WHY Germany sucks at talent development

What is going on in German football? Once a great football nation, now in a state of chaos. After two early exits at the 2018 and 2022 World Cup, Germany have to tackle some deep-lying issues. Even new Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann can't solve these problems immediately. German football is struggling to develop talents into world-class players - in almost every position. We speak to legends like Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and other critics to find out more. How can Germany reform itself and get back to the top?

00:00 Intro: Real problems
02:10 Facts
03:13 Reforms
05:28 Downfall
08:35 History
09:40 Winning
10:45 The "reboot"
12:13 Youth system
13:47 Leadership
14:29 DFB Campus

Report: Pascal Jochem
Camera: Marco Borowski, Hecko Flores
Editing & Graphics: Joe Wright

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[goodnessbassey]

As a Nigerian, i always admire the German national team, here we call them the 'german machines' pounding and running all over the pitch like heavy engines. so beautiful to see. I hope they can be back again. An amazing team truly

[stefanpfahl]

30 years ago, in Germany school was finished at 1 pm, homework done at 3 and then most of us played football - either in a club or just in the street or on a nearby „Bolzplatz“. Today kids are exhausted after coming from school at 4 pm. What ads to this is, that within the schoolsystem football often is not highly respected and competitveness tends to be regarded as kind of harmful.

[tashrif]

Not the first time that this has happened. Remember during the 90s after the success of Italia 90 and Euro 96, everyone thought German football would dominate, only for early and disastrous exits in Euro 2000 and Euro 2004 to happen. Even during that time, people were saying Germany were not producing enough good players or are relying too much on aged veterans. I am sure Germany will recover. Same goes for Italy.

[MatroX]

What is missing in this analysis is that every country goes through cycles, yes Spain produces good players, but they didn't produce new Villa, Torres, Fabregas Xaxi & Co every two years. They are also going through a period without incredible players just look at their results past 2012.

[shivalimbu]

I am from Nepal and start supporting Germany from 2002 world cup at the time of Oliver Khan. I still miss old germany

[ProfDrDrN]

The 2014 team was basically the endproduct of a project that started in 2006.
As a national team it is most important to build confidence through familiarity which requires consistency, since you only play together sporadically.
What löw and flick have failed to build after 2014 is a real team, because they kept on changing everything. I'm pretty sure that talentwise Germany has what it takes.
It's the teamgeist that has to be built back up again. 2024 could be the beginning of a new identity, just like 2006...

[svenkuenzel]

I was youth coach in a small town in Germany. One of the main problems is that talents are sorted out too fast. In Germany we have special scouting days at different locations to which you can send talented players for 1 training and where scouts or major football clubs, or also only provisional clubs playing a couple of leagues higher, try to, pick new talent. As a coach you can send your talents there but a player can also chose on his own to present himself. I have seen and coached many very talented players at the age between 9-14. part of the problem starts there, that most clubs and scouts only seem to be interested in players under 11. older players can’t be „formed“ anymore. So a big portion of players is sorted out there already because of age. The second thing is, that the players are judged by that 1 training session, meaning if the player doesn’t perform at the spot he or she is out. Everyone is forgetting that we are talking about children that will be nervous, might have a bad day etc. Because of this I have seen very complete players that have all abilities, (strong in one on one, great oversight and understanding of the game, good scorers, good defending abilities) being sorted out. It would be much better if they would be watched over several weeks of training to see their abilities. The nervousness will be gone as it becomes normal to go to the „special“ training, they will not have a bad day every time, and so forth. After having seen a player at several trainings a scout can make a solid decision whether a player is a talent or ready to go to the next level. But not based on one 2-3 hour training.
Finally a scout once said to me: „you know, we are not looking for players that are good in dribbling or have good oversight of the game. We are looking for players that are good in body contact, that are robust and that don’t mind to go where it hurts on a one on one. The passing, the dribbling we can teach them in the coming years“.

I guess that says it all and to me it is very clear why German football can’t find the right talent.

[St]

I remember my usa vs Germany in the 2014 world cup group stage. It was the most impressive thing I've seen. The way they passed, always making the right decisions, never losing possession of the ball. They had stars, but the biggest star was the strength of their weakest links. I hope they can reinvent themselves again, because their style is uniquely amazing to watch.

[joelout]

These things always goes in cycles. I have no doubt that Germany, sooner rather than later, will be back in and around the top spot.

[gusmartinez]

I think you already have the answer on Klopp's football philosophy. Not obsessed on tiki/taka possession, having great talent and creativity at the front (which Germany has) yet athleticism, courage and strong win mentality

[WritingGeekNL]

As a Dutch man... this is a very exciting time. :)
I'm merely kidding of course, I'm actually quite sad to see Germany being this bad. Those matches between our countries are always some of the best and most emotional to watch.

[franciscolobo]

Im from Honduras 🇭🇳🇭🇳, and Im a Fan of the Germany National Team since 2002 ❤ when I was 11 years old, they gave the best WC match ever (7-1 to Brazil), so sad to watch them fall in this last 6 years 😢, I wish they can comeback Strong again in no so much time 🙏

[joboee]

I also think with the rise of internet availability, the knowledge cap between nations/teams have shrunk considerably. It is much easier to gather data and discover talent now than in previous generations.

[CitizenLUL]

Forgets to mention that German U17 won the European championship 2023.

[ConstantineJoseph]

Germany is always known for their superstar strikers.

From the legend Gerd Muller to Karl Heinz Rummeneige.

Then we have Rudi Voeller and Juergen Klinsmann, two extremely deadly forwards.

Oliver Bierhoff followed suit and then we have Miroslav Klose.


Right now there isn’t a worthy successor to Klose and that is where Germany is suffering from being clinical in front of goal.

Doesn’t matter if you have a world class midfield and world class Defense. A superstar number 9 makes or breaks a team

[Nr]

Lack of leadership is another huge problem in German football. We have very talented players like Toni Kroos who can play very well on the pitch but refuse to take any leadership responsibility. In the past, the strong German team between 2010-2014 had several leaders like Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Neuer, Müller - players who would shoulder the responsibility for success and defeats and would demand for others to also hold themselves responsible.

[gameburn]

I am Canadian. We have always admired German training and character: teams that wouldn't quit, players that wouldn't tire. And they have superb coaches. Also, a lot of 2-way players, a lot of natural defenders. The only thing I notice is a shortage of pace on the flanks and the absence of depth at the striker position. Not sure how to fix that, except with an emphasis on developing individual skills.... maybe selecting different types of players at an early age (more athletic, more selfish, maybe?)

[saileshmainali]

I am from nepal, a small nation from asia. I have been fan of Germany from 2010, first time i actually watched all of the games in world cup. I remember being the most dominant team in all of the world whom everyone were afraid of facing to a team thats a joke these days. And i am mad. We lack a top class number 9, not to count every position we lack on. We have been falling behind every position.

[vinniechan]

I felt that it's a case of the higher you rise the further you fall
It took Germany a generation to reach the top of the world in 2014 and it's going to take another generation to get there

[hailyrizzo]

After Yamal's debut for Spain, they published the names of the 5 youngest players to wear Spanish colors. 4 of the 5 were from Barcelona.