Germany — Scotland: Scotland Indecisive Defensively (5-1)

The hosts, Germany, played a Scotland team unsure of how to defend, not applying pressure while maintaining a high line. They relinquished control of the central zone between the lines, gifting Germany’s forwards time and space.

Written by Kyle Boas.

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Julian Nagelsmann, the youngest coach in the history of the European Championships, leads one of Germany’s most experienced squads in their tournament’s history, averaging 28.7 years in age.

One thing that has been said again and again is that German players know their roles. Several players echoed the Nagelsmann’s sentiments, including captain İlkay Gündoğan. Before the match, Nagelsmann said, “We have a first eleven in mind. If one of the first eleven players doesn’t perform well, we have guys who can put pressure on them. We want to give the players psychological security.”

Germany’s lineup featured Manuel Neuer in goal, with Joshua Kimmich, Antonio Rüdiger, Jonathan Tah, and Maximilian Mittelstädt in defense. Robert Andrich and Toni Kroos formed a double pivot. İlkay Gündoğan played between Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz in either half-space, with Kai Havertz up front. This was the lineup used prior to the tournament, as outlined in our tactical preview.

Scotland’s lineup included Angus Gunn in goal, with Anthony Ralston, Ryan Porteous, Jack Hendry, Kieran Tierney, and Andrew Robertson in defense. Scott McTominay and Callum McGregor played in the half-spaces, with John McGinn and Ryan Christie on the wings, and Che Adams up front.

Scotland has had some good performances recently but is accustomed to losing to teams when they don’t have the qualitative superiority, such as their loses to England, Spain, France, and the Netherlands this year.


Scotland Defending High While Applying No Pressure

Toni Kroos rotated back from the double pivot with Robert Andrich to join center-backs Jonathan Tah and Antonio Rüdiger, forming a back-three to allow left-back Maximilian Mittelstädt and right-back Joshua Kimmich to push forward. 

This is a familiar role for Kroos, who operates similarly for Real Madrid. He shifts back to control the tempo of the attack, commanding the line from the back and distributing the ball with pinpoint accuracy. He completed 99% of his passes, the highest completion rate on record (since 1980) by any player attempting 100+ passes in a game at the Euros. Stat courtesy of Opta.


19th minute: Toni Kroos plays a progressive pass forward to İlkay Gündoğan central past Scotland’s front line.


When Kroos rotated back, Scotland’s front line was tempted to move forward and defend, but they didn’t fully commit to pressuring the ball carrier. This allowed Kroos, Tah, and Rüdiger time and space to pass out from the back. Scotland’s back five tried to maintain their defensive high line, but when the front line moved forward, they didn’t cover the space left behind. This opened up the central zone for Germany’s three tens, İlkay Gündoğan, Jamal Musiala, and Julian Wirtz, to receive the ball.


10th minute: The ball is played out wide to Joshua Kimmich, who delivers a low cross to Julian Wirtz at the top of the box, behind the dummy runs of Kai Havertz and İlkay Gündoğan. Wirtz scores with a first-time shot.


Germany excels at breaking down defenses with well-timed counter-movements, coordinating diagonal runs to either play through the half-space or find a free man centrally. The first goal is a prime example: Jamal Musiala, İlkay Gündoğan, and Kai Havertz made diagonal runs towards Joshua Kimmich, while Julian Wirtz slipped in behind to score.

When you give Germany space in the first phase to pick out passes and space in the central zones between the lines, all that’s left is the finishing pass.

In the 19th minute, Toni Kroos played the ball forward from the back to İlkay Gündoğan, who found the final pass to Kai Havertz. Havertz shifted the ball around his marker, laid it off to Jamal Musiala, and Musiala planted the ball into the top of the net, past Angus Gunn, for the second goal.


Ryan Porteous’ Red Card

In the 44th minute, Angus Gunn parried the ball back into the center of the box from a header, and it fell to İlkay Gündoğan. Center-back Ryan Porteous made a rash two-footed challenge on Gündoğan with studs showing. After review, he was issued a red card, and Germany was awarded a penalty kick. Kai Havertz scored from the spot, putting the ball down the middle for Germany’s third goal.


Scotland’s defensive shape in the second half after the red card.


The red card changed Scotland’s approach, forcing them to defend more compactly and deeper in their own half. The pace of the game slowed as they shifted into damage limitation mode. Scotland’s center-forward Che Adams was subbed off at halftime for center-back Grant Hanley. Germany’s Robert Andrich, who received a yellow card in the first half, was replaced by Pascal Gross.

In the 63rd minute, Kai Havertz and Florian Wirtz were substituted for Niclas Füllkrug and Leroy Sané. While Havertz and Wirtz prefer playing in tighter spaces, Füllkrug and Sané look for the most direct path to goal.

In the 67th minute, Billy Gilmour replaced Callum McGregor, and Kenny McLean came on for John McGinn. Scotland could have benefited from Gilmour’s control in the first half, as they were rushing up the pitch.

A minute later, in the 68th minute, the ball was played into the box from the left wing and laid off to Niclas Füllkrug, who rocketed it into the top right corner for Germany’s fourth goal. I saw someone describe Füllkrug as a “working man’s number nine.” That is an apt description. It was a no-nonsense control and finish.

In the 74th minute, a smiling Thomas Müller replaced the shifty, quick-footed Jamal Musiala. Musiala was noticeably more efficient in his dribbling today, with each movement of his legs and feet calculated. He completed five of eight attempted dribbles, the most of any player in the match.

In the 77th minute, Kieran Tierney was substituted for Scott McKenna at center-back for Scotland. In the 80th minute, Emre Can replaced Toni Kroos for Germany. Can joined the team on holiday after being called up to replace Aleksander Pavlović, who left the squad due to tonsillitis. The final change came in the 82nd minute, with Ryan Christie coming off for Lawrence Shankland.

Scotland’s only shot attempt came from a free-kick in the 87th minute. The shot deflected off Antonio Rüdiger’s head, over Manuel Neuer, for a consolation goal, which the supportive Scottish fans cheered.

Scotland was quickly brought back to reality in the 93rd minute when Germany neatly worked the ball from the left wing, through their defensive block into the left-hand side of the box, and back out to Emre Can at the top of the box. Can finessed a shot into the bottom right corner, making it five for Germany.


Takeaways

Scotland should have chosen to either defend deep or press high. Playing this in-between game out of possession did not achieve anything. Germany exploited the weaknesses in Scotland’s approach, expertly passing through the limited pressure and feeding the ball into their three tens to create scoring opportunities.

Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz excelled at dribbling through pressure, İlkay Gündoğan made intelligent runs to break past Scotland’s front line, Toni Kroos was effortlessly picking out progressive passes, fullbacks Joshua Kimmich and Maximilian Mittelstädt provided excellent crosses, and center-forwards Kai Havertz and Niclas Füllkrug were both clinical in front of goal.

The game felt over after the second goal, but once Scotland received the red card, it was truly over. Scotland lacked pace in their forward line on the counter. Once they went down to ten men, it was a matter of keeping the score as low as possible to maintain some level of confidence for their next group match.


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Kyle Boas (27) is the author of the Tactics Journal, analyzing football tactics. He is interested in showcasing the most tactically interesting teams in world football. [ View all posts ]

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