Flick football4/19/2023 His performances were a rare bright spot for Germany during the tournament. Jamal Musiala evades a Costa Rica defender. Even after a third successive tournament failure it is possible to spin an enthusiastic yarn around this team, paint this setback as the inevitable collateral damage of a longer reinvention. German football has often prided itself on its composure, its refusal to press the panic button, its refusal even to acknowledge the existence of a panic button. There is a tactical blueprint, a base to build from, a home Euros in 2024 to work towards. Mario Götze has surely played his last tournament. Manuel Neuer and Gündogan may even go too. Thomas Müller has already hinted at retirement. Meanwhile others will fall by the wayside. Havertz, the wonderful Jamal Musiala, the teenage Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko, the marvellous Leverkusen playmaker Florian Wirtz: technical players, modern players, players a good coach can build a team around. There is, after all, talent to be mined here. Flick may just pay for this debacle with his job, although the smart money is on him being given one more crack. Photograph: Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty ImagesĪnd so the postmortems can begin, the fingers can be pointed, the scapegoats sought. Hansi Flick, pictured on the touchline during his side’s game against Costa Rica, may pay for Germany’s World Cup exit with his job. Flick had withdrawn Ilkay Gündogan and Leon Goretzka in an attempt to engineer greater attacking thrust but in so doing had hollowed out his midfield and left Germany vulnerable to the counter. Meanwhile Costa Rica went up the other end and scored twice in 12 chaotic minutes as the gloomy news filtered through from Doha and Germany allowed their minds to drift. Germany were utterly dominant in the opening minutes and yet had just a single goal to show for it. This game, as futile as it proved, was ample evidence of this. And so the problem comes when you combine the classic German mentality with a modern style of football that demands perpetual intensity, that needs every part of the machine to be 100% switched on at all times. For better and for worse, this team feel like its polar opposite. The great German sides could raise their game to suit the occasion, do whatever it took, squeeze every last drop out of their resources and system. The game had already gone, and it had gone in eight wild minutes against Japan at the Khalifa International Stadium nine days earlier. But although they didn’t know it yet, none of it was any use to them. Here Germany loaded all their usual programmes, moved the ball with pace, did their jobs, scored four goals. A World Cup group stage consists not simply of three discrete games but one cogent narrative, and if you don’t pay attention at the start you may well miss something that you need later. But his hands are in his pockets, and his thoughts are elsewhere.Įverything is connected. And the cheer around the stadium gives the game away, and on the Germany bench Hansi Flick senses a change in the air, and he takes a look around, and he glances at his bench, and he knows, he just knows. A whistle blows in Doha and within fractions of seconds, via a lattice of mobile phone networks and whispers and nudges, its sound has somehow travelled the 30 miles to Al Khor. The All Whites striker showed great awareness to rob Gauci near the byline, but then poked his shot onto the far post, with the goal gaping.E verything is connected. Kosta Barbarouses also missed a glaring opportunity, in an episode destined for end-of-season blooper reels. Yan Sasse forced a point-blank save from Joe Gauci - after neat buildup play from Bozhidar Kraev - before the Bulgarian was narrowly wide with a near-post flick. To their credit, the Phoenix responded, dominating the rest of the half. Wellington had played more football, but Adelaide’s pressing and physical intensity was making the difference. It was a gift for the home side, as Oli Sail made a mess of an attempted back pass by Scott Wootton.Īs a cross came over his shoulder, the English defender chested it down towards the keeper, but the ball wriggled out of his grasp.Īdelaide extended their lead seven minutes later, with another messy goal.Īfter the Phoenix couldn’t deal with a Craig Goodwin free kick, the ball pinged around the penalty area, until it was forced home by Luka Jovanović. The Phoenix made a bright start, seeking just their fifth win in Adelaide in 24 matches, before the opening goal came out of nowhere.
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