Die Folgen: Germany’s 4-0 win over Finland (Bavarian Football Works)
The German national team was looking to build some momentum against Finland ahead of the World Cup and, well, mission accomplished.
The Germans were dominant in securing a 4-0 victory, powered by a guy, who head coach Julian Nagelsmann did not seem to rate too highly all that long ago — Deniz Undav.
2018 was supposed to be “The Last Ride” and 2022 was supposed to be powered by “The Start of Next Generation”, but what will this be? We started to get an idea against Finland. Here are some quick hitters
on the match:
- As always, let’s begin with a look at the starting XI:
- The big surprise was definitely Nathaniel Brown over David Raum. We can assume that Nagelsmann has already seen enough of Raum to know what he has in the RB Leipzig star, but Brown is still a bit of a mystery. The youngster had a nice game in the veteran’s place.
- In the lineup during the anthems, Aleksandar Pavlović looked like a giant next to Lennart Karl.
- Those Finland jerseys were cool.
- Germany was assertive in the early going and looked confident and in control, but the problem was that they had very few ideas offensively and even worse execution on the ideas they did have. As it turned out, the squad just was not fully connected.
- Through 30 minutes Pavlović and Joshua Kimmich were the only players really shining, but that would change.
- In the 33rd minute, Germany would break through on a set piece of all things. Kimmich whipped in a perfect cross off of a short corner and Undav headed it in for the 1-0 lead.
- In the 39th minute, Karl sent in a great pass to Brown, who tried to be a wee bit too fancy with his finish and missed the net. It will be interesting to see how Nagelsmann and his staff assess Karl’s performance. The youngster was a threat and was creating chances, but also was a little sloppy with the ball at times. Maybe this writer just needs to see something different after all these years, but giving Karl another shot against the USMNT might be a good idea.
- For the first half, Germany just was not super-sharp. Decent, but not enough to wow anyone into believing there is a World Cup run hiding within the squad.
- Finland was reluctant to take a lot of chances when it had possession. The Finns just seemed more willing to enjoy a little possession before the inevitable transition to defense happened.
- Musiala was…not great in the early going. We did see some good ideas from him, but it was a little similar to how he played for Bayern Munich. He did not do great with execution and seemed to have a little trouble getting into the flow of the match in the first half. Germany needs him!
- At a minimum, Musiala was far more careful on the ball than Karl was, but Musiala was less effective before getting a much needed boost of confidence a little bit later.
- Germany got started early in the second when some lackadaisical and lazy play in the back from Finland resulted in a brutal back-pass turnover that Undav laid out to get, while simultaneously sliding a pass to Florian Wirtz. Wirtz calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. If only all goals were that easy.
- Undav would continue his run of terror against Finland with another goal in the 57th minute. After more sloppiness from Finland, Germany sprung out on a quick counterattack, allowing a driving Karl to slide a perfect pass up field to Undav, who made an awesome run. The VfB Stuttgart star’s deft finish was great as well to make it 3-0.
- In the 63rd minute, Pavlović found Musiala, who — THANKFULLY — unleashed a great left-footed shot that found the back of the net. If anyone needed that, it was Musiala. Great finish!
- In a cruel twist of fate, Undav was hurt just a minute later. Hopefully, it is nothing serious, but it was speculated that it could be a hamstring issue. He did look to be in good spirits afterward and in the postgame comments said that his “butt cheek” hurt. Okay, then!
- Overall, Germany took care of business and was rarely threatened by a Finland squad really just looking to limit the damage. It was great to see the Germans assert themselves and put down an inferior opponent. Can Nagelsmann’s squad do the same against the USMNT next weekend?
If you missed our Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them a look or a listen.
Hope for Vušković? (Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg)
For a few weeks, it was has been widely assumed that Luka Vušković was going to return to Tottenham Hotspur after his loan stint with Hamburger SV and ink a big, new deal with Spurs.
What if, however, there was a chance he still could leave Tottenham for another big club? Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg seems to think it is a possibility:
🚨🆕 A new loan move for Luka Vuskovic to Hamburger SV is currently not a topic. No talks. No negotiations.
He also confirms our news, saying a return is “impossible”. #HSV
At the moment, there are two options: a long-term contract extension with a top salary at Tottenham, or a move to one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Talks are ongoing. @SkySportDE 🇭🇷
No option for a loan back to Hamburg certainly makes this interesting and Tottenham does already have a strong stable of central defenders. Could this be a chance for Spurs to strengthen other areas of their team by selling the young Croatian for a big fee?
Maybe, but it does feel like a longshot.
Eberl’s future in doubt (Sport Bild’s Christian Falk)
The topic of Max Eberl’s future has been become divisive among Bayern Munich fans, but it does appear as if there is some uncertainty on whether or not the club will ink him to a contract extension:
✅ It is TRUE: There are growing concerns over Max Eberl’s future at Bayern Munich. There was a bit of friendly fire that took place ahead of the DFB Pokal final with Uli Hoeneß’s “60-40” comments on Eberl’s future. It’s not good for Max Eberl to see that on the day of the final. I guess Hoeneß knew when the interview was published what his words would mean. So, I think it’s the first step of the demontage of Max Eberl. From the outside, supporters will be thinking, “Well, we won the double. Almost won the treble. He brought in Vincent Kompany, Michael Olise, Luis Diaz, Tom Bischof for free, Jonas Urbig for free”. Don’t forget Urbig was in the Bundesliga 2 as a second goalkeeper. So there are plenty of good decisions there.
But now they have to think about what this means for the future of the role. If they don’t give him a new contract, Eberl only has one year left on his current deal. But I can’t imagine that if they opt not to extend his contract, he’ll still be here next season. When we asked the 52-year-old whether this meant he’d be a lame duck, and he found it hard to answer. He told us that he couldn’t just do his job, and he couldn’t decide for the supervisory board. Max wants to stay; he won’t quit. He’ll try his best. Now, he has to wait. But, if you ask me, when Uli Hoeneß said they were unsure about Eberl’s new contract and that it was “60-40” in Eberl’s favour – I think it’s more like 40-60 against the director of sport.
Eberl has done a fine job with his talent identification and his work within the transfer market, but the executive has come under fire for his work on contract negotiations. In particular, the heavies on the supervisory board — Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß are not thrilled with his work on contract negotiations, nor Eberl’s communication skills.
It feels like those things can be improved without sacking Eberl, right?
Kane, Olise named to UEFA UCL Team of the Season (UEFA Champions League)
Bayern Munich stars Harry Kane and Michael Olise were named to UEFA’s Champions League Team of the Season:
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who some would argue has been the best winger in the world this season, was named Champions League Player of the Season. Maybe more than any other player on Paris Saint-Germain’s loaded roster, Double K was the straw that stirred the drink this season:
Chelsea out on Konaté (CaughtOffside)
On Friday, Bayern Munich was — again — linked to Liverpool FC defender Ibrahima Konaté, when the former RB Leipzig star made it clear his career at Merseyside was over. One club, who has quickly exited the race for Konaté:
Chelsea have reportedly decided not to make an offer for outgoing Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté, despite earlier suggestions that they could enter the race for the France international.
According to TEAMtalk, the Blues have looked at the situation but are not planning to submit a proposal. Konaté’s representatives are instead holding talks with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, with both European giants now seen as more realistic destinations for the 27-year-old centre-back.
Konaté is set to leave Liverpool when his contract expires this summer after the two sides failed to agree terms on a renewal.
Leão to leave Milan (Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano)
Winger Rafael Leão, who was closely linked to Bayern Munich last summer, is leaving AC Milan:
🚨💣 BREAKING: Rafa Leão has decided to LEAVE AC Milan this summer. 🔴⚫️👋🏾
“I’m proud as I made history at AC Milan but I want new chapter. I feel ready to play in another league” 👀
“I did my best for Milan, but it’s time to try another challenge”, told @sporttvportugal.
Undav re-ups with Stuttgart (Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg)
In the midst of starting for Germany vs. Finland, Deniz Undav also got a new deal with VfB Stuttgart:
🚨💥 BREAKING | Deniz Undav contract extension – DONE DEAL ✔️
29 y/o striker Undav has agreed a new contract with VfB Stuttgart until at least 2029. A new club-record deal.
The decisive meeting took place on Friday night. All details have now been settled.
@SkySportDE
🚨⤵️ Contract agreed until 2029 plus an option for a further year. Salary up to €6m gross per year, plus a €3m signing-on fee. Deal 100 % agreed.
Not a bad weekend at all for Mr. Undav, eh?
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
- New, improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
