2 reasons behind Germany's dismal recent showing in international football

Germany sacked manager Hansi Flick after their 1-4 thrashing at the hands of Japan in an international friendly on Saturday, September 9. Flick, who was appointed in 2021 as Joachim Low's successor, failed to make his team progress past the group stage at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they also lost to Japan.

Germany have also lost to Poland and Colombia in 2023 with Flick in charge.

Die Mannschaft have been in a slump since their World Cup triumph in 2014. They failed to get past the group stage at the 2018 World Cup - the first time they failed to get to the second round since 1938 - and followed it up with a round of 16 exit at Euro 2020.

The four-time world champions will face France in another international friendly in Dortmund next Tuesday. With Euro 2024, which will be hosted in Germany, less than nine months away, DFB will be looking to appointing a replacement soon.

On that note, let us take a look at two reasons behind Germany's poor performances in the recent past:

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#1. A definite back four has not been finalized

Flick made Germany play with a four-man defense, but the personnel kept changing with the exception of Antonio Rudiger. While it was not a bad idea to set up the defense around the Real Madrid centre-back, frequent chopping and changing could have been avoided as far as the other defenders are concerned.

The likes of Niklas Sule, Thilo Kehrer, Robin Gosens, Nico Schlotterbeck and Lukas Klostermann have been in and out of the playing eleven too frequently for Germany’s good. David Raum, the left-back who was one of the very few German players who were able to enhance their reputation during the last World Cup, has played in only three international matches in 2023.

Gosens has often proved to be defensively inadequate and only comfortable going forward and sending in crosses. He gave up the ball once against Japan that led to one of the visiting side’s goals. The situation was so desperate that Flick had to resort to reinstating Joshua Kimmich as the right-back, who prefers playing as the defensive midfielder.

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#2. Inconsistencies while selecting the No. 9

This is the issue that has been causing problems to Germany since Miroslav Klose’s retirement. Kai Havertz has proved time and again that he is not a striker, but has often been forced to play in that position, including in the recent defeat against Japan.

Niclas Fullkrug, who impressed at the Qatar World Cup by scoring a couple of goals, did not feature in the starting XI against Japan despite having scored four goals in five internationals in 2023. At 30, Fullkrug is no spring chicken, and hence, his services should be utilized to the maximum extent in the upcoming matches and tournament, including the upcoming European Championships.

The likes of Timo Werner have flattered to deceive in the past and hence, Germany should not look beyond Fullkrug as the No. 9 in the team. They have a few very talented midfielders and wingers like Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala and Julian Brandt, and therefore, a steady supply of the ball to the centre-forwards should not be a problem. If Havertz is to feature in the side, he has to do that as a midfielder only.