Germany announce themselves
My expectations of Germany going deep into the tournament, with them winning it should England not do it in my opinion, looks like it may well come to fruition now. Any hopes Scotland had of causing a shock upset were very quickly extinguished within the first 20 minutes of their opening game. Germany came out with a statement to the rest of Europe that they’re going to be one of the top dogs this tournament. The result never looked in doubt with Germany in total control from the first minute, it took Scotland 87 minutes to simply have a shot at goal.
Kids running the show
Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala were cemented into my fantasy team for this Euros and last night demonstrated exactly why. Musiala looked unreal skipping between defenders at will, I was imagining our England defence against him and it was a daunting thought as he commits so many players towards him and he rarely loses the ball. Wirtz was a different sort of number 10 just making runs in behind and constantly being a box threat, providing them with a lovely balance between the two youngsters. As I thought as well, it provided Germany with so much fluidity in their forward positions and made it a nightmare for Scotland’s back five to try and stay with their men. These youngsters will be at the heart of this German attack these next few weeks, so expect them to create and score a lot more goals.
The Old Heads
Germany’s more experienced players also shone, in particular Kroos and Gündogan. Ìlkay Gündogan operated as more of an attacking midfielder in behind Havertz and he showed his footballl IQ to a tee. He was dropping into the half spaces behind Scotland’s defence, spinning in behind and down the channels and he always seemed to have time in the final third in that first half. Hopefully him being withdrawn was only a precaution for Germany’s sake. I have to acknowledge that pass from Gündogan for the Musiala goal, his ball to Havertz who got the assist was outrageous. If De Bruyne had made that pass every media outlet and pundit would have been raving about it, seeing the pass was one thing but the execution was perfect, and Havertz probably should’ve finished it himself.
Toni Kroos, showed that elegance and guile I had spoken about in my predictions. He simply sat as the quarter back and sprayed some lovely long balls, while also keeping things ticking over and feeding the forward players with some clever passes. He was never rushed or harried to make a mistake, because he always found space for himself and knew where his teammates were at all times, you could tell. These two older players will need to be kept fresh by Nagelsmann as not every game will be as easy as last night and their young squad will need their experience to guide them.
Scotland woes
The media pundits absolutely ripped into Scotland during their analysis on TV. While I agree that Scotland didn’t perform as well as they could’ve, Germany in that first half were so impressive. They penned Scotland in and didn’t let them try and play out from the back. Scotland just didn’t have the quality to get through the German press or to sit and hold what they had.
The players took a lot of stick for the defeat last night, but tactically it didn’t look right from Scotland. Firstly, if you’re going to be penned in and don’t expect much of the ball, you want a focal point up top as an out ball. In that first half, Scotland’s out ball was Che Adams, and while he will work hard and press defenders and run, he’s not an out ball option for the defence. Every time they had to go long because of the German press the ball was just turned over almost instantly as they couldn’t retain it further forward. Starting Lawrence Shankland may not have improved the result for Germany but it certainly would’ve given them more of a chance to give their defence a break at times.
The five-back Scotland operate in to accommodate for their top left backs, Robertson and Tierney, cost them yesterday as well. As Germany had 5 across the midfield, they outnumbered Scotland so their defenders were never sure whether to step up and press or not. Germany destabilised the Scottish defence by exploiting Scotland’s midfield. This is something Steve Clark should have seen coming before the game, and definitely something he should’ve addressed in the game. He could have moved Robertson further forward, Tierney to left back, then tucked McGinn into the midfield and shuffled the forwards round. I did see this as a lack of tactical nous from Clark and he’ll have to learn quickly for the next games.
Scotland will need to dress themselves down and quickly forget about this result if they want anything from this group. One win could be enough for Scotland to progress but if I’m honest, after last night I really don’t see where that win comes from. Germany to top the group and head to the final has always been my shout and remains the same.