Joachim Low’s Germany Have Many Questions to Answer in Bid for More Glory

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 16, 2016

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It has been a strange start to Euro 2016, one that has outlined a tournament of teams who have flickered towards life without really catching fire.

Nobody has been terrible, nobody has been brilliant, and every side—with the possible exception of Italy—has shown weakness.

What’s most surprising, perhaps, is that two years on from winning the World Cup, none of the doubts that floated around Germany in Brazil have been dismissed.

Their opening game against Ukraine showed the best and worst of Germany. For the first and last quarters of the game they were excellent, their passing crisp and precise, their movement good.

From the 58th minute to the start of injury time, Germany dominated possession to the extent that Ukraine didn’t have a shot. At a time when the Ukrainians were chasing the game, that is remarkable. No side in the first round of games, in fact, had as much possession as Germany did.

And yet at the same time there was a manifest vulnerability. From the mid-point of the first half to about 10 minutes into the second, they creaked and wobbled.

Yevhen Konoplyanka exposed Benedikt Howedes’ slight clumsiness again and again, making him look like exactly what he is, a centre-back playing at full-back.

The suggestion is that with centre-back Mats Hummels likely to be fit enough to start against Poland, Howedes could stand aside for Shkodran Mustafi, who played at centre-back against Ukraine.



Jerome Boateng cleared off the line. There was an effort ruled out for a borderline offside. Manuel Neuer made a couple of good saves. Particularly towards the end of the first half, Germany were rocking.

The question is why? The commonest explanation is complacency. As Germany lost in qualifying to Poland and the Republic of Ireland and then in friendlies to England and Slovakia, the buzzword was Turniermannschaft; tour...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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