Euro: Group F: Germany vs. Portugal, 6/19/2021

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I thought it's amazing Kroos wasn't subbed yesterday. Dude played the ball without need straight to a Portuguese guy at one point, and I thought he must be mentally out of it. (Kroos tends to make these unforced errors late in games, I recall one led to an Irish winner some years ago). That mistake directly led to a yellow for Ginter.

 

[luiginb]

He definitely should never be your last mid back, offers next to nothing defensively and can't be arsed to backtrack most of the time.

Seven successful tackles against France. Seven.

 

[Eisen]

I thought it's amazing Kroos wasn't subbed yesterday. Dude played the ball without need straight to a Portuguese guy at one point, and I thought he must be mentally out of it. (Kroos tends to make these unforced errors late in games, I recall one led to an Irish winner some years ago). That mistake directly led to a yellow for Ginter.

Löw adores Kroos, that's the reason. Media loves him too. I don't see it.

 

[Eisen]

Seven successful tackles against France. Seven.

Maybe he should play centre half or sweeper.

 

[Evilo]

Seven successful tackles against France. Seven.

You need to lay off the stats. Everyone who saw the game saw how in trouble he was.

 

[cgf]

Yup, and I don't like it. Pirlo, at least, had magical feet. I don't see that from Kroos. Yesterday as well, Müller was more of a playmaker than Kroos. From someone that leaves holes in the defensive midfield, I expect more offense.

If you re-watch look at the way Toni handles the press, that...and his penetrating passing...is where his skill shows itself most clearly & you can see his impact most. Not up the pitch like Müller, Kroos’s passing gets us into those danger zones for others to play final balls from...and he’s still great at that most of the time.

where I do agree is that we don’t need that from him enough to continue starting his old legs against the ball, not with Kimmich, Gundogan, Goretzka & Neuhaus in the team.

 

[cgf]

Seven successful tackles against France. Seven.

How many times have opponents been able to flow through his area because he’s caught up the pitch & unable to recover?

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

How many times have opponents been able to flow through his area because he’s caught up the pitch & unable to recover?

Wasn't *entirely* on him, it looked like there was a huge gap between the whole German midfield and the back three which - given the lack of wingbacks - made it pretty easy for the Portuguese to get the ball into the Halbfeld (not sure what the English term is). The fact they didn't turn that into more chances is primarily down to the high effort and tenacity Ginter/Rudiger/Hummels displayed once the Portuguese tried to move into the danger zone. But it made for uncomfortable viewing for sure.

 

[cgf]

Wasn't *entirely* on him, it looked like there was a huge gap between the whole German midfield and the back three which - given the lack of wingbacks - made it pretty easy for the Portuguese to get the ball into the Halbfeld (not sure what the English term is). The fact they didn't turn that into more chances is primarily down to the high effort and tenacity Ginter/Rudiger/Hummels displayed once the Portuguese tried to move into the danger zone. But it made for uncomfortable viewing for sure.

Compare the spaces on Toni's side to the spaces on Ilkay's, that'll control for what Jogi was willing to concede tactically...especially since Gundogan was given more license to push forward...and highlight just how much worse Toni is against the ball if he can't win it back immediately.

And "halfspace" is in the english football lexicon; they used to call it "the channels"

 

[cgf]

Müller, Hummels & Gundogan rested their knocks today and Kroos had a limited training due to load-management. There's some speculation that first trio could miss the Hungary match. But Hofmann is back in training, so (assuming Kimmich isn't tried in the back 3) we could see something like:

Werner/Sane - Gnabry - Havertz
Gosens - Kroos - Goretzka - Kimmich
Rüdiger - Ginter - Süle
Neuer

Gnabry - Havertz
Gosens - Kroos - Goretzka - Hofmann
Kimmich
Rüdiger - Ginter - Süle
Neuer

Werner/Sane - Gnabry - Havertz
Gosens - Goretzka - Kimmich - Hofmann
Rüdiger - Ginter - Süle
Neuer​

 

[NyQuil]

I'm surprised they haven't considered Kroos as a super sub.

It would manage his minutes and reserve him for crucial situations.

 

[cgf]

I'm surprised they haven't considered Kroos as a super sub.

It would manage his minutes and reserve him for crucial situations.

Hopefully, Jogi just didn't wanna bother integrating Neuhaus next to Gundogan since he's done after this tourney anyway; so he was stuck with Kroos for that spot with LeGo banged up & Hofmann's injury meaning that Kimmich was the only option on the right.

With Goretzka & Hofmann back, hopefully, Kroos' spot won't be as written in ink