[What to expect from Joachim Löw’s Germany in the upcoming international break]

Similar to Spain, Germany is another former world champion who is currently going through the
transition phase with a very promising young core of talents. Most of the squad that had played
a crucial part in their 2014 World Cup journey had reached their last stage of their respective
careers or even retired. Under the management of the man who has guided that golden
generation to the most prestigious trophy in world football, Joachim Löw, this group of
youngsters is expected to lead the country back to where they belong.

 Squad information and preferred formation

With the current pandemic situation in Germany, it resulted in not many of their key players
were able to be called up to the national team due to them being tested positive for the virus.
But it is also a great chance for young players such as Felix Uduokhai or Florian Neuhaus to have
their opportunity to showcase their talent while playing for the national team.

At the back, Marcel Halstenberg and Thilo Kehrer have all withdrawn from the squad due to
their injury, which will be a big blow to the team’s defence. At the same time, third-choice
keeper Oliver Baumann also returned to Hoffenheim due to a precaution with several of the
team members tested positive. To make the matter worse, an injury that Joshua Kimmich faced
at Bayern will rule him out for a long period of time, but Löw and the fans will hope that he can
return on time for the ‘Euro 2021’ and World Cup 2022.

With the remaining players, it is expected that Löw will line his side up in a 3-4-2-1 formation
and it was the formation that he went with in their recent friendly against Czech Republic. With
two pivots staying in front of the defenders, it allows one of the two, usually Kroos to drop
deeper to receive the ball from the centre-backs. Meanwhile, the other pivot will look to stay in
between the opposition’s pressure lines and attempt to link up with the attackers up front
should they receive the ball.

Up front, the wingers will look to tuck inside and stay close to the lone striker with the intention
of attacking the opposition’s defensive line with numerical superiority. This helps them to have
possible passing options centrally and provides the team with a possible attacking direction,
which is through the central area. The players also capable of interchanging positions between
each other in order to drag the opposition’s defenders out of their positions.

 Tactics
When playing with a back-three, the outside centre-backs prefer to stay slightly wider than their
usual positions to provide space for the double pivot to drop deep to receive the ball. But as
they stretch their build-up shape wider, it also invites the opposition’s front three to move
forward and press them while attempting to isolate each centre-back at times. Still, with both
wingers prefer to tuck inside and having both wing-backs to stay wide, they are capable of
attacking the half-space and wide space with numerical advantage.

Numerical advantage is also something that Germany is looking for in between the opposition’s
defensive lines as the attackers will look to stay close to each other while both wing-backs will,
at times, looking to pin down the opposition’s wing-backs. Should the opposition play with
either a back-five or a back-four, Germany will be able to either match the defensive number or
even outnumber them respectively. By gaining control of the space in between and, if possible,
behind the opposition’s defensive line, they will have two possible attacking options of either
down the central area or down either flank.

Defensively, they look to press high up the pitch using a man-oriented press in order to force the
ball carrier to make a back pass or a long ball forward. With centre-backs who are comfortable
in the air like Niklas Süle, Robin Koch and Antonio Rüdiger, Germany are capable of winning
second balls and regain possession quickly.

But, similarly to how they play out with a back-three, the outside centre-backs tend to look to
stay wider, which the opposition can look to exploit the space in between the centre-backs. If
the double pivot look to drop deep, the opposition’s midfielders will have more space to work
into and make through passes that can create dangerous chances for the attackers.

 Noticeable young star: Florian Neuhaus (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

Neuhaus has been one of Gladbach’s key players since the 2018/19 season after a successful
loan campaign at Fortuna Düsseldorf and he has never looked back since. Especially when
Marco Rose took over Gladbach, he is started to develop at a very quick rate and is now being
considered as the future of Germany’s midfield leader.

Mostly when being used in Gladbach’s system, Neuhaus is being considered as the playmaker of
the side due to his tactical awareness and an excellent vision to pick out his teammates’
movement. But he is also capable of moving flexibly in the middle of the pitch in order to find
the best position that allows him to receive and then pass the ball on.

This season, according to FBRef, he has completed 53.8 out of his 62.7 passes per 90 minutes
and has progressed the ball for 291.6 yards. They are very impressive numbers for a 23-year-old
midfielder and shows that he is already showing signs of becoming a world-class player in the
future. He has also created 0.72 shots per 90 minutes this season, which indicates he still has
rooms to improve compared to 3.17 shots created per 90 minutes last season. But a playmaker
like he is, while being supported by world-class players like Toni Kroos, will look to learn and
improve from time to time through his teammates and reach their potential.

 Conclusion
Germany have always been one of the leading countries in terms of developing players and
introducing promising talents to not only Europe, but to the world. Many of those talents have
went on to become world-class players and even driven the team to the World Cup title in 2014.
Six years later, a new golden generation emerges, and with a squad that has an equal mix of
energetic, young players and experienced veterans, Löw and his players will be looking to bring
the Euro and World Cup trophies back to Berlin.