Hansi Flick has highlighted a positive and a negative in his praise of Jamal Musiala as 'the future of German football' following his side's World Cup exit on Thursday night.
The 19-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder was one of the bright spots for Germany at Qatar 2022 as the four-time champions went out in the group stages for the second successive World Cup.
Germany's 4-2 win over Costa Rica on Thursday night proved futile as Japan beat Spain to leave Flick's side in third place in Group E.
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"It is very difficult after such a match to single one player out, but what Jamal showed against Costa Rica – it's just unfortunate that such a player can't continue to play in the tournament. He is fantastic," Flick said.
"His skill in the tackles, the one on ones, he's outstanding, and the next couple of years, we do have talents in our team, we are heading in the right direction.
"But we really have to focus on the training. Jamal has been trained in England, not in Germany."
Musiala was born in Stuttgart and moved to England with his family at the age of seven. He was part of Southampton's academy and then joined Chelsea, before moving to Bayern as a 16-year-old.
He represented England at Under-21 level, but later opted to play for Germany and is considered one of the nation's brightest prospects.
"We have players at top clubs and we do have qualities – Kai Havertz is a top player, for example.
"But for the future of German football, we need to do things differently in training.
"For years we have talked about new types of goalkeepers and wing-backs. Germany always used to be able to defend well, and we need the basics again.
"Spain are very good in defence, they train young players very well. For the future and next 10 years, it will be very important to focus on the new generation of footballers."
