Germany have added two more titles to their incredible tally in the last week, with the U21's winning the European Championships, beating favourites Spain in the final. And last night the senior team won their first ever Confederations cup by edging out Alexis Sanchez's Chile side, also by 1 goal to nil. So Germany winning major tournaments, what's new? Germany are the joint second most successful side in World Cup history (Level with Italy on 4 titles, 1 behind Brazil) and the most successful side in the history of the European Championships, winning three titles. The are also currently ranked 3rd in the World in the FIFA world rankings but their Confederations cup win will see them up to first when the new rankings are announced. So, I ask again, what's new? Why is Germany winning two more titles such a news worthy event?
Let's start with the U21 European Championships. Going into the tournament the heavy favourites were Spain, and the Spaniards appeared to be taking the competition very seriously, brushing teams aside on route to the final. Then we have Germany. First of all, the team that featured was not the Germany U21 side, in fact 10, yes 10 players who could have featured in the tournament weren't even part of the squad. And these aren't squad players, these are guaranteed starters. The likes of Emre Can from Liverpool, Joshua Kimmich of German champions Bayern, Manchester City's Leroy Sane as well as Bayer Leverkusen stars Jonathan Tah and Juilian Brandt, none of these players made the squad. Why? We'll get to that. In fact with the missing players, you can put together an entire outfield side that could have won the tournament. Then we have, what I like to call, typical Germany. Why is it that, no matter how good the side, as soon as they face Germany they forget how to play football. This means that Germany don't even have to play well to win on many occasion, and that is often the case, including during this tournament. Germany didn't even win their group, finishing second to Italy via the head-to head rule. But then we reached the knock out rounds, the matches that actually matter to the Germans. Despite being taken to penalties by England, they were by far and away the better team, out classing the young lions at every turn. This still however wasn't a convincing Germany win, but that's the key word, win. Then we reached the final, their opponents Spain tore Italy apart 3-1 in their semi final and looked in great form. But form doesn't matter when Germany are involved. It was a tactical masterclass by the under dogs (How can I call Germany the under dogs!?) Limiting Spain to very few chances, the fast flowing football that had lead the Spaniards to the final was no where to be found, and one glancing header later, Germany were champions. They played their best football once all tournament, with a drastically weakened team, and they won the entire thing. Of course they did.
Now to the Confederations cup. This is a very strange tournament, with some sides taking it incredible seriously and featuring their star players (Like now former holders Brazil in 2013) and with some sides featuring weakened sides. Now Germany fall into the column of the later. Do you remember when I said 10 Under 21s didn't feature in the U21 European Championships? That was because they were all playing in Russia. The U21 team were effectively representing the senior side, the likes of Leon Goretzka, captain of the side Julian Draxler and star striker Timo Werner. These U21 players were staring for the senior side, and as you now know, winning the entire thing. And much like in the U21 European Championships, Germany won it without every really hitting top gear! Much like Spain in the before mentioned tournament, opponents Chile came into the Confederations Cup final looking like the better side. The likes of Sanchez and Vidal were tipped to be too strong and experience for this second string German side. Now Chile managed a lot more chances then Spain's U21s but once again Germany did a number on their opponents. Scoring an early goal through a defensive mistake and then sitting back and playing on the counter. Now this is what makes the current situation so impressive from Germany's point of view. If you class the Confederations Cup winning side as German's B team, and their U21 winning side as their C team, you are, of course, left with their first team, the current World Champions. This means Germany currently are able to put out three entirely different sides, knowing they can win on the world stage. They beat the current, back to back Copa America winners Chile, without the likes of Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Marco Reus, Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil just to name a few. Chile featured their strongest side, a side that turned over Lionel Messi's Argentina to reach the competition, and Germany's second team out thought them, beating them and claiming their first Confederations cup title. 
The level of depth Germany currently have with their national side is simply remarkable and it is all a product of their reshuffle following the European Championships in France in 2000. After a poor tournament the German FA restructured their national league and everything below it to be a platform for the national side. The growth of young players was the priority, with the goal to become World Champions again by 2014. And now, in 2017, we can see that Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but have continued to grow, with their depth and pool of talent the envy of the rest of the footballing world. The German players now all posses a winning mentality, they know how to win when the pressure is really on. This is what allows them to win big games without playing well, they just know how to win, it's been pumped into them from the grass roots level, the overhaul in the early 2000's and it is now paying off big time on the national stage.
Every side on the planet right now can learn from Germany, but really we've been saying this for years! The perfect execution of the plan set up by the German FA is an example of a long term goal being reached and surpassed, but to reach a long term goal you first have to set one! That is a big problem, in particularly with the English national side. Too much pressure is put on the 'here and now' and not enough thought is being put into the future. Joachim Low saw the Confederations cup as a chance for some of his younger players to shine for the senior side, win the competition, gain that vital winning mentality. The side Germany's U21s beat in the semi finals of their competition, England, and despite the close score line they out classed them with a side that was very much their junior! The side that player were effectively German's C team and they seemed far more matured and used to playing on the national stage. If the likes of Deli Ali and Marcus Rashford where at the tournament then that game could have gone very differently and it would be young English players learning how to win and gaining the vital experience that the German's clearly already possesed, but yet again it's the German's. Of course it is. What was that quote again Gary?
Football is a simple game, twenty two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.
No comments:
Post a Comment