The first 2 games of the Julian Nagelsmann era are history. A 3:1 win over the United States and a 2:2 draw with Mexico offered a lot to unpack as Germany gear up for the European Championships kicking off in less than 8 months' time. 

There was an intriguing roster, a dynamic matchplan, and some exceptional strengths and alarming weaknesses on show. 

Today, we look at the 5 biggest takeaways from Nagelsmann’s first national team camp. 

Performance over potential

One of the biggest qualms with Hansi Flick’s tenure as national team coach was his determination to select on the basis of potential, rather than performance. In-form players were frequently left out of the squad in favor of young talent, and Flick was often willing to sacrifice results on the pitch for the sake of development. Veteran quality like Mats Hummels was left out of the World Cup squad in favor of 20-year-old Armel Bella-Kotchap, and inconsistent starlets - such as Karim Adeyemi, Kevin Schade, and Youssoufo Moukoko - earned international call-ups despite struggling for regular minutes at their respective club sides. 

Julian Nagelsmann has not ignored an impressive generation of talent rising through the German ranks, but he has been more subtle with their integration and favored a squad that has the impressive club form to compete with the best at this summer’s European Championship. The squad that Nagelsmann announced for the U.S. trip was the oldest national team roster in over 20 years, and the team that lined up for his managerial debut included 6 players over the age of 30. 

There was still place in the starting XI for the talented 2003-born duo of Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, but by surrounding them with a strong veteran base they had the necessary backbone to implement their unrivaled creative qualities without sacrificing the overall structure of the side. 

Full-Throttle Football

Throughout the 180 minutes in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, Nagelsmann opted for a 3-2-4-1 formation. 

The decision to implement a 3-2-4-1 was a clear signal from Nagelsmann that Germany would be focusing on their own strengths throughout the U.S. tour, rather than tempering the ideal matchplan to negate the qualities of an opponent.

What transpired against the United States and Mexico were often open, end-to-end affairs played at an exhilarating tempo. This full-throttle approach can thrill audiences with its propensity to create moments for individual brilliance, but whether it has the necessary rationale to also compete against the elite nations in Europe remains to be seen. 

In this sense, a better test will come against Austria in November. The Ralf Ragnick-coached side embodies clear Red Bull principles and often fields a lineup with up to 6 players currently at either RB Salzburg or RB Leipzig. Can Nagelsmann implement a tempered approach to keep such a fixture from descending into outright transitional chaos, or will Germany completely place their hopes on the individual brilliance of Leroy Sané, Florian Wirtz, and Jamal Musiala?

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Pressing & Overloads

Going hand in hand with Nagelsmann’s full-throttle 3-2-4-1 was the insistence on immediate ball-wins. This is an aspect that was almost a photocopy of his spell in Munich. Germany would often engage huge numbers in attacking sequences. This gave them a numerical advantage in the opponent’s final third and also provided a swarm of bodies to immediately engage with a turnover. When the pressing was in tandem, and there weren’t huge gaps between the defense, midfield, and attacking lines, Germany routinely found ways to pin in their Central American opponents and keep the game within the final 1/3rd of the pitch. 

However, as we saw so often with Bayern, this style does come with significant risks. If any unit in this chain doesn’t react quickly enough there can be huge gaps for the opponent to play through. At Bayern, world-class athletes like Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies were able to routinely recover a poor pressing sequence, but bar Antonio Rüdiger, nobody in the German defense has the requisite speed and power to salvage these situations.

Against an elite European nation, Germany runs the risk of being played through, while this style of aggressive pressing also gives weaker sides a constant opportunity to threaten with a simple long ball onto a pacy attacking outlet. Thus, finding the right moments to press as a unit, and the right moments to fall back into a compact defensive shape, will hold the key to Germany’s ability to effectively compete with this system at the upcoming European Championship.   

Problematic Right-Centerback

The biggest defensive problems from the two fixtures in America came at right centerback. Neither Niklas Süle nor Jonathan Tah looked comfortable defending in expansive wide spaces or pushing out of the backline with the necessary urgency to win possession high up-field. The U.S. opener on Saturday came from a solo run through the right side of Germany’s defense, while Mexico’s equalizer on Tuesday was created by left winger Hirving Lozano getting the better of Süle in a direct 1v1 duel.

Neither Tah nor Süle are slow (Jonathan Tah was even clocked at 35.81 km/h this season, making him the fastest centerback in the Bundesliga), but both centerbacks lack the agile turning ability and immediate acceleration for these all-important wide duels. Jonathan Tah is clearly better operating as a central presence in a back 3, and Süle plays his best football in a back-4 where he can engage in direct physical duels with an opposition forward.  

With Leroy Sané flourishing in the advanced right role, it is unlikely that Nagelsmann will look to select a more traditional fullback to alleviate the issues that Tah and Süle faced, so there could be an argument instead for finding a more suited profile to fill this role. 

Malick Thiaw is the most obvious argument, but the A.C. Milan defender also struggled after his introduction for the final half an hour against Mexico. The 22-year-old was fortunate not to give away a penalty after losing a foot race with Jesús Gallardo, and whenever he was isolated in a 1v1 duel, he struggled to contain his Mexican opponent. 

Potentially Nagelsmann’s best answer to this debate could be moving Antonio Rüdiger to right centerback and bringing Nico Schlotterbeck back into the squad for the position on the left of the back-3. Rüdiger is right-footed, 8 of his 9 league starts for Real Madrid this season have come at right centerback, and he is by far the most agile and athletic element in Germany’s defensive player pool. Nico Schlotterbeck lacks consistency at club level and has an error-prone track record for Germany, but the 23-year-old has the raw quality to perform for Nagelsmann and deserves a second chance if he continues to perform for Dortmund between now and the next international camp. 

Small Forwards on the Wings

The most interesting element of Nagelsmann’s 3-4-2-1 was the role of his wide outlets - Leroy Sané and Robert Gosens. Both Sané and Gosens sought to stretch the field to its maximum width. 

For Gosens, this meant attracting an opponent to maximize the left half-space for Germany’s primary creative outlet - Florian Wirtz. Despite assisting 2 goals, and playing some of his best football for Germany since the European Championships, Gosens biggest impact on Nagelsmann’s side was the positive space-creating movement he engineered without the ball. 

Sané, on the other hand, could be best described as an NBA small forward; pulling the court as wide as possible, and seeking isolated 1v1 actions with spectacular dribbling and drive for the basket (in this case, the goal). 

Unlike at Nagelsmann’s Bayern, Sané did not drop deep to involve himself in build-up phases but remained dedicated to his designated wide right space. When Germany’s initial plan of building through the central channels failed due to an opposition overload, Sané was always available with a lateral switch of play. This put one of the world’s most in-form 1v1 creators into a scenario he thrives on, and was the exact game model that gave Germany the 2:2 against Mexico in Philadelphia (below). 

With Gosens operating in similar spaces to Sané, but his lack of 1v1 ability largely limiting him to a space-creating role, it begs the question if Nagelsmann wouldn’t consider adding another traditional wide forward in this position. Chris Führich, who made his international debut in a 12-minute cameo against the United States, could be the perfect counterpart to Leroy Sané. 

The 25-year-old has taken a monumental leap forward in his decision-making in the final third this season, and his ability in isolated 1v1s should not be understated. No player has a higher 1v1 success percentage in the 2023/24 Bundesliga (73.68%), and only Leroy Sané, Victor Boniface, Alphonso Davies, and Florian Wirtz have completed more take-ons (14).