Joachim Low Facing Familiar Flaws as Germany Struggle to Replace World Cup Stars

Other countries would be panicking by now, but not Germany—which is, of course, one of their great strengths.

All through the World Cup, whether after the flighty victory over Algeria, the grimly solid victory over France, the thrilling victory over Brazil, even after the final and the victory over Argentina, there was calm talk of “process.”

No side was less likely to be cowed amid the frenzied atmosphere of Belo Horizonte for that semi-final, which is why Germany were able to pick Brazil apart with such ease.

No side, surely, has ever won a World Cup with such an awareness of their success being the culmination of a project begun over a decade previously.

That gives perspective and means nobody is too troubled by three European Championship qualifiers which have yielded just four points.

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Germany only scraped by Scotland last month, then failed to take their chances and were picked off on the break by Poland before Tuesday’s lacklustre 1-1 draw with Ireland.

With two teams to qualify from each group—plus five of the nine third-placed teams—it’s understandable that there’s no real concern.

In terms of qualification, of course that makes sense. But beyond that, perhaps there is reason to worry.

Of course injuries, retirements and a more general issue of readjusting after the glories of the Maracana play their part, but Germany are perhaps in danger of reproducing the flaws which had undermined them before the quarter-final at the World Cup.

That game, against France in the Maracana, saw a return to basics. Miroslav Klose returned to lead the line aged 36, Philipp Lahm went back to right-back, and Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira were again paired in the centre of midfield.

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Some of the fluidity was taken out of Germany’s play but they rediscovered a solidity which had notably been lacking from the games against Ghana and Algeria, when they were saved by their opponents’ failure to take chances.

It was that openness which had dogged them since the end of the 2010 World Cup, when Joachim Low tried to replace their counter-attacking approach with something more proactive.

Defensive frailties had been apparent in the 4-2 win over Greece in the quarter-final of Euro 2012 and cost them in the semi-final against Italy.

In the UEFA section of World Cup qualifying, no side which topped its group conceded so many goals as Germany. It was the restoration of that spine against France which gave them the base for the surge that took them to World Cup success.

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The problem is that the spine has gone. Schweinsteiger and Khedira are injured, and so for the Ireland game was Christoph Kramer, who ended up replacing Khedira in the starting line-up for the final.

Toni Kroos is an exceptionally gifted player, but he cannot be the defensive linchpin in midfield, something Real Madrid may discover in games when they are forced to defend this season.

Klose has retired and, it seems, there are no other strikers, leaving Low to employ a false nine. That immediately brings an additional layer of complexity and can deny Germany an obvious out-ball if they’re under pressure at the back.

And there are issues at full-back, with Lahm retired and Benedikt Howedes injured. Howedes is, anyway, more naturally a centre-back.

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Poland, in particular, exploited the shortcomings of poor Erik Durm at left-back. On the right, Antonio Rudiger, broadly unprotected by Karim Bellarabi, struggled.

Taken individually, none of the issues are critical—even if Lahm’s quality was such that replacing him is as good as impossible.

But, as a whole, Germany’s problems are troublesome in that they replicate the issues of the last Euros and in the build-up to the World Cup. What if those final three games in Brazil weren’t the culmination of a process but were a short-term blip?

Germany have an extraordinary array of young attacking talent, the sort of riches which could sustain a dynasty for a decade. But they need to find a structure in which they can best perform and, as far as that goes, Low is facing the same old problems.