Ka match plan, no strategy can prevent with absolute certainty what happened on Tuesday in the 78th minute. But it was a constellation that was actually not allowed to occur for the German national team, Kylian Mbappé with a lot of space and run-up, against him only Mats Hummels, alone, without protection. Mbappé’s insane pace and Hummels, who recently said self-deprecatingly that he had been wondering since he was 17 whether he was too slow.
An unequal duel for the German defender, actually even more hopeless than for poor Hans-Peter Briegel, who in the 1986 World Cup final with a red head and the last bit of strength hackled after Jorge Burruchaga before Toni Schumacher did not hold the ball. Hummels knew that in principle he had no chance, but he had to use it.
And then came this tackle, for which there was a time window of barely more than the blink of an eye and whose particular difficulty lay in the room: to find the very eye of the needle between Mbappé’s feet that promised enough ball and just not too much leg contact. It was like Mikado in the thundering TGV, but then Mbappé was on the ground, Hummels had the ball, and the referee’s whistle remained silent.
Hummels unlucky, defeated Neuer: The own goal sealed the defeat.
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Image: EPA
After the Germans 0-1 against France at the start of the European Championship, the process of coming to terms with Hummels’ involvement revolved around the own goal in the 20th minute, which the Germans, with all the energy they released against the world champions, could no longer make up for it. Hummels himself, who had not spoken publicly in the Munich arena, sent a Mea-culpa message on his social channels from the night bus trip back to the Herzogenaurach quarter: “The defeat hurts us a lot and me especially because my own goal was the game End has decided. “
But first of all, it was as the national coach and his colleagues had seen it: That Hummels was not to be blamed when he steered the sharp cross from Hernández with his shin into his own goal; the crucial mistake had happened before, and Mbappé was already lurking behind him.
And secondly, once the frustration has subsided and depending on how the other games go, you will only recognize the true value of this tackle afterwards. Not having conceded a second goal, not falling apart in the end, even if the French could have done otherwise: They played with their prey, but they let them live.
There is a problem with the adjustment
All in all, Hummels’ rescue act stood not only for a – at least – one goal better starting position in the race for second place in the group or for a comparison among the group third, four of whom also move into the knockout round, but also for the self-image with which the Germans entered this tournament. Hummels himself emphasized this in his message to the fans. “We threw everything in and had a great fight. Of course, we also know that we still have room for improvement in terms of play. But you saw that we want to tear ourselves apart at this tournament, that we want to inspire you again and be successful. “
Hummels’ contribution to this was decent, excluding these two key scenes, which to a certain extent represented special effects. In any case, in such a way that he seems to have found his place in the German defense with a certain naturalness. It should have been a bit more offensive presence, but if the German standards had actually trained as intensely as they had last reported, then they knew how to hide it on Tuesday. Robin Gosens said that in addition to the execution, it was also about the occupation of the rooms, but this time it was the adjustment first of all.
The start of the European Championship in pictures
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The bitter evening of Mats Hummels
A lack of coordination was more the problem in the free game, starting in midfield, where Toni Kroos and Ilkay Gündogan got down to business, but did not get the necessary speed and even less depth into the German attacks. Löw’s plan to take the detour via the outside, especially with Kimmich on the right side, did not work either.
Shrinkage level: confusion
And if you followed the path forward, in search of an axis that reached forward from goalkeeper Neuer to Hummels, you inevitably ended up with another returnees who had certainly imagined the day very differently. “Where, if not here,” Joachim Löw had asked before the game, full of hope for Thomas Müller’s first goal at a European Championship, “in his living room”.
For Müller, however, coming home must have felt as if someone had rearranged a lot in his absence or even as if his own house was suddenly alien to him: he certainly couldn’t find the right rooms, and apart from two chances, a header in the first half , a blocked shot in the second, he didn’t get close to the goal either. In general, the German game seemed the least finished in this zone. Müller, Kai Havertz and Serge Gnabry were on the road a lot, but what came out was not, as the national coach wanted, variability, but its level of shrinkage: confusion.
Löw will now have to answer the question of whether this was due to individual players, the statics as a whole or the vote especially in the offensive series (see comment on the previous page). What one can safely say, however, is that a long-term discovery process would not have done any harm. In any case, there could be no question of Müller finding his way around straight away without any problems, as Löw had always said. He was not alone in this, but the hope of the national coach, which was specially designed for him and humorously formulated, looked in retrospect like an all too pious wish. “When, if not now?” He should have asked himself earlier instead. And not just at the last minute.
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