By Ssekamatte Allan Mabiriizi Simonsen Michael
Manuel Neuer is still one of the top five goalkeepers in the world. The same applies to Marc Andre ter Stegen who is the reigning Liga Santander player of the season. Antonio Rudiger is the best defender at Real Madrid, if not in the entire Spanish Primera Liga. Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz are two of the five best under 21 players across Europe. Leroy Sane is among the most dangerous wingers in the game.
Why then has Germany’s national football team, Die Mannschaft, won only three out of their last ten outings? Lack of continuity thanks to incessant tinkering, failure to field a hard man in the mould of 1990 World Cup winning midfield holder Guido Buchwald and inability to find the right balance between artists and toilers are all pitfalls.
Analysts that dismiss results from international build up as meaningless miss the point and forget about Germany’s chequered record at recent tournaments including Russia 2018, Euro 2020 and Qatar 2023. A team that used to be association with Teutonic efficiency because it almost always won, aren’t rated among favourites to win Euro 2024. This is sacrilege.
As the continent’s most successful footballing nation – with four World Cup triumphs and three European Championships; a country that’s home to the continent’s largest economy, Uefa Champions League mainstays Bayern Munich and Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen should be striking fear in opponents. They’re instead viewed as a footballing curiosity.
Die Mannschaft boss Julian Nagelsmann’s successor in the Allianz Arena hot seat Thomas Tuchel may have inadvertently found a solution for the national team. The Bavarians have found much more balance since he moved Joshua Kimmich from central midfield to right back and brought Konrad Laimer to shore up central midfield.
Kimmich is neither a midfield holder nor a pass master but he is a good crosser of the ball who can add a creative dimension in wide areas. Leverkusen’s Robert Andrich is the closest player to Buchwald. Nagelsmann would benefit adding him to the experienced pairing of Ilkay Gundogan and returning stalwart Toni Kroos. It’s the best way of finding midfield balance in upcoming friendlies with France and Holland.
The next tactical conundrum facing Nagelsmann is if he can field Musiala and Wirtz simultaneously. A correct answer can only be found after trying to pair them behind Denis Undav in the two friendlies. Both have been in tremendous form as their clubs have reached the later rounds of European club competitions, so it’s worth a try.
Germany has traditionally thrived with orthodox centre forwards like Gerd Muller, Jurgen Klinsmann, Rudi Voeller and Uwe Seeler. Niklas Fulkrug is the closest player to the traditional number nine but a mobile, elusive man like Undav could benefit from the creative genius of Musiala and Wirtz.
In Leroy Sane’s enforced absence due to suspension, the alternative would be to have each start one of the build up games and give Stuttgart winger Chris Fuhrich a chance to enhance his budding telepathic understanding with Undav.
Hoffenheim’s Maxmilian Beier carries a more potent goal threat but has no preexisting partnership with any forward in the squad.
My preferred line up to take on France in a 4-3-2-1 formation would be: Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, David Raum, Antonio Rudiger, Robert Koch, Robert Andrich, Ilkay Gundogan, Toni Kroos, Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, Denis Undav.
Niklas Sule is more experienced than Koch but he wouldn’t cope with the pace of Kylian Mbappe Lottin.