Germany's dismal performance in the UNL, a worrying sign?
Rassiq Aziz Kabir | Tuesday, 28 June 2022
The German national team's performance in the UEFA Nations League 2022 so far has not been up to the mark.
Barring a 5-2 win against an underperforming Italy, the other three results are 1 goal each draws for the German National Team.
As the UEFA Nations League is often termed as 'Glorified Friendlies,' the performance of the German National Team might appear quite normal to many fans, as friendlies have always been their Achilles Heel; but the problem runs way deeper than that.
The German national team, after Hansi Flick took it over, seemed to be in a better state compared to their disastrous performances starting with the 2018 World Cup and culminating in UEFA Euro 2020.
As of now, the team under Flick is yet to suffer a loss, but the team doesn’t seem as dynamic as the German teams of the past.
One of the principal reasons behind this is the lack of a world-class number nine. Germany has always depended on a target man traditionally and the current team lacks exactly that.
Even in the Nations League matches, most of the chances were not converted and they had to look for goals from the midfielders as none among Werner, Havertz and Gnabry are out and out strikers.
Another problem for Germany is in the fullback positions. Germany have produced some of the greatest fullbacks ever to grace the game in the form of Philip Lahm, Berti Vogts, Andreas Brehme and Paul Breitner
Traditional German buildup play is heavily dependent on fullbacks. But the lack of dynamism in the left and right back positions is making the team suffer.
The midfield, despite being relatively star-studded has failed to click properly as a unit and this problem has been evident in the team from the start of last year's European Championship.
The German national team at present is also not heavily dependent on Bayern Munich as they used to be in the past. The over-reliance on Bayern Munich often was a blessing in disguise as it resulted in a strong team combination. The current team's lack of chemistry has been attributed to that factor by many experts.
Despite all this, there are positives as Flick's Germany is still in a position to recover and do well in the World Cup. It will be really interesting for the German fans of this generation to witness the first-ever German team with not much of a burden on their shoulders in this World Cup.