No center has a headache, there is a center and is not important. The German team in the 2022 World Cup died of Flick’s paranoia as well as a disappearance of tradition. ]
Haverts? Thomas Muller? Phil Kruger?
No matter who stands at the front of the formation chart, Germany can only accept the bad luck of being out of the group stage of the World Cup for the second time in a row. In the absence of “Top 9” in the World Cup, “Germanic chariot” was not favored from the beginning, and the end result was really bad. After Klose retires, Germany can only struggle with “no one in the center”. Haverts and Phil Krueger each scored two goals in this World Cup, but who will be satisfied?
[inefficient attack]
In September, Germany visited Wembley to challenge England in the European League. Towards the end of the first half, Jonas Hoffman sent Haverts a perfect cross, but the scene that followed showed that it was just a false “air raid warning”. The Chelsea attacker, who cruised near the penalty spot, was not even ready to finish the goal with his head.
If it were Gad Muller, Herubesch, Rummenigge, Bierhoff, Voller, Klinsmann, Klose. Or some other retired German center, nine times out of ten, will smash the ball into England’s goal.
In the second half of the wonderful showdown (3-3), Haverts scored twice to save face. However, after the game, many German fans already knew that the most important and deadly weapon would be lacking on the German flight to Doha.
“there is no center in the country of centers!” It is definitely not an exaggeration for the German media to howl. There are two Germans in the top three of the World Cup history shooters, Klose (16 goals in 24 games) and Gad Muller (14 goals in 13 games). Among the players who scored in double digits were two “pure No. 9” from Germany-Klinsmann (11 goals in 17 games) and Helmuth Lahn (1954 champion, 10 goals in 10 games). With Germany out of the group stage of this World Cup, Thomas Muller, who did not score a goal in 3 games (10 goals in 19 games), has been difficult to surpass his predecessors. It seems that in the next decade or so, no German striker will be able to compete for the top scorer in World Cup history.
Also in the Europa League in September this year, Germany also lost 0-1 at home to Hungary, which missed the World Cup in Qatar. There is no pure “No. 9”, coach Flick can only let players from other positions play the role of center. “We really don’t have many suitable candidates for this position.” After losing to Hungary, Kimishi repeatedly stressed that the team had created a lot of opportunities. But what’s the use of that? It is no exaggeration to say that Germany has been unable to turn an “expected goal” into a score since Russia was knocked out of the World Cup group.
There are Gnabri and Sane on the flank and Thomas Mueller, Kimishi and Musiala in the middle, and the Germans think they can continue to kill. But at the top of coach Flick’s 4231 formation, neither Haverts nor Worner, who missed Qatar due to injury, did not show a convincing performance. The impression left by the two of them in the German team in the past has also directly led Flick not to use Phil Krueger, who has done well in the Bundesliga this season.
German coach Peter Zeidler, who once worked as an assistant to Lonnick and now coaches the Swiss team St. Gallen, said: “Thomas (Muller), who has scored 10 goals in the World Cup, is a good scorer.” but he still needs a real ‘No. 9’ in front of him, such as the former Klose or Lewan. Thomas’s strength is to walk between the lines, the kind of mobile character is the most suitable for him. Flick obviously couldn’t exert his power when he kicked the arrow. ”
The source of Germany’s inefficiency in the penalty area and in front of the goal is indeed the 2018 World Cup. Mario Gomez played a good role as a Terminator at Euro 2016 until he was injured in the quarter-finals of 1amp. Two years later, as the defending champion of the World Cup, the Germanic Chariot lost the first battle and was out of the group stage, and the conclusion of the industry was surprisingly consistent: there was no gunhead and was still obsessed with possession of the ball. In Russia, the German team, which always has an absolute scene advantage, was so tormented by the inefficiency of the front line that Worner, the main center, failed to score a goal in three group games. Since then, Loew football has been regarded as out-of-date, completely unable to do German football, which focuses on efficiency and rapid transformation.
[football Weekly 2023
The year-round subscription activity of the micro-store is very popular]
[change of ideas]
Klop, a television commentator, has warned Germany after losing to England in the eighth final of Euro 1 last year because, in his view, England has far more centre-forward reserves than his home country. “there are seven centers in England, why don’t we?”
The Liverpool manager’s heartfelt appeal is not just for the national team, as the Bundesliga’s local high center has also been out of gear in recent years. In the past 10 years, except for the occasional Kisling and Alexander Mayer, the top scorer in the Bundesliga are basically foreign strikers, such as Levan, Harland, Modester, Weshorst and Obamayan. This situation is not likely to improve in the near future, because just this summer, the Bundesliga team bought a number of foreign aid shooters, from Bayern Manet, Dot’s Arley to Frankfurt’s Mouani.
Worner, who has been scolded at Chelsea, has returned to Leipzig this season, but he cannot guarantee his place in the first team. As a barometer of the German team, Bayern also encountered the trouble of not having a real center. After Levan moved to Barcelona, Young Marshal Nagelsmann did not look for a stand-in point-to-point. He believed that the existence of the Polish center made the team “too easy to predict and too easy to be killed.” In his view, the introduction of Manet such a versatile player who can play in three positions of the frontline can make Bayern frontline “more flexible”.
This good wish did not come true. The Bundesliga tycoon did not return to the top of the league until November because of a series of stupid points losses after the start of the league. For example, in the draw with Menxing, Bayern players swung 33 feet, shot 20 shots within the frame, and finally scored only one goal. There was more than one such game, and Bayern Honorary President Uli Hernes also told the local TV station helplessly: “We lack a center.” We can create a lot of opportunities, but we don’t show efficiency. ”
Nagelsmann, who refused to bring in a pure center last summer, also had a deep self-reflection before the World Cup. Cameroon international center Shubo Moting was included in the starting line-up and had a good performance. Ironically, when Bayern executives handed over the position to the young Nagelsmann after winning the Champions League in 2020, they took a fancy to his flexible offensive style in Leipzig-Nkunku, Yusuf Poulsen, Kluivert Jr., Olmo and Forsberg, without a traditional center.
Former German international Neuville admitted: “Yes, after Klose retired, we no longer have a good traditional center.” Ten years ago, there were many excellent ‘No. 9′ in the Bundesliga, but they were not very good technically. Nowadays, our strikers are very fast, often cruising to the flank, more flexible, better at one-on-one or counterattack. So less and less people see the cross hit directly into the penalty area, which is why. ”
The fact that Germany does not have a gun has a lot to do with the change in the attacking style of the Bundesliga. Sagnior, who won five Bundesliga titles at Bayern and served as interim manager of Southern Star, believes that the Germans have vigorously developed and promoted an offensive style called “Kontinuat Speil” or “Dominant Spiel”, that is, a continuous and very flexible attack. “it requires possession of the ball and non-stop organization of attacks. This change in style has nurtured players with certain characteristics, such as Haverts, who are energetic, fast and skilled, but it is difficult to pinpoint him. Attacking midfield? Winger? Second vanguard? Or fake No. 9? ”
“nowadays, German football has been somewhat kidnapped by Dominant Spiel’. They have moved away from their own culture and abandoned the traditional style that will cultivate the next Klose for them. ”
Is it reasonable to forget your roots? ]
It is not surprising that Guardiola’s experience of coaching Bayern from 2013 to 2016 played a big role in taking root in this culture. During his coaching career in Catalonia, the Catalan coach has been criticized for the use of centers, from Eto’o, Ibrahimovic to Aguero. But Caidler doesn’t think it’s Guardiola’s fault.
“German football uses’ No. 9 ‘less and less, which has a lot to do with Pepe. After he came to the Bundesliga, he used ‘fake No. 9’, full-back assists, delicate ball control and high position to press and grab, which is proper modern football! ‘German flank cross? No, no! I don’t want to see it! We can cross, but only when it is needed for offensive cooperation.’ You see, Pepe actually knows how to use Levan, and now there is a pure center like Harland in Manchester City’s front line. ”
However, Guardiola led Manchester City to lose the Champions League final (0-1 Chelsea) in 2021.
According to Bayer Leverkusen legend and Kirsten, a representative of the German center in the 1990s, apart from Guardiola, the success of the Spanish national team has a greater impact because they always let midfielder Cesc Fabregas play center. “the Bundesliga’s top clubs frequently turn to foreign strikers for help, which shows that there is a problem.” Kirsten believes that in the past few years, Bundesliga clubs have neglected the building of centers when training young people. “some Germans see that Spain can win the championship without a center, so they also want to learn from it: although there is no center, other attacking players can also pose a threat. I think it’s a mistake. Of course, we need to be patient and wait a few years for a truly qualified center to prove that the tradition is still there. ”
Kirsten believes that if you want to feel the last legacy of the German center, you can only go to the Bundesliga, such as Hamburg center Gratzer, who is 1.93 meters tall. There is also 34-year-old center Trott (1.92 meters) who currently plays for Schalke 04 and has set a scoring record for Serie B. However, the two centers do not seem to be able to gain a foothold in the top league, although the number of goals in the Bundesliga has skyrocketed after the change of style.
German coach Gernot Rohr said: “A team that plays around a traditional center will actually have some disadvantages.” If the center is targeted, the whole offensive system will collapse. Flick likes to choose more attacking talent, and these attackers don’t have a fixed position and run a lot. As for the future of German football, I am not worried. There are still many players who can score goals.
Today, with the high degree of globalization of football, Germans refuse to stick to the tradition and do not want to maintain the old German style of football. Caidler said: “We have to ask ourselves a question: does Germany really have a ‘No. 9’ that can let the team win?” We have had Uwe Schiller, Gad Muller, Herubesch, Voller and Klose before. Should we succumb to tradition in the future? If you want to win, you must put a 1.88-meter-tall guy who is good at grabbing a header in the penalty area. The attacking process of modern football has changed and we don’t need so many shooters waiting for the cross in the middle. ”
Today’s European football, along with Harland, Vlahovic, Harry Kane and Inmoli é, is reminiscent of the traditional role of centre-forward. Caidler appreciates the youth training of French football very much because they have trained excellent strikers of various styles, especially Mbappe and Benzema. “the last outstanding German center in football today is also in France. He is Giroux!”
The author: Sharif Genmor
Compiling: directional wave
This article was originally published in the 856 issue of Football Weekly
Issue date: 2022.12.15
The picture is from the Internet.