Three observations from Germany’s 3-0 win over Estonia

Shaky defense

Germany’s defense was very lucky that Manuel Neuer was up to his task tonight and that Estonia’s attackers were wasteful. Germany lost one player early on when Emre Can made a mistimed tackle and saw the red card for it, but even before the red card, the defense was shaky and seemed unconvincing. Throughout the game, Germany had problems with ball retention in the back line, and some players didn’t seem very confident.

Joachim Löw was unfortunate to have multiple players injured, but problems with him and his defense remain. Germany’s defense is shaky. The game against Argentina proved that, and they can consider themselves lucky today. Löw also had other options for the defensive line, like Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, but he is more willing to sacrifice the result than to sacrifice his ego.

Unorganized attack

Germany had many problems tonight and creating a good attack was one of them. The attacking players looked quite uninspiring tonight, especially Julian Brandt, who started playing well only near the end of the match. Luca Waldschmidt was basically a ghost on the pitch and didn’t make much impact, but things improved when Timo Werner came in. He brought freshness and energy and immediately made an impact after just a few minutes of playing.

One of the problems of tonight’s squad is that they seemed unmotivated and uninterested in the game, especially in the first half. There were a few players who usually don’t get chances when they’re on national duty, but they didn’t take their chances when available.

Also, Estonia played very defensively and waited to score on counter-attacks. If they were more clinical in front of Manuel Neuer, the result could have been very different.

The halftime pep talk worked

The first half against Argentina was one of the best Germany’s performances I’ve seen in a while. The first half against Estonia was the complete opposite. It was bad. Germany was abysmal and was lucky that the Estonians were wasteful. In the second half, we saw some improvements, and it’s fair to say that Löw had a fiery talk with the boys in the locker room. The overall performance was far better in the second half, and we saw some energy and motivation. Things started to work for the better when Werner came into the match, and Germany had a few more chances to score later on. All in all, a decent result from a mixed squad. Nothing to be too proud of, but there are things to learn from this match.