Are you ready to get your hopes up with this Germany side? Because I sure am. The Nations League may be a inconsequential trophy. However, Germany have provided less comforting performances in more consequential games, so the fans will have to make do what’s available. Jürgen Klopp’s side, in an utterly dominant game, beat Serbia 3-1 away at Belgrade, all thanks to a few who had fallen from grace but look determined to turn their tides.
Here are tonight’s stand-out performers.
Jersey Swap: No one
I would love to pull
out a Serbia player to hand him the Swap, but frankly, no one fought hard enough for the win. You could name Srđan Babić, but not without mentioning his own goal. Kosta Nedeljković might deserve a mention, except he simply did not approach Florian Wirtz who was often right there on multiple instances.
So I’d rather talk about one of our own, a semi-swap if you may. Let’s talk Philipp Treu.
Unfortunately, the Freiburg right-back is genuinely a massive hit-and-miss. He is insanely hardworking — he’s all over the pitch and will chase the ball down to death. He has all the attributes to be the perfect attacking fullback, barring the attacking part. After a recovery, he simply does not know what to do with the ball afterward. Not everyone is technically gifted and that is alright, but tonight, Klopp must go back to the drawing board and figure out how precisely to make sure all the benefits he brings don’t simply go to waste.
By all means, this is NOT me saying we should send him away — this is me asking a bigger question. How long will Germany’s development remain so stagnated that we aim to play attacking football while our best option at right-back is not that good an attacker?
Der Kaiser: Malick Thiaw
I think we found our aerial defender after a decade of searching.
Prior to the game, Klopp revealed that he anticipated Serbia to play a lot of long balls. A seasoned defender in air, Thiaw in Klopp’s eyes was the ideal choice, over Nico Schlotterbeck. The result was promising — he provided a clean, excellent performance. Additionally, the Newcastle defender also attempted two headers — one off a set-piece and and one from close range, in open play. What was really interesting was him emulating Kimmich, especially in the way he holds onto the ball and makes passes — there clearly is a lot of deliberation that goes into his game, and as a result, his game is nearly error-free. Duels in air, or in ground, he performed incredibly well, bagging only one yellow.
Perhaps benching Schlotterbeck wasn’t that bad a decision. In fact, Thiaw was genuinely good enough on his own, and with Tah, that he played the whole 90’. ‘Nuff said.
Fussballgott: Joshua Kimmich
Joshua Kimmich is the one player who can look like he’s doing nothing flashy while in reality single-handedly saving the game.
I have droned about Kimmich’s passing, ball control and attacking attributes a billion times over. There is absolutely nothing new to add to this — Germany recorded a whopping 79% possession, and the captain made it happen. But tonight, there are two things apart from his usual performance that are worth addressing.
One — the goal by Brajan Gruda. Kimmich here moved over to the right wing and set off the series of passes that led to Gruda’s final shot. There were several chances like this that the midfielder set up, and this one was noteworthy, not just because it led to a goal, but because of the sheer intelligence behind it.
Second, Kimmich with Aleksander Pavlović. A Kloppian masterclass, emulating the magic from Bayern. They beautifully contrast and complement each other’s roles and this SHOULD be the default for Germany henceforth.
Der Bomber: Florian Wirtz
Someone please wipe this smile off my face, I am going to be insufferable for weeks.
I’ll admit it, I was absolutely dissing Wirtz in real life while simultaneously admitting to the fact that all he needed was for his confidence issues to resolve. And I was right. However, this was also a very mediocre game by Serbia, who for some reason, decided not to mark him. This lead to Wirtz displaying what exactly he brings to the pitch.
Football is not as simple as the numbers that make it, and Florian Wirtz certainly cannot be described by his number. Far from being a simple #10, Wirtz plays a set of roles interchangeably and tonight he showed precisely that. Unmarked, he found multiple spaces to move into and progress the attack. He was ready to receive every line-breaking pass from midfield, drawing out players from the opposition and took as many shots as he could. To an opponent player, he is more than one concrete problem to deal with and if he continues to perform this way, he could go back to being the golden boy he once was.
Meister of the Match: Brajan Gruda
Man, I wanted to give Meister to Klopp, but this guy who’s my age gets an award.
This came absolutely out of left field. Well, the right side of the field, actually, but who’s checking? Gruda’s goal in the second half was THE moment Germany won the game. Takes the ball from his own half, runs past the Serbian midfield, dribbles past the defense and takes a sharp, targeted shot from right outside the box. You had to be there.
Say what you want about RB Leipzig, but loan or own, they know quality when they see it. The 22-year-old, currently on loan at Leipzig, stunned with his performance against PSV Eindhoven, which perhaps motivated Klopp to give him the call-up.
He was, at his best, impossible to defend. When you have a Kimmich to make sure the ball is always yours, you need a Gruda who is willing to run with it and get past any tight corner to score. One-on-one, he comfortably beat defenders and was absolutely relentless in duels. Perhaps he was a bit too aggressive at times, but at this point, Germany can take any aggression it gets (as long as there are no red cards involved).
While Klopp could have been Meister, he does not win, because he was not the one to make his senior debut and outclass every other attacker on the pitch.
What do you think about the awards? Who else do you think deserved a shout? Let us know in the comments!
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