From confusion, disorder and acrimony to a sense of belief, purpose and togetherness in five short months, the turnaround in the fortunes of the German national team has been startling.
When Scotland were drawn with the Euro 2024 hosts, together with the Swiss and Hungary, in Hamburg on December 2, the Tartan Army had good reason to believe Steve Clarke’s side could dampen the mood of the party when it all gets under way in Munich on June 14.
While that air of optimism will rightly prevail up until the seismic opening game in the Allianz Arena, German football is well and truly over the bout of self-doubt which afflicted it last year.
The arrival of Julian Nagelsmann as national team manager has been just what the doctor ordered. The prospect of silverware being spread around the clubs is unquestionably good for business and has been another welcome panacea.
A fortnight before the Euros begin, Bayern Munich could face off against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League Final at Wembley.
Before then, Bayer Leverkusen may well have added the Europa League and the German Cup to the Bundesliga title they claimed by a mile last month.
Kai Havertz is mobbed after scoring Germany’s second goal in the win over France in March
After a difficult start, Julian Nagelsmann has revitalised Germany’s fortunes ahead of the Euros
Toni Kroos is back playing for Germany and still making an impact with his club, Real Madrid
Xabi Alonso’s indomitable side can equal the 48-game unbeaten run of Benfica in 1965, encompassing both domestic and European commitments, should they avoid defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt tomorrow and can surpass it when they face Roma in the return leg on Thursday. The local media have long since run out of superlatives.
With the combined efforts of German clubs in Europe this season adding up to a fifth spot in the revamped Champions League next season, the feel-good factor has returned to the nation at just the right time.
Perhaps ominously for Scotland and our other Group A opponents, the resurgence of German club football has come hand-in-hand with that of the national team.
Coming after a failure to get out of the groups for the first time in Russia in 2018, elimination at the same stage in Qatar in 2022 was viewed as a national disaster.
The German Federation’s decision to stand by Hansi Flick was rooted in the success his predecessor Joachim Low delivered over 15 years but was fundamentally flawed.
Flick was sacked last September after a 4-1 loss to Japan (the same nation who’d defeated them in their first game Qatar) amid growing fears that the path to success in Euro 2024 had already been lost.
‘With a view towards the European Championships in our own country, we need a spirit of optimism and confidence,’ stated German FA boss Bernd Neuendorf.
Enter Nagelsmann. The reputation of the man who was the youngest ever Bundesliga coach when he took charge of Hoffenheim aged 28 in 2016 had been scuffed a little since being sacked by Bayern the previous March.
The results in his first two matches in charge – a win over the USA and a draw with Mexico – were welcome but largely irrelevant.
German club sides have excelled in Europe this season, with Dortmund getting the better of Mbappe and PSG in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final
Nagelsmann used those games to look under the bonnet to see why the engine had malfunctioned so badly. Subsequent losses to Turkey and Austria underscored the scale of the task he’d signed up for.
Renowned as a tactical innovator, he flitted between 4-2-3-1 and 4-2-2-2 across those four matches.
Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tay and Dortmund’s Niklas Sule were used as makeshift right backs. Union Berlin’s Robin Gosens started on the left. Arsenal’s Kai Havertz also appeared at left back and left wing-back.
If nothing else, both in terms of shape and personnel, Nagelsmann identified what wasn’t going to work.
Having finally got a clear picture in his mind of what he wanted the team to look like, the trouble was that one of the central pieces was missing. A call was placed to a familiar number.
Toni Kroos had retired from the national team in 2021 following savage criticism about his performances. ‘Kroos is no longer international class,’ sniped fellow World Cup winner Lothar Matthaus of the Real Madrid veteran.
It’s a good thing that Nagelsmann and the player saw it differently. Assured that he’d provide the deep-lying insurance in midfield alongside Leverkusen’s Robert Andrich, Kroos agreed to add to the 106 caps he’d already won.
‘I’ll be playing for Germany again from March. Why? Because I was asked by the coach and I’m up for it,’ Kroos said in an Instagram post.
‘I’m sure that much more is possible with the team at the European Championship than most people think right now.’
The time of took to make Matthaus eat his words? Try seven seconds. That’s all it took for Kroos to arrow a pass into feet of Florian Wirtz as Germany scored straight from centre in Lyon in March. Havertz added a second after the break to complete a good night’s work. It felt like Nagelsmann was onto something.
With Tah and Antonio Rudiger in central defence, and Maximilian Mittelstadt and Joshua Kimmich left and right-back respectively, Germany kept just their second clean sheet in 16 games since the World Cup that night against France.
Bayer Leverkusen kept the feelgood factor going with victory over Roma in the Europa League
Three days later, back on home soil, Nagelsmann named the same side in the same formation.
This saw the experience of Barcelona’s Ilkay Gundogan operate in a withdrawn No10 role and allow two generational talents in Wirtz and Jamal Musiala to bomb forward at will. Havertz, who was by then riding on the crest of a wave at the Emirates, thrived at the head of the vanguard.
‘The three of them have a lot of freedom that they can enjoy,’ said Nagelsmann of the supporting line after beating the Dutch 2-1.
‘Jamal and Flo are in top form. I want to support them by providing the necessary balance so they can show their magic,’ Gundogan added.
‘I feel good with Flo on and off the pitch,’ said Musiala. ‘The connection between us gets even better with every game.’
Any win against the Dutch is always grounds for celebration in Germany but that triumph in March felt especially significant – even though it was only a friendly.
A squad that had evidently been deeply unhappy with the style and demands of Flick suddenly looked unified and willing to do whatever was required for the common good.
‘Of course, every player has a favourite position,’ said Nagelsmann. ‘If I asked (keeper) Manuel Neuer, he’d definitely like to dictate the play in midfield – which he might be able to do – but he’s much better as a goalkeeper.
‘With the national team every player has to subordinate himself and be a servant for your country.’
Neuer missed those two games through injury, but it’s already a matter of public record that he’ll keep goal this summer in place of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The Barca keeper has no issue with this. Neither does Dortmund striker Niclas Fullkrug, who’s gracefully accepted his role as an impact player behind Havertz.
Considering Nagelsmann can still call upon 2014 World Cup winners like Mats Hummels and Thomas Muller as well as Julian Brandt, Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry, the suggestion that Scotland might have drawn Germany at a good time now appears to be risible.
They always had the players and sufficient time to figure out how best to deploy them. Having cracked the code, there’s a belief that Nagelsmann can now lead them to a triumph that would have been unimaginable a year ago.