'Purely a matter of attitude' - Joshua Kimmich sees recurring Germany problem after shock Slovakia defeat as defender highlights lack of 'courage, conviction and belief'

Germany captain Kimmich did not shy away from admitting that the team were bereft of "courage, conviction, and belief" after Slovakia caused a huge upset by inflicting a first ever away defeat in World Cup qualifying on the European giants powerhouse. While he denied that the dressing room is not united, he explained that Germany's shaky form of late is "purely a matter of attitude" and not a symptom of the tactics rolled out by the coaching staff. 

Germany were without the services of the injured Jamal Musiala, but still rolled out a nearly full-strength side. Both goals scored by the hosts, however, exposed weak spots in the Germans' armour. In the first goal scored by David Hancko, Florian Wirtz was dispossessed easily down the right flank. The Slovaks exploited the abundance in space and attacked with speed to leave Nagelsmann's side shellshocked. The second goal was an absolute screamer by David Strelec, but he toyed with someone of Antonio Rudiger's stature far too easily. 

While addressing the media after the defeat, Kimmich said: "We didn't see [courage, passion, and greed] at any point. Considering how we started the game, I think we had a corner and the first chance to score after a minute. You have to say that we lacked all of those things. And we don't need to talk about system, tactics, back four, back three, or anything else; it's purely a matter of attitude. And that's been our problem in recent games, too."

He warned that if the team doesn't work on their flaws, they will fail to qualify for next year's World Cup, adding: "We have to manage to give each other things to help us get it onto the pitch more easily, so that we can get it onto the pitch at all. I don't think it's the right approach for us all to tear each other apart here. We were all just sitting in the locker room, and we know that it was certainly a very, very poor game from each and every one of us. It's not about pointing the finger at the next person or at the others, but everyone knows that today wasn't enough, and in three days we have the chance to do better. We talked a lot beforehand about the World Cup and other things, and I emphasized before that we have to play a qualifying match first. If we perform like we did today, then we certainly won't qualify.

"I said it beforehand: We need courage, conviction, belief in ourselves, and also belief in our quality, because only quality alone is theoretical potential. But we have to bring that quality onto the pitch, and we have to support each other, with an attitude that everyone is on fire, that everyone has a desire, and that everyone feels what's at stake."

Die Mannschaft will need to get back to winning ways if they want to avoid putting their World Cup qualification in jeopardy. They next host Northern Ireland on Sunday.