Germany 0-0 France: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis

#2 Fresh tactics employed by Germany

Timo Werner had a good game

There were a lot of issues with Joachim Low's side that had a disastrous campaign in Russia. In a rather pleasant turn of events, the German manager seemed eager to rectify a lot of those wrongs as he implemented a series of new tactical moves.

The presence of both Matthias Ginter and Joshua Kimmich in the starting line-up had a lot of fans scratching their heads and many pondered whether the Bayern Munich right-back would find himself donning a role in the midfield. The same speculation was confirmed as Kimmich started off as a holding midfielder. Ginter slotted into his favoured right-back position.

Let us go back to the three group stage games that Germany played in the World Cup 2018. The only time they were able to contain counter-attacks well was for those 30 odd minutes against Sweden when a certain Sebastian Rudy, a defensive-minded midfielder, was on the pitch. Also, Kimmich was guilty of charging way too high up the pitch, thereby leaving the centre-backs exposed.

With this move, Low ensured that Kimmich's defensive abilities would help in maintaining shape of Germany's midfield. Even if the former RB Leipzig player decided to go on an attacking venture, Ginter would hold fort defensively.

Putting Antonio Rudiger into the left-back position was also a welcomed move as the Chelsea player's physicality gave Mbappe quite a challenge.

One of Timo Werner's strongest attributes is his pace and the ability to take on defenders in one-on-one situations. In an era of deep back lines, Werner was unable to utilise these skills of his in the World Cup. Against France though, he started on the left flank and often switched positions with Thomas Muller who started on the other wing. Marco Reus started up front. Needless to say, the RB Leipzig talisman had a much better game compared to his World Cup outings and he caused a lot of problems to Pavard.

Germany also pressed from the front, causing the likes of Samuel Umtiti and N'Golo Kante to misplace a few passes.