Had it not been for a number of surgical interventions on the part of Mats Hummels in defence, the Mexican national team should have defeated Germany by a much larger margin than just 1-0.
The memories of the German thrashing against El Tri at last year's Confederations Cup were still fresh. In that match, Juan Carlos Osorio opted for his traditional 4-3-3 which was ruthlessly exposed by Joachim Löw's 3-4-3 system, by the speed of Jonas Hector and Leon Goretzka.
While the former was absent today through injury, the latter was an unused substitute. The world champions played with a 4-2-3-1 which was replicated by their Mexican contenders. Therefore, the key feature of the match was the midfield duel between Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira and Andrés Guardado and Héctor Herrera.
It is a football truism that when two teams battle each other using the same tactics, play gets determined by two factors: sheer quality on the one hand, and level of ambition without the ball on the other. It is a truism, but it is true:
Löw's approach was evidently individual-oriented while Osorio's was pressing-oriented.
Not only did the game's only goal came after Khedira lost the ball to the dynamic duo of Guardado and Herrera, but also another clear chance for Mexico at 42 minutes happened when Kroos conceded possession under pressure following a corner kick.
Carlos Vela assisted Miguel Layún. He should have had fired past Manuel Neuer, but Hummels came to rescue Die Nationalmannschaft with an almost imperceptible deflection. The Germans were very fortunate not to have received more goals as Löw replaced Khedira and left Kroos alone in the middle during the second half.
Löw's Plan B (Marco Reus, Mario Gómez and Julian Brandt) sought to create attacks from the wings because his Plan A largely consisted in creating play within central areas with the narrow movements of Julian Draxler, Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller.
Yet, it failed: Osorio's placing of Layún as a right winger in front of full-back Carlos Salcedo helped to maintain Mexico's midfield always on guard and always positionally aware. Layún might lack the flair of 'Tecatito' Corona, and all his shots went off the target certainly, but his discipline proved crucial to foil German play.
So what was Osorio's response after Löw changed his plans? The Colombian ditched the 4-2-3-1 and went for a 5-4-1, with tall defender Edson Álvarez playing as a right wing-back. Álvarez's height was extremely helpful at blocking many crosses delivered by Joshua Kimmich, Germany's undisputed best player only after Hummels.
Summing up, Osorio's biggest victory has also been his biggest statement of simplicity and pragmatism. Mexico's ambition without the ball proved fruitful thanks to the clash of 4-2-3-1 in which each player knows exactly who's his individual contender. Herrera and Guardado hunted down Khedira and Kroos like hounds on foxes,
and Profe Osorio thoroughly outsmarted Jogi Löw at the chess table. Kudos to him.
Carlos Vela assisted Miguel Layún. He should have had fired past Manuel Neuer, but Hummels came to rescue Die Nationalmannschaft with an almost imperceptible deflection. The Germans were very fortunate not to have received more goals as Löw replaced Khedira and left Kroos alone in the middle during the second half.
Löw's Plan B (Marco Reus, Mario Gómez and Julian Brandt) sought to create attacks from the wings because his Plan A largely consisted in creating play within central areas with the narrow movements of Julian Draxler, Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller.
Yet, it failed: Osorio's placing of Layún as a right winger in front of full-back Carlos Salcedo helped to maintain Mexico's midfield always on guard and always positionally aware. Layún might lack the flair of 'Tecatito' Corona, and all his shots went off the target certainly, but his discipline proved crucial to foil German play.
So what was Osorio's response after Löw changed his plans? The Colombian ditched the 4-2-3-1 and went for a 5-4-1, with tall defender Edson Álvarez playing as a right wing-back. Álvarez's height was extremely helpful at blocking many crosses delivered by Joshua Kimmich, Germany's undisputed best player only after Hummels.
Summing up, Osorio's biggest victory has also been his biggest statement of simplicity and pragmatism. Mexico's ambition without the ball proved fruitful thanks to the clash of 4-2-3-1 in which each player knows exactly who's his individual contender. Herrera and Guardado hunted down Khedira and Kroos like hounds on foxes,
and Profe Osorio thoroughly outsmarted Jogi Löw at the chess table. Kudos to him.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario