Germany (4-2-3-1) - 2014 World Cup Brazil - ShareMyTactics.com
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By Elliott P Day, freelance multimedia sports journalist - website: elliottpday.wordpress.com These are the tactics Germany is likely to use during the 2014 Brazil World Cup based on their qualifying campaign, unless there are any late injuries or sudden changes in form. In Germany’s ten qualifying matches, Joachim Löw used both a 4-6-0 – or false number nine – formation and a 4-2-3-1 system four times each. However, 35-year-old striker Miroslav Klose has only scored seven Serie A goals for Lazio this season – an average of one goal every three games – so the Nationalmannschaft will probably play with a false number nine instead and use Klose as an impact substitute off the bench. Per Mertesacker and Jérôme Boateng has been the most common centre-back partnership for Germany. Mats Hummels was an integral part of the Borussia Dortmund side that reached the Champions League final last season but the 25-year-old only returned from a long-standing heel injury in February. With just nine days to prepare in Brazil before their opening Group G match against Portugal on 16 June, it is unlikely that Hummels – who only featured three times in qualifying – will manage to force his way into the starting XI. Full-backs Marcel Schmelzer and Philipp Lahm both like to venture forward down the channels. This will afford André Schürrle and especially Thomas Müller the freedom to cut inside and make runs into the penalty area. As such the front four – including Mesut Özil and Mario Götze – will freely interchange positions, with Götze dropping into midfield to orchestrate attacks. Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger will look to pick the ball up from the back four and instigate moves from deep. The pair will take it in turns to make late bursts forward off the ball, in an attempt to surprise opponents who have not tracked their runs. Ilkay Gündogan was odds on to play a part in Brazil but his Dortmund boss Jürgen Klopp has confirmed the central midfielder will definitely miss the World Cup due to a back injury. Fellow central midfielder Sami Khedira of Real Madrid is reportedly set to be fit for this summer’s tournament but his lack of match fitness is likely to rule him out of a starting spot. The 27-year-old has spent five months out after having surgery on torn knee ligaments but Löw said in January he thinks the former Stuttgart player could make a shock return to the national team. This Germany side has been 14 years in the making, ever since their disastrous Euro 2000 campaign – when they finished bottom of their group – prompted the drawing up of a new strategy, including an overhaul of the country’s youth system. Löw’s side were beaten finalists in Euro 2008 and lost again to Spain in the semi-final of the last World Cup in South Africa, so the pressure is on the 54-year-old to go one step further and guide the Nationalmannschaft to World Cup glory for the first time in 18 years. All statistics correct as of 1 May, 2014.
