World Cup  How Müller-Neyers’ Germany can play What are their plans?

“World Cup Football is born out of spontaneity, luxury, freedom, and one of our most primitive genomes, like a dance.”

The words are from the legendary Brazilian footballer Socrates. Of course, if you ask the Germans, they might say something different. They will not even go as far as such an analogy. Perhaps they will quote from Gary Lineker’s overused clichéd lines, ‘Football is a very simple game. 22 men chasing a ball for 90 minutes and Germany won. ‘Winning is so sweet for Germany!

Germany is always the favorite in the World Cup. However, it remains. The team that played like a machine day in and day out to win came to play as the defending champions last time and was knocked out in the first round. They also lost against teams like South Korea.

But Germany and this Germany are not the same. Coaches and tactics have also changed. Hansi Flick replaces the legendary Joachim Loew. In what strategy Flick can play the German team, that will be analyzed here.

How dependent on whom?

First, we have to talk about Joshua Kimmich. This Bayern Munich star can be the main weapon of Hansi Flick in the World Cup. He may also be freed from some defensive duties to play a key role in the final third. Manchester City star Ilkay Gundowan will also have a heavy responsibility. The flick will rely heavily on Gundwan for his positional knowledge, ability to handle ‘press’, and skill in the passing range. The Manchester City star can also show great skill in disrupting the opponent’s counter-attack.

The defenders from below have the ability to pass. In Flick’s team, experienced Thomas Müller could play the role of attacking midfielder. He may have to fulfill his duties from a little behind the center forward. This is how Flick used Müller when he was in charge of Bayern Munich. The Bayern star can be seen playing a similar role in the World Cup. Apart from this, there is the experience of the previous World Cups.

Flick can rely on Leroy Sane and Serge Nabi on the wing. These two did not have a place in Louve’s team in the last World Cup. However, both of them can be seen in important roles in the team of the flick. The names of these two will surely be on the list of the best of the time in the wing. And Kai Havertz will be in the scoring role. Germany suffered from a lack of scorers since the 2014 World Cup. Havertz will have the challenge of proving that deficiency has been overcome.

Jamal Musiala can be Flick’s hidden card in the World Cup and Mario Gutsche returns to the team after five years. And there is nothing new to say about the role of Manuel Neuer in the goalkeeper position. The sweeper-keeper can almost do the job of a defender as well as manning the new goalpost. There are two great defenders like Antonio Rudiger and Nicolas Sul. All in all, having a diverse team of players allows Flick to take a lot of liberties tactically.

Varied tactics

Flick’s aggressive tactics open up many avenues to score. Recently, Germany has excelled in all areas – scoring goals, shots, and touching the ball in the opposition d-box – more than many of its opponents. The ‘machine’ that Germany is called, however, has hardly any chance to be applied to this team. This Germany does not play the long ball in that sense of World Cup.

Both Gundwan and Kimmich will build up attacks from below. Especially the kimchi. It will start with him. Germany will start moving forward by creating a 4-2 shape from their own third. At that point, the midfield players also drop back a bit, which allows the two forward attackers to occupy space and move into the opposition d-box.

But the danger of going on an attack like this is that if one of the players fails to do his job properly, it can all go haywire. Against a counter-attacking side, defenses can crumble in no time and risk conceding goals.

Germany used another strategy in preparing for the attack. The two center-backs slowly moved towards the wings and Kimmich left the wing and moved between the two defenders. What happens in this is, the three middle players create the attack, and the two move to the wing and move forward to create pressure on the opposition. And the quick position change causes the opponent to falter and lose a lot of time.

However, the German players can attack properly by keeping their positional structure intact, they can put the opponent under pressure from the start. A little while ago, I was talking about the danger of collapsing against a counter-attacking team.

To avoid this danger, against counter-attacking teams, Flick often uses a 3-2-5 formation to try to break down the opposition’s defense early. On the other hand, the three defenders cover each other all the time and they try to delay the attack by pushing the opposition to the wings in case of counter-attacks.

And between the two pivots (defensive midfielders) of the German team, Kimmich tried to go forward and create constant pressure on the opponent’s defense line. The two pivots and defensive midfielders have to play an important role in stopping the opponent’s attack. And when goals are needed against weaker opponents, Germany switches to a 2-2-6. Where the right-wing moves inside and the right back moves forward.

And when Germany faces a formidable defense, Kimmich still has a vital role to play. In particular, his ability to cover the passing range can become an important tool to break down the opponent’s defense in this case. When there is no space to go with the ball, you have to either pass the ball over the top or go in from the side.

And when Kimmich can’t dribble and get in, he tries to drop the ball dangerously into defense. Kimmich’s importance to the German team can be understood in one statistic. Kimmich alone completed 480 passes in 6 Nations League matches.

However, Germany may still suffer from the attack. There are only a handful of players who can score goals. The team may struggle in front of a strong defense. The recent performance is not good either. He also lost against Hungary. On top of that, they also had to lose Timo Werner. Now the Havertz-Müller-Musicals have to fire up properly.

coagulation protection
Germany has some great players in defense. Antonio Rudiger and Nicolas Sull in particular are enough to bottle up any of the world’s strongest forwards. However, by reducing the tendency to play long balls, they do not have to test their defense too much. Tackle is also very less. The German defense proved its strength when it came to recovering the ball.

German defenders are adept at winning the ball quickly with great pressing. Which is 96 percent more than the opposing teams. Even in the air, they play great. A strong center-back is also a key factor in Flick’s formation diversification, allowing the German coach to get up top with less worry about the backline.

last word

Germany is always the favorite in the World Cup. This time is no exception. Germany’s main goal in Qatar will be to return home with the title. But this year’s World Cup could be challenging for the team. May suffer volatility of strategy. The risk of collapsing a perfect counterattack cannot be ruled out.

However, going through the group stage will not be easy. Germany is joined by former world champions Spain, Japan, and Costa Rica. The last time he came to play as the world champion and had to leave after losing in the first round of the World Cup.

They will want to turn around after learning from there. But it is not enough to say. This should also be shown with consistency. For that, there is no alternative to burning the team together. And if you fail to become the champion in the group, the danger is waiting for step by step. Flick knows the trick to deal with that danger. Now only if it can be applied properly in the field. World Cup