Ilkay Gundogan has revealed that Germany have ‘no confidence’ and are in a ‘mental fight with themselves’ after the team’s loss to Japan.
Germany were thrashed 4-1 by the Samurai Blue with goals from Junya Ito, Ayase Ueda, Takuma Asano and Ao Tanaka cancelling out Leroy Sane’s effort.
Boss Hans-Dieter Flick’s future is in doubt after his side have now won just four of their last 17 international matches.
Barcelona midfielder and Germany captain Gundogan reflected on yet another loss for his nation, admitting there was a crisis of confidence occurring within the squad.
Ilkay Gundogan has admitted his side are short of confidence after their poor run of form
Germany are hosting the Euro 2024 tournament, which runs from June to July next year
Gundogan confessed: ‘Very tough one to take. I think the only good situation was the goal, where we played the rhythm we wanted, but unfortunately, we have to admit Japan were defensively and offensively better than us.
‘We have to admit that we are just not on the same level with teams like the one today. We are just not good enough at the moment. That’s the reality. Maybe we even think we are better than we are.’
‘I think you can feel that a lot of our players are in a mental fight with themselves – there’s no confidence, there’s no understanding for the timing of decisions, and obviously these kind of games and results don’t help at all.
‘So we feel like everyone is fighting with themselves, and that makes it harder to create a spirit and atmosphere.
‘Football-wise, there’s a big lack of confidence and that makes it harder to get the results.’
Germany are in a real rut and badly need a positive result in their next friendly, against World Cup finalists France in Dortmund on Tuesday.
Pressure is mounting on Flick, who was in charge of the team when they were knocked out the Qatar World Cup by Japan.
Germany boss Hansi Flick is coming under increasing pressure after his side’s recent struggles