Germany Argentina tactical analysis: a World Cup final of inches

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Germany Argentina tactical analysis: Against a parked bus, you need to find a small opening and control the ball perfectly. Germany failed to do it for 110 minutes, until Mario Götze handled the task with finesse in the World Cup final.

Attacking notes

Argentina set the tone early with their defending. Stubborn and tight, pulling off the kind of trick that Jose Mourinho would be proud of. Having less collective talent, they made it hard work by having everyone back, fighting physically.

The only way to get anything going was to attack between lines. That was between the South American midfield and the back line. Very little space to maneuver as pressure comes from all sides.

Not an easy task. The German midfield has space to run, but its forwards don’t have much room to receive the pass and take on the defence.

A nightmare to pass through

Ditto

When I said that the game was a matter of inches, I wasn’t kidding. Execution was what Germany needed to score a goal, and it was the missing ingredient for most of the game. Here, Lahm sent a cross to Klose, but it was not 100% accurate.

Just off the mark

This brings me to Toni Kroos, who is setting a trend by playing badly in the big games. He was bar far the worst player on the team. First, he made a perfect attacking pass…. to Gonzalo Higuain. “Surely it was offside”, said many people. Until they saw the replay and realized that it’s not offside when you give the ball away!

No Kroos control

His decision making was poor. If given the opportunity to shoot, the pressure got to him and he failed to send anything dangerous towards the keeper.

Weak

A move that he repeated late in the game. Instead of setting up a big shot, he sent a paper toss towards Romero. This could have cost Germany the World Cup.

With that out of my system… when inches decide a game, ball control becomes the most important asset. And it was missing. On many occasions, Germany could have found ways to shoot, had its first touch been better.

It is a telling sign when the usually-clinical André Schürrle has a bad first touch, wasting one of the best chances of the game! Too much nervosity against an entrenched team.

Bottling it

Picking the perfect pass isn’t easy in the circumstances. Here, Schweinsteiger wants to feed the attack. He sends the ball between two players, but unfortunately, no one can meet it.

The rare clear cut chances were bottled. Here, Müller can’t get his boot on a good pass and he’s called offside.

How to get better timing on the chances? By regaining the ball with counterpressing. Germany did its best to turn the ball around and launch quick attacks with that method.

Winning the ball…

… and immediately passing forward.

Something I asked for, during the final, was for the Germans to stretch their game. Width usually helps to break the lock against a tight defence. That’s not what happened there, with Boateng sending the ball forward in tight space, when he had Schürrle available on the left flank.

The game changer? Mario Götze’s substitution. He brought in new energy. On this play, he fought for a ball down low, passing it to Schürrle, who had a clean shot on goal.

How Germany scored

1:0 Götze. Speaking of Mario, he was also the difference maker in extra time. My naysayers tend to consider my negative comments as too pessimistic when I livetweet. But my comments about ball control were spot on. Look at how Götze controls the ball perfectly, with his chest, just before scoring. Game. Set. Match.

Perfection

Defensive notes

The Argentinians had two different threats when counterattacking. One was Lavezzi, who was dangerous on the flanks. Here, Mats Hummels has to run back and position himself to contain him, while the rest of the defence reset itself to prevent danger.

The other obvious threat was Lionel Messi. His pace was troublesome for defenders such as Mats Hummels, but stopping him became collective work. Pushed to the edge of the pitch, he wasn’t allowed to cut inside to create the perfect opportunities he needed to score.

The same tactic applied to Lavezzi. You can run at us, but we won’t give you a clear shot on goal or a good passing lane.

Not giving away the middle was a crucial choice. The only way for Argentina to attack was to use the flanks, facing defenders who were ready to handle their runs.

The danger was decidedly on the flanks. Here, Messi receives a pass, past Boateng, and sends a shot just wide, near the far post.

But Messi can be contained, and Germany did a great job. Here, Höwedes forces him to run towards the middle, on the edge of the area, and challenges his shot. He’s stoppable, as I said on many occasions.