Former German footballer Philipp Lahm speaks during an interview before the Sepp Herberger Awards ceremony. Michael Matthey/dpaDPAWed, December 3, 2025 at 12:06 PM UTC·1 min readFormer Germany captain Philipp Lahm has criticized the lack of consistency in the national team under coach Julian Nagelsmann.
"For me, there were too many changes, some due to injuries, but not only that. Now you don't know: who is (part of) the core, who fits together?" he told the Sport Bild weekly in an interview published on Wednesday.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Julian Nagelsmann needs to get this under control as quickly as possible. Recently, it's just been too much back and forth for me," the 2014 World Cup champion added.
The numerous changes are not giving the established players the necessary security, he said.
"You can burn players out. I think it's now essential to stop rotating so much," he said.
Lahm, however, believes that Germany have a chance of winning the title at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
"But you need continuity and automatic responses to develop excellence," he emphasized.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAccording to him, German fans don't need to worry about the team's quality.
"Every generation had its share of top footballers, and we have them now too," he said.
However, to win titles, it's crucial that the team develops intensity, passion and mutual trust, Lahm added.
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