Pep Guardiola has been blamed for Germany’s decline ahead of Euro 2024.
Three-time winners Germany will stage next year’s European Championships, and while Die Mannschaft are traditionally a relentless force in international tournaments, the current iteration look in terrible shape ahead of the summer.
In September, Germany parted ways with Hansi Flick, a day after a 4-1 loss to Japan in a friendly.
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The decision was made after years of poor form for the four-time world champions, including failing to get out of their groups at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, on the latter occasion under Flick.
Julian Nagelsmann has since taken charge of four games but failed to see the fêted ‘new manager bounce’ at this early stage in his tenure. The 36-year-old’s record as national team boss stands at one win, one draw and two defeats.
And 2014 World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger insisted in July that Guardiola’s influence on German football is partly to blame for the national team’s decline.
Schweinsteiger, who played two seasons under Guardiola at Bayern Munich, told TalkSPORT that German ideals were lost under the Spaniard’s influence.
He said: “When Pep Guardiola joined Bayern Munich when he came to the country, everyone believed we have to play this kind of football, like short passes and everything. We were kind of losing our values.
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“I think most of the other countries were looking at Germany as a fighter, we can run until the end and everything.
“The strengths got lost through the last seven, eight years. We forgot about that and were more focused on playing the ball nicely to each other. That's one of the reasons.”
In Germany, Guardiola claimed a hat-trick of Bundesliga titles, making him the first foreign coach to win Germany's top flight three times. Meanwhile, the Catalan won two DFB Cups with the Bavarian giants.
However, upon failing to win the Champions League, Guardiola ultimately left the German outfit and moved to City, where he last year he won a historic Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.
Topics: Football, Pep Guardiola, Bayern Munich, Premier League
Chris Byfield