A Bayern block (seven Munich were in the starting XI) formed the backbone of the team against Italy. In the duel with the “Three Lions”, Flick then changed his team to a total of seven (!) positions. The decent performance certainly justified his decision. But it also raises questions.
Who can Flick rely on in Qatar? Jamal Musiala showed a much more committed performance than Leroy Sané. But is he ready and consistent enough to be a regular? Kai Havertz played passably in the center of the attack, but is he really the nine that guarantees the Flick team the necessary goals? And what role will and should Thomas Müller play, who was hardly involved in the offensive game as a tenth?
The flaw of average
A win against a supposedly big team like the Netherlands, Italy or now England would also have helped the DFB side to aim for the semi-finals at the World Cup with more euphoria and optimism. So the blemish of average still sticks to the DFB team.
Has the German team performed well to well since Flick took over after the EM 2021? Yes. Is the quality shown so far enough to make it into the top four teams in the world? no
Games like yesterday against England are the yardstick. And the result reflects the level of performance as it did against Italy. Goal scorer Jonas Hofmann said it himself after the final whistle on ZDF: “It was neat.” Yes, but no more.
This German team is certainly not in a position to perform miracles and shoot every opponent out of the stadium at the moment. She doesn’t necessarily have to. But it can – and must – be a bit more if the eleven around Captain Neuer want to live up to their claim to be among the best in the world.
Time’s running. And the national coach still has a lot of work to do.