“The team has to be the axis”Julian Nagelsmann made it clear before the game, also because many of his leading figures have been lost since the European Championships. In the 4-0 win against Luxembourg, Gnabry and Kimmich in particular stood out from the collective – the Sportschau individual review.
Oliver Baumann (Goal): Absolutely flawless in his first win of the season in his home stadium. But this was helped by the fact that he practically didn’t have to hold the ball.
Joshua Kimmich (defense): Already announced on ARD before kick-off that he would appear centrally despite being reassigned to his second favorite position. He did this for the first time after three minutes with a full-court shot, then he converted a penalty, initiated many attacks and was successful for the second time after the break with a clean sweep. Overall, a great performance with a huge impact on the game.
Jonathan Tah (defense): Nothing was required defensively, and not particularly impressive offensively – a rather pale performance.
Nico Schlotterbeck (defense): Good at ball recovery. How important he really is for this team with his emotionality will probably become clearer against other opponents.
David Raum (defense): Julian Nagelsmann also appreciates him because he stands for constant power – he hit good crosses and conjured up a great free kick to take the lead. Should finally remain number 1 on the left until the World Cup.
Aleksandar Pavlović (midfield): It’s somehow still a promise for the future. Of course he has potential, but then there has to be more against Luxembourg to justify his standing with Nagelsmann. The present: too many bad passes, ball losses, too few clear actions on the offensive.
Aleksandar Pavlovic in a duel with Tomas Cruz
Leon Goretzka (midfield): Tried to be present, but often in vain. Although he was involved in a number of offensive actions, he didn’t really bring any structure to the midfield.
Florian Wirtz (midfield): Introduced many dangerous scenes and had excellent ideas even in the tightest of spaces. His difficult phase from Liverpool was hardly noticeable, although he kept dribbling hard and posed less of a goal threat than usual – but was also tackled too harshly at times.
Serge Gnabry (attack): Very active start, took his great form from the Bundesliga into the international game. A little too imprecise in his shots, but he got the penalty to make it 2-0 and got the early red card against Dirk Carlos (20th). Strong and celebrated by his colleagues: His defensive tackle in the 32nd minute when he stopped a counterattack. Rewarded himself with the goal to make it 3-0, which he initiated in a duel with his own willpower.
Nick Woltemade (Attack): Gnabry’s shot was deflected into the goal in the 4th minute to make it 1-0 – but the VAR recognized that he touched the ball with his arm. Otherwise he had good and bad times, seemed a bit sloppy at times, and also received little input from his colleagues. A great pass to Karim Adeyemi, otherwise pretty poor.
Karim Adeyemi (attack): Similar to Woltemade, a rather unfortunate appearance. Somehow he didn’t manage to convey his flow from Dortmund into this game, had too many imprecise shots and often got stuck.
Substitute
Waldemar Anton (Defense, from 46th minute for Schlotterbeck): Totally solid, even in the build-up game.
Ridle Baku (Defense, from 61st minute for Woltemade): Decent comeback performance, but can hit the crosses even more precisely.
Jonathan Burkardt (Attack, from 61st minute for Adeyemi): Was immediately in the middle of the action, but had no luck in the finish.
Maxilian Beier (Attack, from 68th minute for Gnabry): It hardly stood out at all, so you can expect a lot more.
Nathaniel Brown (Defense, from 68th minute for space): Was immediately good on his debut, demanded the balls, didn’t hide – will definitely be allowed to come back.