Northern Ireland pundits pummel Julian Nagelsmann after arrogant post match interview | OneFootball

German national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann took some heat from the BBC punditry after conducting an arrogant post-match interview last night. Nagelsmann criticized the playing strategy of Northern Ireland head coach Michael O’Neill during yesterday evening’s 3-1 victory in a World Cup qualifying match.

“It’s not easy to defend against a lot of long balls,” Julian Nagelsmann told the BBC. “[The opponent] played every set piece and every loose ball long and chased with ten men. This kind of football isn’t particularly easy on the eyes, but it’s effective and not so easy to defend against.”

Two former Northern Irish internationals working as pundits for the BBC took issue with Nagelsmann’s interview. Former Motherwell defender Stephen Craigan (54 Northern Ireland caps) and longtime West Brom professional Chris Brunt (65 Northern Ireland caps) spoke out against the 38-year-old Bundestrainer, who himself barely kicked a ball professionally.

“[The comments on the long balls] was a bit disrespectful as that’s all they really did,” Craigan – as quoted by Kicker –said. “Our back-three dealt with that all night. Hopefully, he [Nagelsmann] will receive a warm welcome in Belfast [on October 13th].”

“I find [the comments] strange,” Brunt added. “I didn’t know that you had to play beautiful football and do what the opponent wants.“

GGFN | Peter Weis