German national team head-coach Julian Nagelsmann spoke with German public broadcaster ARD about his tactics following Thursday night’s Nations League win. The Germans concluded the first half of play against the hosting Italians at the Sans Siro down 1-0. Thanks in part to two personnel changes and a ref-format, Germany were able to score two in the second 45 and emerge victorious in the opening quarterfinal leg.
Nagelsmann – much as he did while in charge of RB Leipzig and during his initial days in charge of the national team – lined the team up in a 4-2-2-2 formation. Mainz striker Jonathan Burkardt and Bayern Munich attacker Leroy Sané served in a double-striker set. Jamal Musiala and Nadiem Amiri worked the second attacking axis. Leon Goertzka and Pascal Groß served in midfield ahead of a back four comprised of David Raum, Jonathan Tah, Antonio Rudiger, and Joshua Kimmich.
The two Mainzer teammates Burkardt and Amiri – deliberately called up together due to their Bundesliga club’s fine form– supplied the best German attacking chance of the first half. Nagelsmann considered this insufficient and replaced Burkardt in favor of Tim Kleindienst at the halftime break. Left-back Raum – highly culpable for Italy’s opening goal – was also taken off in favor of Nico Schlotterbeck.
Nagelsmann’s formation after the restart shifted to a 5-4-1, with Groß moving into the defensive ranks. Amiri dropped back to six. Sané slid right as Musiala and Goretzka took turns operating as eights. Kimmich – whom Nagelsmann has insisted must play as a right-back for country – remained in the back row, but was clearly allowed to join the other cast of rotating eights when necessary.
Few apart from the genuinely obsessed tactics nerds in German football circles will recall that a novel “rotating eight” system was the very first set of tactics Nagelsmann employed in his first Bundesliga fixture in charge of FC Bayern Munich at the beginning of the 2021/22 season. Goretzka, Kimmich, and Müller did the same thing in a 1-1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The play worked. Kimmich assisted on Tim Kleindienst’s 1-1 equalizer from open play in the 49th. Kimmich then notched his second assist of the night off a 76th-minute corner, helping his close friend and teammate Leon Goretzka make a triumphant return to the national team on what would prove the match-winner.
Nagelsmann did his level best to avoid talking tactics in his post-match interview, but did reveal much about what his second half expectations for his team were. The Bundestrainer considered the match-plan partially fulfilled.
“Most importantly, we came back from a 0-1 deficit,” Nagelsmann said. “They were a bit ropey and unstructured in the first half. In the second half, we could have pressed higher, crossed more, and scored more goals.
“We reviewed three scenes at half-time,” Nagelsmann continued. “I then announced my personnel and structural changes and the boys were screaming to go back out there. There were no special words. It [the improvement] had nothing to do with a ‘half-time team talk.“
“I don’t want to reveal too much as we still have another game to play,” Nagelsmann answered when pressed for the specific ‘three scenes’ he reviewed. “We looked at the spaces and adjusted to a strong opponent.
Nagelsmann did at least admit that he deliberately switched to a back-five when asked if he removed David Raum from the equation because of the Leipzig fullback’s mistake on the opening goal.
“I’m not accusing him [Raum] of anything,” Nagelsmann said. “We brought on Schlotti [Nico Schlotterbeck] to switch to a back-five. It was tactical. Jo [Kimmich] took care of the rest. I don’t know of many better crossers of the ball.”
GGFN | Peter Weis
