After Germany was eliminated by Paraguay, Hamann fiercely criticized Germany coach Nagelsmann. In Hamann's view, the Germany coach should bear the primary responsibility.

As an RTÉ Sport pundit, Hamann stated: "I think team spirit comes from team cohesion, getting along together, and the trust that your teammates are there for you when you need them. But my feeling is that under this coach, that has never been achieved."

Hamann continued: "They did have a few decent performances, but on average, the performance was disappointing. It was like this at the Euros, it was like this in the World Cup qualifiers, and now it's like this at the World Cup. They always talk about 'the atmosphere in the camp is great' — it's easy to say nice things, but you have to prove it on the pitch!"

Subsequently, Hamann's criticism escalated to a more fundamental level: "Obviously, the problem lies with the coach. It's the coach's job to unite the lads into a cohesive unit. But he's a guy who rarely watches games. He didn't even visit Bisseck (who plays for Internazionale) in Milan once — a player he should have taken to the World Cup. In the past two and a half years, he never went to Brentford to scout Schade, a player who scored 10 goals last season. In the Bundesliga, he probably only watches one or two games a month."

Hamann also accused Nagelsmann of extremely insufficient preparation: "There was a Real Madrid Champions League match (he didn't go). The Africa Cup of Nations was in January this year, and he could have gone there to scout Côte d'Ivoire or other potential opponents, but he didn't. And there was the Club World Cup, with matches played in these stadiums, where he could have familiarized himself with the environment in advance. Portugal coach Martinez came, England coach Tuchel came, and even the sixty-something France coach Deschamps (Note: Hamann misremembered, Deschamps is 57) stayed here for three weeks. Who didn't come? Our coach."

Finally, he delivered a devastating summary: "This is why I have no sympathy for him. I think he and this team got what they deserved." With this historic early exit from the World Cup, questions and criticisms against the national team coach are rapidly escalating.

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