‘Completely useless’ – Euro 2000 winner slams Havertz’s performance against Switzerland

Euro 2000 winner Frank Leboeuf has denigrated Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann and the DFB Team forward Kai Havertz after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Switzerland. 

Dan Ndoye gave the Swiss a shock lead against the tournament hosts after 28 minutes, temporarily sending them above Germany in Group A. 

It stayed that way for Murat Yakin’s men, who were set to end above the Euro 2024 host nation until Niclas Fullkrug headed home a late equaliser in second-half stoppage time. 

The Borussia Dortmund striker is joint top scorer at the time of writing, having notched two goals after coming off the bench for Germany, prompting some observers to call for more match action for the second-choice forward. 

Despite securing a much-needed draw, Leboeuf was annoyed by Nagelsmann’s aversion to rotate against Switzerland. 

“That was the most irrational decision from Nagelsmann,” said the Euro 2000 winner with France on ESPN. “You have six points, you know you’re going through, you’re sending a message to the other players on the bench that ‘you’re not good enough to play in the third game even though we’re qualified’.

“So, stay on the bench, you’re useless, and Fullkrug is always going to come on and score. Havertz ran like two miles an hour today and he was completely useless for 85 minutes. 

“I found the Germany team very tired today. Why do you pick 25 players if you use only 13 or 14? That’s insane.” 

Germany will face the Group C runners-up — currently Denmark — in the last-16.