Germany went past a brave Serbia in a deserved 2-0 win in the UEFA Nations League. Die Mannschaft was clearly the better squad and overwhelmed the sturdy Serbian defense. Jürgen Klopp’s search for more talent continued as new players auditioned for the national colors in areas of historical weaknesses.
Veljko Paunović set up the visiting Serbian side to absorb German attacks. His side managed to contain vertical movement, but they got exposed once the Germans spammed diagonal balls. Despite creating
multiple chances, some great goalkeeping by Djordje Petrović, and subpar finishing by the home-side, Serbia was not able to contain the German side. Here are the Observations from this fixture:
A necessary surge of young blood
Germany’s squad problems have largely remained unaddressed over the past few years. The need for true wingers, defensive midfielders, and full-backs were met with players who were generalists, rather than specialists of the position. Leroy Sané, Joshua Kimmich, Kai Havertz are few prominent examples. Each of them either had role suitabilty or form issues that made them below par choices, which affected the team’s overall ability.
Jürgen Klopp has gone to town to pick out every possible German he can play to find the next generation of specialists who can also fill current requirements. Freiburg’s Philipp Treu and Derry Scherhant got extensive minutes against Serbia in the right-back and left winger positions respectively. These two positions have been pinching weak links that Klopp has prioritized. Both Treu and Scherhant put up decent performances warranting more time with the national side.
Reinvigorated locker room
One of the biggest differences between the final stages of the Nagelsmann era and the new regime under Klopp has to be the energy. The squad may not be in the most sync with one another, but they don’t look clueless. They are not thinking and waiting on what the next step is. As bad of a standard that has set, it is safe to say that the German team has moved on from that low.
21 shots were taken by Germany from within the penalty box and it is pleasing to note that this has come from just 44 touches in the box. That means that, on an average, the Germans took one touch in the box before firing a shot on goal, indicating a drift away from the common penalty box ping pong, where the players looked very hesitant to blast the ball into goal.
Overall, the energy and movements have improved vastly, allowing the team to dominate possession and momentum. However, there is still a big caveat that forms the next observation.
Finishing woes
This was the biggest letdown of the night. The team deserved better shooting efficiency. There were several instances were a shot on target was all that was needed for goal, but the German attackers still missed out sorely. On other instances, the ball would be shot straight at the Serbian goalkeeper Djordje Petrović who had a brilliant outing with six saves in total. His positioning was excellent, adding pressure to and putting off the German marksmen.
Die Mannschaft deftly navigated the Serbian defense with quick movements and change of direction. They made good use of diagonal passes and crosses to provide some of the best service German strikers have received in recent times. Nick Woltemade and Florian Wirtz could have added goals 3 or 4 easily with their headed attempts.
Ballistic Bischof
The Bayern and Germany midfielder is really coming into his own with the opportunities provided. Manning the midfield along with Aleksandar Pavlović, Bischof was an engine for his team. He matched his relentless work ethic with exceptional vision, as he was unstoppable in finding his teammates with bold vertical through passes.
Bischof created three chances, while also putting a lot of pressure on the Serbians to increase pressure on him, opening up spaces for the attackers. The Bayern midfielder took a rocket of a shot to score the first goal and nearly repeated it with another from outside the box, if not for Petrović’s anticipation.
The well executed sliding tackle in the 56th minute was a display of Bischof’s defensive side. He can very well get down and dirty, but he isn’t a violent heckler who can lose his head in the heat of the moment. His measured defensive showing still left him atop the most tackles in the game (3).
A fantastic left foot, prodigal vision and robust tackling ability makes this chap highly valuable for Klopp and Germany.
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