A self-contradictory German football team with a generation lost in transition
As I write this article, the Germans have won the 2021 UEFA U-21 Euro defeating Portugal. This was their third consecutive appearance in the final stage of this tournament, which they also won in 2009 and 2017. Apart from Leverkusen wonder-kid Florian Wirtz, the Germans had quite a lackluster side compared to their Portuguese, French, Dutch, and Spanish counterparts. Yet, it was them who ended up going the farthest.
And this is something we have come to expect from a German team time and again, the whole being far superior to the sum of its parts. Euro 96 saw Germany overcome a strong English side (on penalties) in their own backyard to eventually go on and win the tournament. 2002 FIFA World Cup saw lady luck favoring one of the weakest German teams since World War 2 as they unexpectedly reached the finals. Even in the 2017 U-21 Euro finals, Die Mannschaft defeated a Spanish side that boasted names like Saul, Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos, Hector Bellerin, and Kepa Arrizabalaga.
However, we are seeing a contrasting trend when it comes to the current German national football team. One glimpse at their Euro squad and we can find the who’s who of European football. Werner, Havertz (at least during the final stages), and Rudiger were core to Chelsea’s Champions League victory this year. So were the likes of Neuer, Kimmich, Goretzka, Muller, and Gnabry last year for Bayern Munich’s treble. Gundogan was City’s top goalscorer this season. Volland and Gosens have had a scintillating time in the French and Italian leagues respectively. And Kroos has been one of the best midfielders in the world for quite a while now. And yet the national team flatters to deceive.
On Matchday 6 of Nations League, Spain steamrolled Germany by six goals to nil. The Germans had just two shots throughout the match as compared to 23 by La Roja, leading to Germany’s worst defeat since 1931. That was in November 2020, a year marred by a few more such shocks (Bayern Munich 8–2 FC Barcelona; Aston Villa 7–2 Liverpool, Tottenham 6–1 United). Alas, much hope wasn’t to be found in 2021 too. Germany is currently sitting third in their FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers group, after a 2–1 defeat against North Macedonia, a country ranked 62nd by FIFA.
As bad as these scorelines may look, the situation is far worse on the field. To begin with, Joachim Loew is yet to narrow down on a formation or a style of play. 4–3–3? 4–2–3–1? 3–4–3? No one knows for sure what formation Germany is going to field in Euros. And this is partly due to their highly incoherent defense. Time and again we have seen the team squander early leads. The quality of fullbacks available at disposal raises a big question mark too, and so does the absence of a central pivot in the front to play around.
Talking about the latter, Germany hasn’t been able to find a quality old-fashioned center-forward who can dominate the box since Mario Gomez. Serge Gnabry, who has been very prolific for Germany with 16 goals in 22 appearances, isn’t fit for this role. Even at Bayern, he plays as an inside forward with Robert Lewandowski at front. And if his recent exploits at Chelsea are any indicator, Timo Werner can’t be a suitable option as well. As a result, we often see the ball being moved forward in promising positions with no one in the box to attack it. Thomas Muller’s return to the side has brought some hope, but even he has transitioned into the role of a playmaker more so than a finisher. While I agree that football is moving towards an era where old school target men will get redundant, this German side simply doesn’t seem to have the fluidity or organization to function well with a false nine.
Coming to Joachim Loew, his situation is quite aptly described by a quote from The Dark Knight,
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Old man Loew has been drawing a lot of flak for Die Mannschaft's grim situation. I can’t help but think whether some of it could be attributed to his lost bets, a group of promising players that never fulfilled their destiny. And the best place to start talking about this is the 2014 FIFA World Cup final. The winning goal for Germany was scored by a 22-year-old Mario Goetze, courtesy of an inch-perfect cross by a 23-year-old Andre Schurrle. In a perfect world both these names, touted as the future of German football, should have been at their prime at this stage of their career.
Yet things started going downhill for them quite soon. Goetze was unable to keep up with the highly demanding atmosphere at Bayern Munich, where he found himself out of favor after a couple of years. His return to Dortmund was marred by injuries, as a result of which the immensely talented attacker was never able to recapitulate his top form. Things turned out to be worse for Schurrle, who was on loan with Fulham in the 2018–19 EPL season when they got relegated. After another loan spell at Spartak Moscow, he retired from professional football at the age of 29. Both the players last featured for Die Mannschaft in 2017.
The same year, Germany sent a young team to the Confederations Cup in Russia. Despite missing a lot of big names, this team won the tournament ahead of European Champions Portugal and South American Champions Chile. Many of these youngsters found a chance to shine in glory. Yet when it came to finding a permanent spot in the German team, a lot of them failed. Marvin Plattenhardt and Benjamin Henrichs couldn’t end Germany’s search for a reliable full-back pair, especially since Kimmich got into midfield. Jonas Hector suffered from playing for a Koln side is always on the brim of relegation. Sebastian Rudy didn’t turn out to be the defensive pivot on which a midfield could rely. Neither Lars Stindl nor Julian Brandt could successfully fill in for Muller and Ozil.
And now comes the captain of that side, Julian Draxler. As a 20-year old, Draxler only got the opportunity to play for a few minutes in the 2014 World Cup-winning side. Yet the Schalke player was a key building block for Loew’s future German team. He seemed to be on the right track in PSG, scoring 10 goals in 25 appearances in the first season post a winter transfer. But the arrival of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe meant that Draxler slipped way down the pecking order within the club. Meanwhile, he kept getting opportunities with the national side for longer than most expected. Eventually, everyone realized that the gap between expectation and reality never diminished. I do believe if Draxler and some of these other players had stayed relevant enough, Germany could have had a much stronger core today.
Coming to the actual tournament, Germany has been placed in Group F alongside France, Portugal, and Hungary, aptly described as the group of death. This is not the first time Germany found itself in a proverbial group of death. In Euro 1996, they were placed alongside three former European champions in Italy (winners in 1968), Czech Republic (winners in 1976 as Czechoslovakia), and Russia (winners in 1960 as the Soviet Union). Things were quite similar during Euro 2012, when they played against the Netherlands (winners in 1988), Denmark (winners in 1992), and Portugal (to be winners in 2016). On both occasions, they easily got past the group stages, eventually ending up as winners and semi-finalists respectively.
Alas, those were different times when Germany entered as tournament favorites. But even if Germany was at its best, this group is no cakewalk. France and Portugal are the reigning World and European champions, respectively. Their sides have only got stronger since their victories. Hungary, too, isn’t a pushover either.
On a positive note, though, Germany is playing all their group games on home turf. Also, European Championships have had a history of surprising us. When we think of the strongest team in Europe, Denmark and Greece aren’t the first names that come to mind. Even Portugal’s victory in 2016 was seen as a major upset. In a 24 team tournament where 16 teams enter the knockout round, luck can (and will) play a big role.
Whether Joachim Loew’s last tango ends in glee or despair, we’ll soon get to know.
P.S. I am trying not to get too optimistic by Germany thrashing a second-string Latvian side. The goal scored by Latvia’s Aleksejs Saveljevs is worth watching, though.
