“That rarely happens”: the German error eleven surprised them

Sunday, October 11, 2020

By Tobias Nordmann

The best news from the point of view of the German team is the result. Thanks to narrow success in the Ukraine Nations League, national coach Joachim Löw’s team ended its winless curse. However, the team was again unconvincing.

The ARD had done a lot to quickly give its viewers a very good feeling on Saturday night. As soon as the football broadcast for the Nations League duel between Ukraine and the German team started, images of players focused but relaxed were shown. A smiling Toni Kroos, a focused Joshua Kimmich in conversation with Joachim Löw. The best cast in the best shape. Obviously no one should turn off the television or change the channel immediately after the news. Lothar Matthäus had recently analyzed these side effects in his national accusation against the national coach and his team.

And now, this Saturday night, it was finally about something again, not like the 3: 3 that was wildly tested on Wednesday in Cologne against Turkey. Sporty and atmospheric. It was about finally ending the strange lack of victory in this competition. It was about finally winning another game in 2020. And it was about taking momentum from the debates about the national coach and the team’s loss of importance.

In its entirety, however, it has only had regular success at best. Germany’s footballers won 2: 1 (1: 0) in front of 17,573 spectators in the Kyiv crown risk area. In doing so, they brought their leadership to the finish line, which recently often failed and has become a major problem. Among other things in the national prosecution of Matthew.

“Not the stars played from the sky”

For the rest, however, the images of the concentrated and relaxed national players were quickly surpassed in the 90 minutes. The team’s play was surprisingly sloppy, except for the sick Timo Werner (late), the injured Leroy Sané (knee) and no Ilkay Gündogan (regaining strength after his ugly crown) in the formation that he would like to play for the title at European Championship next year.

However, it did not provide reliable evidence that it can do that against seriously weakened Ukraine. “We also know that we did not play against the stars in the sky. That was not our best game,” said Matthias Ginter, who scored 1-0 (20th). Leon Goretzka was responsible for the second German goal, who reacted very quickly after a fatal error by Heorhij Buschtschan and headed the ball into the goal. For the Ukrainian, Ruslan Malinowski scored from eleven meters (76º).

Meanwhile, Ginter was not only self-critical, but also shocked by the many negligence. The Gladbacher criticized “a lot of simple turnovers.” His conclusion: “Errors so simple in frequency that they rarely occur with a German team.” What Ginter said, which is increasingly becoming a reliable and stabilizing constant in the back chain, could hardly be found in the national coach’s analysis. Loew also struggled with the fact that “we gave away the balls too easily in some phases,” but was basically satisfied “that we won the game. We didn’t manage everything, but we definitely did a lot.”

Quite far from the mainstream

He was satisfied with the defense, which “did not allow any opportunity to be played.” He was also satisfied with the scenes he had performed. “After the 2-0 win, we had two or three great chances.” The fact that he saw a very “attentive and focused” team was not the opinion of the mainstream. But hey, Löw is a stranger to her anyway. He reacted very clearly to the accusations of the last few days. Löw’s central message was: “I see the big picture. We already know what we are doing.” Criticism of him, his track record and the selection of personnel are allowed, he said, but he is above that. “I’ve been experiencing this for 16 years. You are constantly reflecting on yourself. I can classify criticism. It is important for us that we constantly question ourselves and then apply the levers.”

Already Tuesday (as of 8.45 pm ARD and on the live ticker at ntv.de) continues again in Cologne against Switzerland. Löw announced in Kiev that he did not want to change much in terms of personnel. “It is important that the team get used to it. The team that played today was not together for more than ten months. I will not change much in the starting lineup if everyone is in shape.”