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While winning football matches does require a team to show-off the firepower in their repertoire, but winning a whole tournament requires a team to do that and also hide their weaknesses in one way or another.
And with the FIFA World Cup fast approaching this summer, the favourites for the footballing extravaganza won’t just have to focus on proving their strengths, but they’ll also look at ways to cover up for their shortcomings- one way or another.
And every team in the World Cup has a fair share of strengths and weaknesses that the opposition will look to target in order to beat them in the upcoming tournament. While it won’t be easy at all, but knowing about that weakness will let us know as to where a team can go wrong or where it must improve.
We run down the weaknesses of the favourites to win the World Cup in Russia this summer.
#4 Spain
The Spaniards of Julen Lopetegui left behind Alvaro Morata, Cesc Fabregas and Marcos Alonso at Chelsea, preferring to take only one Blues’ star in Cesar Azpilicueta to Russia. But if there’s anything that can harm Lopetegui, then its a lack of quality team depth and bench strength.
While the issue of quality in depth relates to a comparison with their sides of 2010, a bigger issue is a lack of a proper forward who fits the system. This was a problem that Spain had faced in the 2016 Euros too, as Morata failed to live up to his usual standards and Costa wasn’t even selected for the tournament.
This time around, with Morata not in the side, Spain have just a single proper striker in the squad. That striker is Diego Costa and his goalscoring record for Spain isn’t too impressive at all. While he has scored eight times in 17 appearances for the national side, he’s hardly been the animal for them that he is for the clubs that he has played for- remarkably Chelsea. A lot of times, he hasn’t been called up and at other times, he has failed to earn a call-up because of his persistent injury problems.
On top of that, Costa isn’t someone who thrives on a possession-oriented system that Spain play, with him more suited to a direct style of play.
#3 Brazil
The Brazilians arguably have the best side in the FIFA World Cup, heading into Russia. With the riches of Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Willian, Douglas Costa, Roberto Firmino and new Manchester United signing Fred in the side, they will be a tough nut to crack. But weaknesses exist in every side. They existed in Pep Guardiola’s great Barcelona side and they exist in this one too.
The attacking riches can’t be doubted, but the manner in which first-choice full-backs operate can be bad for a side that was destroyed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup. The team has changed quite a bit since then, but the manner in which the fullbacks bomb forward can leave a lot of space behind them for the two centre-halves to cover up. This leaves spaces in the half-spaces of a defence and can be exposed massively if the opposition press high up the pitch.
Although, Brazil have dazzled to quite an extent in the lead up to the World Cup, sometimes it can be a case of too many cooks spoil the broth. The talent that Tite has to deploy on the pitch has to chosen carefully, especially in a tournament as big as the World Cup. Neymar is undoubtedly a superstar- a much-needed hope. But he can sometimes cut a frustrating figure.
He can beg for fouls, dive and do acts that only rile up his annoyance. Tite has to make sure that the Paris Saint-Germain keeps hold of his temper and doesn’t lose himself when things aren’t going right.
#2 France
Les Bleus are the favourites to win the World Cup for many fans across the globe. They certainly boast of global stars like Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, with players like N’Golo Kante, Samuel Umtiti and Blaise Matuidi also set to play vital roles in their hunt for their second FIFA World Cup crown.
But it isn’t going to be easy, especially with the side’s ability in full-back areas being questioned by many. Didier Deschamps has selected four full-backs, with Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe expected to be the starting first-choice left back and right back respectively. The other two are Theo Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, who had an excellent season with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart.
Both Sidibe and Mendy endured injury tortured campaigns for their clubs- Monaco and Manchester City, remember. Mendy made only seven Premier League appearances for City while Sidibe did make 27 of those for Monaco, he is yet to gain full match sharpness after having injured his meniscus back in April. There is uncertainty about how they will perform and whether they can start off well, despite having sustained concerning injuries.
There is also a question mark about the quality and experience of the second-choices at both the positions. Both Theo Hernandez and Pavard made their debuts only recently and can’t be treated to be seasoned international players.
Another weakness is the lack of a leader. There hardly seems to be a character in there who can command the forces, put the others into their positions when things aren’t going right. No player out of them seems to have the ability to pick the team up when the team is losing. And that is really needed in every World Cup winning team. Be it Italy’s side of 2006, Spain’s side of 2010 or Germany’s side of 2014, they had iron-willed characters who could steer the team- Fabio Cannavaro, Carles Puyol and Phillip Lahm.
#1 Germany
The reigning Champions of the World have made a largely seamless transition from the side of 2014 to the side of this summer’s World Cup. The Confederations Cup did help them a great deal in testing the players and it has worked out very well for them. And while even they have a side to be reckoned with, the Jerome Boateng factor can be detrimental to their performance in Russia.
Boateng has almost fallen off a cliff from the near complete defender that he was under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich. He was injured and ill on over six occasions this seasons for the Bavarian side and made only 19 appearances in the Bundesliga. And he endured a par season and still is suffering from a hamstring injury.
While that has allowed the emergence of Niklas Sule, the former Hoffenheim man has played only a single big game for Germany and has majorly been utilised in the low-key games only. The last four games he has featured in has yielded just a single win.
And while it shouldn’t be a matter of too much concern because Sule looks ready to step up to the plate, that could be a cause for annoyance for Loew. Antonio Rudiger has done well, but Loew should be careful of not relying much on Boateng, who looks set to be sold by Bayern this summer.
