they had no control. "Of course, if you play man-to-man and individual players aren't 100 percent active and aren't attacking, then you're outnumbered," explained the national coach.

If that sharpness is lost, it's difficult to keep up with "top teams." Nations like opponents Portugal have more "football-gambling types." "We have a few of those, but the Portuguese have six or seven," explained Nagelsmann. Accordingly, his team always has to be "100 percent there." "That's a good lesson, and one we can learn a lot from," said the 37-year-old.