After losing to Japan, Germany lost their first match in three consecutive tournaments and are likely to stop at the group stage like the 2018 World Cup. Oliver Hartman, chief reporter for The Kicker, wrote an article criticizing Frick, and here is a full translation.
On the completely renovated Khalifa Stadium, Frick and his players want to send a strong signal. Over the course of an hour, they put the plan into action with a dominant performance, clearly a better performing team, giving their opponents hardly any chances, creating plenty of chances up front that could have extended their lead after Gundogan scored a penalty.
It has nothing to do with bad luck
However, the main shortcomings that have plagued the German team in recent months continue in disastrous fashion in Doha. Like the two UEFA Nations League games against England (1-1, 3-3) and the warm-up match against the Netherlands in March (1-1), Germany once again failed to turn advantage into victory.
Similar to Argentina, who lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia a day earlier, Germany failed to extend their lead when they took the initiative and were punished by the Japanese with exceptionally efficient shots. It's not about bad luck, it's more about strength and conviction, starting with Kai Havertz and Gnabry up front and ending with the defence of Juller and Schroedbeck.
Frick's failure
Frick also used his own substitution to bring the game to a turning point. In the 67th minute, Frick let two veterans, Gundogan and Muller, out of the field and replaced them with Gretzka and Hoffman. In simple terms, Frick broke up the central axis, causing the German team to lose control of the game.
Mueller's replacement is understandable and likely necessary, as he hasn't played a full game for six weeks after his injury. It is puzzling why the convincing Gundogan was replaced.
In any case, the situation of the game changed and from the German point of view they completely lost control of the game. Japan created five consecutive chances and turned things around.
Frick and his team are not out yet, but Sunday's match against Spain will be the "final" to qualify.