German lack of options exposed in loss
Print Edition
GERMANY’S failure to beat France in the semifinal of the European Championship exposes its lack of strength in depth with young players failing to bridge a generation gap after its World Cup win.
Left back Philipp Lahm, central defender Per Mertesacker and record goal-scorer Miroslav Klose all retired after Germany’s 2014 World Cup win in Brazil, leading to a drop in the side’s quality, evident from the first qualifying games for Euro 2016.
A hard-fought win over Scotland was followed by defeat to Poland and then a draw at home with Ireland, which also managed to beat Joachim Loew’s side in Dublin a year later.
The retirements certainly hurt, though formerly unknown Cologne defender Jonas Hector has been a reliable replacement for Lahm, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng form a solid central partnership, and the return of Besiktas striker Mario Gomez coincided with Germany’s attack finally scoring at Euro 2016.
Gomez, who missed the World Cup win due to poor form, scored on his first start in the tournament against Northern Ireland, and then against Slovakia.
But Gomez was the only one of Germany’s regular starting forwards that looked capable of scoring, with Thomas Mueller enduring a drought, Mario Goetze dropped after the group games, and Mesut Ozil constantly running without reward.
Loew’s failure to trust younger players like the 20-year-old Sane seemed to betray a lack of confidence in their ability.
Germany is no longer the free-scoring side that battered Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semifinal. Loew has two years to find replacements for his misfiring former heroes if he hopes to defend the title in Russia.
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