Germany struggle against Poland at Euro 2016, but come away with a point

Mario Götze is not the answer at Center Forward

As much as I love him as a player when he's in form, the Götze that's playing right now for Germany is not the player the team needs at forward. Though he made some nice runs today, his finishing touch just isn't quite there. His best position remains behind the striker, a position currently occupied by Mesut Özil who hasn't exactly convinced in these first two games either.

Germany need to shake up their front line somehow, because what they're doing right now isn't working. The team is relying too much on Toni Kroos to provide them with inch-perfect passes in behind the back line, and while he's good for about one or two of those per game, it shouldn't be Germany's main source of offensive danger. They may as well see if Mario Gomez can provide the moment of magic they need.

The back line is as shakey as advertised

After getting extremely lucky in the opener not to concede against Ukraine, Germany once again gave up multiple good scoring chances to Poland. Their make shift back-line that has Benedikt Höwedes at right-back has not worked out all that well so far, and Hector at the other outside-back position also leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, Hector seems to be here to stay, at least until he really makes a big mistake, but Höwedes could be replaced. Mustafi did the job in the 2014 World Cup, and our very own Joshua Kimmich played there during the friendlies leading up to the tournament. Though far from a perfect option, Emre Can has also filled in there in the past and could provide more going forward than Höwedes.

As of right now, the only solid parts of the team are the midfield, which has been quite excellent apart from some lousy shot attempts from Sami Khedira, and the goalkeeping. If Germany want to win this tournament, they're going to need to figure out at least one of the two other components. Being weak up top and in the back hasn't haunted them so far, but it inevitably will.

A Boateng-Hummels combination is going to be fun fun fun fun fun

Jerome Boateng was absolutely incredible today and made a game saving tackle on Robert Lewandowski early in the second half. His distribution from the back was effective and aesthetically pleasing, as it most always is. Mats Hummels played a really, really good game as well. Other than losing the ball to Lewandowski in a moment of carelessness, he showed no signs of rust after the opening ten minutes. Once these two are supported by David Alaba and Philipp Lahm on the flanks, they'll only be that much better.

Judging by today's performance, the two will need to remain excellent to go deep into the tournament, as Hector and Höwedes just haven't really helped out much on either side of the ball. Höwedes' attacking play is exactly what you would expect, and possibly worse than it was two years ago, while Hectors offensive contributions aren't enough to overshadow his poor defensive positioning.

All in all, a poor display for Germany. Then again, the Germans weren't exactly convincing early on in Brazil, either.