Leaving another World Cup early has exposed a lack of strategy and order that means Germany no longer always win in the endGary Lineker is no longer right. Football is no longer a game in which Germany win in the end. In Qatar, the big nations have succeeded so far. Only not us; as in the two previous major tournaments, Germany were eliminated early.A pattern can be discerned in the failures of the past four or five years. Germany have lost defensive stability – the team cannot keep anyone away from their goal. Every opponent creates chances, even Costa Rica and (in the only preparation match) Oman. Germany’s game always suffers a break. Continue reading...
Switzerland’s captain provided a freeze-frame history primer of the troubled relationship between Albania, Kosovo and SerbiaMaybe Fifa does have a sense of humour after all. Certainly there was a note of dark comedy in the news, relayed breathlessly over the PA on the final whistle, that the player of the match in this fraught Group E decider was Granit Xhaka.Not that Xhaka didn’t deserve it. He played well in deep midfield on a steamy night at Stadium 974. He controlled the tempo at times. More to the point Xhaka also controlled the noises off, directing the dark energy that must always accompany this fixture with the poise of a veteran conductor. Albeit, a veteran conductor with one hand down his...
Gareth Southgate’s adjusted midfield setup looked strong against Wales but nothing comes easy at a World CupWe may have got a glimpse of Gareth Southgate’s tactics for the knockout stages in the win over Wales on Tuesday. The England head coach changed the central midfield three, removing the attacking role behind Harry Kane to bring in the experienced Jordan Henderson in a deeper position.England will have seen what other teams are doing and how they operate, leaving Southgate to create a plan that could take England through to the final. Brazil, for example, go through the middle of teams and an extra man in central midfield will help counteract that. It worked against Wales, who managed a solitary shot. Continue...
The great German teams could raise their games to suit the occasion, but this new side seem to do the polar oppositeEverything is connected. A whistle blows in Doha and within fractions of seconds, via a lattice of mobile phone networks and whispers and nudges, its sound has somehow travelled the 30 miles to Al Khor. And the cheer around the stadium gives the game away, and on the Germany bench Hansi Flick senses a change in the air, and he takes a look around, and he glances at his bench, and he knows, he just knows. He turns back to face the pitch. But his hands are in his pockets, and his thoughts are elsewhere.Everything is connected. A World...
Hajime Moriyasu’s team won a game that seemed way beyond them for the second time in a wild and extraordinary outcomeSuddenly they went wild and just as suddenly they stopped again. Japan’s players though would be given a second chance and so, it turned out, would Spain’s. Ao Tanaka had bundled the ball into the net, the World Cup upside down again and a sprint had begun, squad and staff racing each other from bench to corner. Hajime Moriyasu’s side had scored twice in three minutes and so, for the second time in this tournament, they were now winning a game that had seemed way beyond them; that hadn’t seemed like a match at all in fact.Better still, 2-1 up...