The DFB team had defensive problems against Portugal – not only in the defense chain, but also right in front of it. In the game for 3rd place on the Nations League (Sunday from 3 p.m. in the AudioStream on Sportschau.de) against the young artists’ offensive artists, the question arises as to who could solve these problems.
Aleksandar Pavlovic has just turned 21. Even in modern football, in which 17-year-old are traded on the balloon d’Or as candidates, this is still an extremely young age in a position in the central defensive midfield. Especially in a national team or a club like FC Bayern Munich. And it was also not Pavlovic’s mistakes that made the two Portuguese goals possible in the 1-2 defeat in the semi-finals of the Nations League, but he might have been able to prevent them anyway.
Gaps right in front of the German defense
In the 1-1 by Francisco Conceicao, Robin Gosens lost his duel pretty pitifully on the left. “I am not allowed to lead the duel”Gosens then said in the Sportschau interview: “Above all, I have to close the inside. Unfortunately, I didn’t succeed.” Conceicao pulled exactly into this inside, right in front of the German triple chain. There all defenders had their opponents and stayed with them accordingly – even if that was the wrong decision afterwards, it was quite understandable thanks to the clever walking paths of the Portuguese.
In a perfect world, however, one of the German central midfielder could have run this gap in front of the German chain of three. But Leon Goretzka hadn’t bothered to push them backwards and trotted on the center circle. Pavlovic recognized the danger during the duel between Conceicao and Gosens, but was positioned two steps too far – so his attempt failed to stop the inward Portuguese at the end.
In the 1: 2, Jonathan Tah moved out of the German defense chain without need and opened the gap that Portugal opened with a simple double pass. Here, too, Goretzka was far ahead and Pavlovic, who apparently had been assigned the defensive positioning of the two central midfielder, looked unhappy against the Menden, which was opened by Tah, due to large speed disadvantages.
Two goals, the origin of which was expressly not with the Bayern duo in the German headquarters, but also two goals in which they do not “iron out”, “cleared” or “went in between” – everything, admittedly somewhat worn vocabulary, which is also needed in modern football. Nagelsmann also saw it like this after the game: “If you don’t attack a hundred percent in static situations, then every third division team can also play apart in the man-against-man.”
Pavlovic and Goretzka not the ideal occupation
He has already shown that Pavlovic has the potential to be this six. Especially in his strong season 2023/24, but also in the season 2024/25, which was somewhat slowed down by injury and illness, Pavlovic at least played this role in the German champion. Now Bayern are so dominant in the league in most games that the Klasis’s defensive tasks of the six are not as often in demand. Against nations such as Portugal or in the game for third place on Sunday against France it looks different.
Against such nations, the double headquarters from Goretzka, which always puts an offensive accent and has a very important physical presence at the front, does not seem to be the perfect solution for the young Pavlovic at the time of defensive work. In the structure, too, the young Munich man, for example, made an almost severe mistake in the first half – as I said: 21 years is a very low age for a central midfielder at the highest level.
Nmecha a candidate for that France game?
In the last successes against France, Italy or the Netherlands, but also at the European Championship, the sixth role was large by Robert Andrich, Angelo Stiller or Pascal. Stiller is currently injured, Andrich has been nominated, but was recently in the form of form in Leverkusen, great is already 33 years old and does not stand for the great perspective. You can “Don’t put everything on players who are 35”, The national coach had said once last year with a view of the World Cup.
Felix Nmecha could already be a candidate for this role for the France game, the Dortmund showed strong performances in the season’s sprint at BVB and was praised by the national coach in November. Nagelsmann called him one back then “Very interesting six, of which I think a lot.”
At the age of 19, the future Munich Tom Bishop, like Pavlovic, is a candidate who could also register in one of the central positions in the DFB dress in the future, but has recently played a somewhat more offensive role in Hoffenheim. However, his statistics in the work against the ball are excellent. His still team-mate Anton Stach also has excellent values in many for defensive position in the central relevant categories and does not seem to play any role in Nagelsmann’s planning, probably also in view of the many (mostly younger) alternatives.
It’s about euphoria and the World Cup potted 1
The selection of the national coach in these important positions for the future is great, no question. Nagelsmann has to improvise a bit for the game against the offensive France, in which a victory would not only make a better mood, but also a better chance of the important World Cup Stop 1 in view of the shape and age of the available actors.
Florian Eckl, Sportschau, 07.06.2025 11:54 a.m.
What would definitely help detached from this: less devastating mistakes in the defense chain behind it. But here too, Antonio Rüdiger and Nico Schlotterbeck are currently injured two probably set candidates. If the German team does not significantly improve in the work against the ball against France, even a debacle is threatened. France had more chances against Spain than the four goals. And that would definitely miss the euphoria, which was recently so tedious.