Contents
Read on one page Contents
Page 1Lost without the ball
Page 2Completely opposite movement artists Page 3Nagelsmann seems to have no doubts
Major Tom doesn’t take off that night. When the tinkling of cowbells echoed through the Frankfurt stadium in the 63rd minute of the Switzerland-Germany match, it was clear to even the most loyal German fan that this was not going to be a very good evening. The Swiss were leading 1-0, and a not undeserved defeat was in the air. While the Germans’ fluid style of play was praised after the first preliminary round matches, Frankfurt experienced moments of the game coagulating. The fans could see the end of all their dreams: elimination from the tournament in the quarter-finals at the latest, carried out by the furious Spaniards.
Every German player who approached the midfield, which was overloaded with red Swiss players, had a thought bubble floating early on, in which a question mark was visible to the entire stadium. For example, over the head of the attacking full-back Maximilian Mittelstädt, who preferred to play back to Kroos and Tah rather than rush into the open. And even over the head of the majestic Toni Kroos, whose toenails were damaged by the Swiss playmaker Granit Xhaka with one or two tackles.
Manuel Neuer’s opening passes into the dark corners of his own half of the pitch caused the German defenders to struggle; attempts to break out of these narrow areas of the field elegantly were often missed. One thing was clear: the team feels comfortable when it has possession of the ball; when it loses it, its nerves tremble, even panic can be felt. Some teams use the method of deliberately losing the ball to lure the opponent into a false sense of security and out of their cover. The French, for example, are masters of this hypocritical asceticism that consists of not doing something that one could do – namely, dominate the game; instead, they let the opponent fall into the trap of overconfidence.
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This method is not available to Germany, the ball possession giant. It goes against the nature of the team. Perhaps the team’s playing sophistication is not yet sufficient to practice it. The team is sometimes easy to predict, it likes to drive the opponent in front of it, the offensive then follows an encirclement pattern, which in the most recent case worked halfway up to the edge of the penalty area – where it fizzled out or resulted in counterattacks.
This article comes from ZEIT No. 28/2024. You can read the entire issue here. Discover issue
Nevertheless, the Germans’ game is a spectacle, a show that should not be missed, if only because of the two young artists, Musiala and Wirtz. In Frankfurt, Musiala did what only he can do: he chased, flicked, twisted the ball through an endless chain of bottlenecks (defensive chains) – and then threw himself after it. A magician whose art only fully unfolds in close-ups, in the slow-motion analysis of his Sarrasani micro-movements: a self-escaper who dances in bends and turns. He loves to get caught up in problems – in duels that, if the opposing defense calls the Musiala alarm, can turn into a three- or four-man fight.
Wirtz, on the other hand, strives for freedom. His signature move is the jump over the opponent’s straddle leg, a movement that appears particularly daring because he is wearing low-seated shin guards.
Major Tom doesn’t take off that night. When the tinkling of cowbells echoed through the Frankfurt stadium in the 63rd minute of the Switzerland-Germany match, it was clear to even the most loyal German fan that this was not going to be a very good evening. The Swiss were leading 1-0, and a not undeserved defeat was in the air. While the Germans’ fluid style of play was praised after the first preliminary round matches, Frankfurt experienced moments of the game coagulating. The fans could see the end of all their dreams: elimination from the tournament in the quarter-finals at the latest, carried out by the furious Spaniards.
