Dr. Pepper
Chairman of Selectors
An entertaining game in Dortmund ended 1-1, as Giuseppe Rossi came off the bench to cancel out Miroslav Klose's early goal. Germany played a full strength side, rather than using it as an opportunity to give new players a chance, but did however slightly alter their system. Cesare Prandelli handed Thiago Motta his National debut in a diamond midfield.
Italy played an interesting system with a diamond consisting of Mauri, Montolivo, De Rossi and Motta; and had Cassano is a free role off of Pazzini. Offensively Italy struggled to create much, and relied heavily on individual flair rather than collective play. Italy's midfielders seemingly had very undefined roles. While all of them are well rounded players, none of them seemed to have set roles. Thiago Motta was the deepest of all the midfielders, but it should be noted that he is not an out-and-out defensive midfielder.
Antonio Cassano was reunited with his former strike partner Giampaolo Pazzini at the top of the field. Cassano and Pazzini formed a fantastic partnership at Sampdoria, becoming the best 9/10 combination in the league. Here Pazzini played as a traditional forward, whilst Cassano played off of him in a free role. Cassano generally played on the left hand side but drifted from flank to flank.
Germany went with their normal 4-2-3-1 formation with Khedira and Schweinsteiger playing as double pivots. The side was very much their full strength team and Germany were clearly playing to win, rather than experiment with their side.
How they lined up
Germany started off the better team, with Italy struggling to retain possession. Montolivo was largely at fault here as his passes continually went astray. Mauri also struggled, playing a strange role which consisted of him playing high up the pitch but not really as a playmaker. Klose opened the scoring for Germany, improving his already outstanding goalscoring record for his country, but the movement and understanding of the German players has to be outlined. Ozil worked space for Muller to drive into and eventually set up Klose.
Ozil draws out the defender and making lots of space for Muller to run into
The German side showed amazing understanding and awareness of team mates and space around them. Klose and Ozil in particular were outstanding in this area. Despite playing against a congested diamond midfield, Ozil continually found space to work in.
Ozil finds space in a congested midfield
Ozil plays a defence-splitting pass to Klose who made an excellent run, and should've scored
At the World Cup, whilst coating their style with visually aesthetic football, Germany played reactive football. They relied on their opposition to get forward in numbers before mercilessly hitting them on the counter. Here they took a slightly different approach. They carefully brought the ball forward, bringing more men forward and taking the initiative in attacking. This showed good flexibility from Joachim L?w as Italy rarely threatened with numbers and as a unit, so counter-attacking would've been very difficult.
Despite a very positive start, Germany lost their initial momentum and looked very jaded as the game wore on. This brought Italy back into the game and through Aquilani and Rossi started playing much better and eventually scored. Aquilani passed the ball around very well in a calm manner, as opposed to Montolivo who looked panicky whilst on the ball. Rossi's introduction added spark to the side and Italy looked much more likely to score.
Rossi scored the equaliser late on and the game ended 1-1. Germany started very well but weren't able to continue it on throughout the whole game. This gave Italy a window of opportunity, which Rossi eventually took. The thought of having Rossi merely on the bench seems baffling but having him as an option whilst others start to tire is a very good one.
I wrote this piece for my blog Hoof It Up | Discussing Football, tactics and more! . Any comments, opinions, advice would be fully appreciated!
Italy played an interesting system with a diamond consisting of Mauri, Montolivo, De Rossi and Motta; and had Cassano is a free role off of Pazzini. Offensively Italy struggled to create much, and relied heavily on individual flair rather than collective play. Italy's midfielders seemingly had very undefined roles. While all of them are well rounded players, none of them seemed to have set roles. Thiago Motta was the deepest of all the midfielders, but it should be noted that he is not an out-and-out defensive midfielder.
Antonio Cassano was reunited with his former strike partner Giampaolo Pazzini at the top of the field. Cassano and Pazzini formed a fantastic partnership at Sampdoria, becoming the best 9/10 combination in the league. Here Pazzini played as a traditional forward, whilst Cassano played off of him in a free role. Cassano generally played on the left hand side but drifted from flank to flank.
Germany went with their normal 4-2-3-1 formation with Khedira and Schweinsteiger playing as double pivots. The side was very much their full strength team and Germany were clearly playing to win, rather than experiment with their side.
How they lined up
Germany started off the better team, with Italy struggling to retain possession. Montolivo was largely at fault here as his passes continually went astray. Mauri also struggled, playing a strange role which consisted of him playing high up the pitch but not really as a playmaker. Klose opened the scoring for Germany, improving his already outstanding goalscoring record for his country, but the movement and understanding of the German players has to be outlined. Ozil worked space for Muller to drive into and eventually set up Klose.
Ozil draws out the defender and making lots of space for Muller to run into
The German side showed amazing understanding and awareness of team mates and space around them. Klose and Ozil in particular were outstanding in this area. Despite playing against a congested diamond midfield, Ozil continually found space to work in.
Ozil finds space in a congested midfield
Ozil plays a defence-splitting pass to Klose who made an excellent run, and should've scored
At the World Cup, whilst coating their style with visually aesthetic football, Germany played reactive football. They relied on their opposition to get forward in numbers before mercilessly hitting them on the counter. Here they took a slightly different approach. They carefully brought the ball forward, bringing more men forward and taking the initiative in attacking. This showed good flexibility from Joachim L?w as Italy rarely threatened with numbers and as a unit, so counter-attacking would've been very difficult.
Despite a very positive start, Germany lost their initial momentum and looked very jaded as the game wore on. This brought Italy back into the game and through Aquilani and Rossi started playing much better and eventually scored. Aquilani passed the ball around very well in a calm manner, as opposed to Montolivo who looked panicky whilst on the ball. Rossi's introduction added spark to the side and Italy looked much more likely to score.
Rossi scored the equaliser late on and the game ended 1-1. Germany started very well but weren't able to continue it on throughout the whole game. This gave Italy a window of opportunity, which Rossi eventually took. The thought of having Rossi merely on the bench seems baffling but having him as an option whilst others start to tire is a very good one.
I wrote this piece for my blog Hoof It Up | Discussing Football, tactics and more! . Any comments, opinions, advice would be fully appreciated!
