All or Nothing: The German National Team in Qatar

The first time I heard about this documentary I was like: "Are they serious?!" Nobody wanted to see a show about a failing team in a tournament nobody wanted in the first. I don't wanna focus to much on the WC in Quatar. The questionable draw by the FIFA, the shocking reports about the construction of the exploited immigrant workers and the overall situation in the caliphate.

I'm here to tell about this show. So how it is? Depends how you view it. I think it displays the overall condition of the team in sometimes positive and at times unintentional hilarious ways. But touching as well. The story of Niclas Füllkrug almost brought tears into my eyes. Especially when you know where he's coming from. It feels like a Rocky Balboa story. For himself he played a great tournament and is the best part by far. The other good part was Thomas Müller who almost an other side of himself. With his social media and his forced quirkiness he became more of a laughing stock over the years. But here he has the opportunity to show what a teamplayer and in interviews for the documentary what a reflecting smart guy he is. And Antonio Rüdiger. He seems like a cool guy or I just like him too much. Dunno.

The hilarity in this one I have mentioned. The funniest thing was definitely the motivation prior to the game against spain. They watch a documentary about grey goose. No joke. I really don't know what was Bierhoffs intention behind this and I'm not the only person who's asking. The blank faces of the players in this scene are just pure gold! Bierhoff has done a great job the last 15 years but he probably knew for himself that his time was already expired. That's why he stepped down after it.

The other is the coach Hansi Flick. You can see that he can't reach the guys with his announcements. And it doesn't help that he talks in a sweet swabian accent. Quite contrary even. Fun fact: He got sacked last weekend.

I missed that this documentary doesn't show why this team with that huge talent in almost every position performed so weak in the end. As a viewer you really have to pay attention to see hints between here and there. The team probably got affected by the politics around. The infamous story about the rainbow- or (because the quatari government doesn't like LGBTQ-rights) "One love"-Armlet. It was a s***show. The players had to handle it by their own and out came the often mocked team photo of the players cover their mouth. And to blame are Bierhoff and his management. They didn't even try and by that failed miserably. Why did they leave it all to players? How could they get their head in the game if they get distracted by a random decision of the association? Too bad that this documentary didn't focus on that. They wanted to make six episodes and needed content. They had an opportunity here.

It wasn't a very informative show. Entertaining if you look a bit further. Why they made this in the first place is beyond me. The team is highly talented on some positions but unbalanced with it on the other side. Flick is a great coach. Beforehand he trained Bayern Munich and won everything in just one season. But he was the wrong coach for this insecure team.

If you want to have a good laugh - go for it. And Füllkrugs story is awesome. The makers of this show didn't do a good job in my opinion. It was my first "All or nothing"-show and it surely be the last. Everything of how not to make a documentary - you see it here. But it was entertaining. I'm sure it wasn't their intention and definitely not of the DFB. It has to be. So give it an 8/10.

Excellent production from Amazon. I did enjoy all the episodes and they were interesting to watch. It's interesting to see what all things are happening in the background of an international football team when the world cup is going on. We expected a more exuberant German team in the world cup but sadly that didn't happen this time. There were more episodes planned but Germany's journey was cut-short as they couldn't progress to the knockouts.

It's good to see style of the coaches when it comes to the game and that's what make 'All or Nothing' serious a unique one. When it comes to coaches like Maurinho, Flick, Guardiola- they are exceptional and their mentality and coaching styles are completely different and we would love to see how they guide the players when they are in the training ground and the dressing room. These episodes touches on elements like this and I did enjoy that.

I get why the All or nothing crew chose the german national team for this documentary. They failed miserably in Russia in 2018, Jogi Löw quit as headcoach. There was a good chance that under Hansi Flick, who had won the triple with Bayern a short time ago, this could turn into an interesting Rocky-like story. But things turned out differently, as is mentioned in the first minutes of the show. So this shouldn't spoil anyone.

I don't know if the true spirit of the team is shown here. You have to know that editing is everything in these kind of sports documentaries. By choosing the scenes, the way they are cut and the music the makers can make the team seem intact or not. The same goes for the players. Do they seem positive and funny or passive and arrogant?

But I'm going to write about what I saw since I don't know about the other filmed material.

Some positive things: Niklas Füllkrug is the real deal. He's confident, a teamplayer and has the most emotional speech in the locker room as a newcomer! Also, he didn't disappoint in the games.

Thomas Müller is a legend. He always gives everything although he is limited technically and physically. He is important for every team he plays in.

Filming was of high quality.

The episodes went by quickly and didn't bore me for a minute.

The stupid affair of the one love arm patch wasn't left out but didn't take up more time than neccessary.

I got the feeling that something was off in this team. It seems that Flick didn't reach the players completely. I also got the impression that too few of the players were willing to give this their all. Many seemed rather distant. And except for some players, they didn't seem to have too much fun as a group. Again, could be that it just isn't shown but that's my impression. It's also kind of sad that they had the feeling of not being supported from home. The World cup in Katar was a bad idea from my perspective. But the team still deserves support. If they give everything,that is.

This documentary isn't a heroes journey. It's a story of defeat. That makes it probably less fun to watch than other sports documentaries, but interesting none the less.

As I'm writing this, Hansi Flick was fired as coach about a week ago. Watching this documentary made me think that this was for the best. So I'm thankful for this insight.