Bastian Schweinsteiger, a former German winger, claimed on the British radio programme Talksport that Pep Guardiola was to blame for the team's demise because the Spanish coach made Germany compromise its principles.

"Everyone thought we had to play this type of football, like short passes and everything, when Pep Guardiola arrived in the country and joined Bayern Munich." According to Schweinsteiger, "We were losing our values," on Thursday, Schweinsport spoke with Talksport.

When Guardiola, a former Barcelona coach, moved to Munich in 2013, Schweinsteiger, a TV pundit, spent two seasons playing for Bayern Munich under Guardiola. Guardiola joined Manchester City in 2016, and Schweinsteiger left in 2015.

Germany was seen as a fighter by most countries, a country that can run until the end. The strengths have diminished during the past seven or eight years.  We had forgotten about it and were more concerned with passing the ball to each other. That's one of the causes, according to Schweinsteiger, of Germany's deterioration since 2016.

Germany's coach at the time was Joachim Löw, who had guided the team to the World Cup triumph in 2014, with Schweinsteiger playing a significant part. Germany reached the Euro 2016 semifinals but has subsequently struggled in big events. Germany was eliminated in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, advanced only to the second round of Euro 2020, and was eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup last year.

Germany only won three games 

Last season, Germany won only three of its 11 games under Löw's successor, Hansi Flick. The team's most recent game, a 2-0 loss to Colombia at home last month, was booed by its own fans both during and after the match, and confidence is low ahead of the nation's hosting of Euro 2024 the following year.

Guardiola, on the other hand, has had success with City, bringing the Abu Dhabi-backed team to its first Champions League triumph last season.

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