Gundogan admits Germany are still ´a bit insecure´

Ilkay Gundogan claimed Germany’s performances against France and Peru represented a fresh start after the country’s World Cup disappointment, but admitted the team remains “a bit insecure”.

The Manchester City midfielder came on as a second-half substitute in Germany’s goalless draw with France in the Nations League on Thursday and he played from the start three days later as Die Mannschaft beat Peru 2-1 in a friendly.

The outings were Germany’s first since Joachim Low’s men crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage, registering their worst performance in the competition in 80 years.

After goals from Julian Brandt and Nico Schulz earned victory over Peru in Sinsheim, Gundogan told reporters: “I think this fresh start should be seen as more positive than negative.

“I think defensively we delivered, we didn’t let the opponents create many chances, especially against an opponent like France this is an achievement.

“On the other hand there are quite a few things we have to do better: we only scored two goals, although we had many chances.

“Especially today in the first half we should have scored more goals than we did.”

Glad to win this match against a tough opponent!  // Glücklich dieses Spiel zu gewinnen gegen einen schwierig zu bespielenden Gegner! #Sinsheim @DFB_Team pic.twitter.com/uOgjwe7zPY

— Ilkay Gündogan (@IlkayGuendogan) September 9, 2018

Germany suffered defeats to Mexico and South Korea either side of a win against Sweden at the World Cup, and the team’s performance prompted fierce criticism of Low and his squad from the country’s media.

Gundogan indicated he and his team-mates were still recovering from the experience, saying: “I think its obvious that we are maybe a bit insecure because of the past weeks and months. But that’s normal and human.

“We have to get back step-by-step to where we were before the past few months. I think we have enough potential to make it better next time.”