International Friendly: Germany vs. Italy – A Tactical analysis
Germany took on Italy in a match that eventually ended with a scoreline of 1-1, but the encounter itself was a particularly interesting one as both the European giants battled it out on German soil on Wednesday. Germany started
the match with their usual formation of 4-2-3-1 as Sami Khedira and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Philipp-Lahm-c29929 marshalled
the German defensive line.
For the Italian national team, coach Cesare Prandelli used a 4-3-3 formation. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Riccardo-Montolivo-c31049 made up the midfield
trio. Italy’s defensive wall included Juventus’ http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Miroslav-Klose-c26049 broke the deadlock to give the Germans the lead on their home turf as he latched onto Thomas
Mueller’s cross in the 16th minute of the match.
Both sides used different tactical systems thus an open game was expected and these expectations were fulfilled to a certain extent. Italy faced a lot of trouble in the midfield area in the first half of the match. De Rossi and
company found it hard to deal with the interchanging positions of Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski. Ozil started from his usual trequartista position but as he always does, he roamed around to the left side of the pitch to a greater effect. In some of Germany’s
attacks, Lukas Podolski took up a centralized position as Ozil temporarily provided the home team with some width.
Bastian Schweinsteiger and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sami-Khedira-c32325’s defensive midfield partnership also provided Italians with some food for thought as the home team dominated most of the first half. The Germans easily played their way around the Italians.
Importantly enough, the Italian national team failed to sustain a prolonged period of possession due to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Germany-c2904’s high press approach. The German attack applied pressure on the Italian defence when they were in possession and thus forced errors from the likes
of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mattia-Cassani-c24868. Montolivo and Motta were wasteful in possession as well as Cassano and Pazzini found it hard to work together without the ball at their feet.
Antonio Cassano was a huge disappointment in the first half of the match as the German defence kept total tabs on the A.C Milan striker. Alternatively, Mesut Ozil was allowed to roam freely by the Italian midfield. As a result,
the German offensive orchestrator found it easy to dictate play. The second half brought about different changes for both the teams. Joachim Low brought off Thomas Mueller, Lahm and Klose whereas Prandelli introduced http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alberto-Aquilani-c4313 and Giuseppe
Rossi into the match.
Italy’s substitutions had a greater impact but not until the later stages of the second half. Rossi was a real live wire throughout the second half and Aquilani provided Italy with the spark that lacked in their midfield area.
Italy’s second goal came through, as Criscito lofted the ball towards Rossi in the 80th minute of the match. The ex-Manchester United target man forced a save out of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-Neuer-c23424 and then showcased tremendous vigilance to knock in the rebound from
his own shot.
Eventually the match ended in a draw, but Italy will be happier with the result as they maintain their 16-year-old unbeaten streak against the Germans. More importantly, Italy improved on their showing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
to gain a crucial morale boosting result against the Bavarian giants before their tough EURO 2012 qualification campaign resumes in March.
Tags: