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For the first time in what seems like forever, Germany was a side not to be trifled with today against Estonia. Granted, Estonia is not exactly France or England, but this was exactly the type of performance that you need to see from Die Mannschaft against this type of competition. It was through, precise, relentless, and overall dominant.
Bravo, boys That's how you end the season! #DieMannschaft #GEREST 8-0 pic.twitter.com/cqqfon54J0
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) June 11, 2019
Below are some observations on the match:
The German offense was on fire
Germany had six players combined for eight goals as Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus (10’, 37’) and Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry (17’, 62’) each had a brace, while Leon Goretzka (20’), Ilkay Gundogan (26’ — PK), Timo Werner (79’), and Leroy Sane (88’) all chipped in with one goal apiece.
Too many times of late has the German offense not looked assertive and worse — confused. Today, that was not an issue. With pace, quick decision-making, and pinpoint precision, Germany was able to crush Estonia.
There definitely seems to be something clicking among the offensive players as they just look far more confident than what we saw during most of late 2017, 2018, and so far in 2019.
Can it continue against better opponents is the big question?
Neuer keeps going
After some shaky moments in the 2018-2019 season, Neuer seems to have found his footing a bit. Today, Neuer wrapped up his 37th clean sheet, breaking the record of Sepp Maier. Frankly, Neuer didn’t have a ton of action in this one as Niklas Sule and Matthias Ginter anchored the defense in front of the Bayern goalkeeper. With just two saves, Neuer took care of what he needed to in a blowout.
The midfield did a good job of controlling play, but it was the pressure applied by the German forwards that had the most impact on Neuer’s leisurely work day.
37 - @Manuel_Neuer kept his 37th clean sheet in his 88th game for @DFB_Team_EN and has now surpassed former record holder Sepp Maier (36 games without conceding). Guard. #GEREST pic.twitter.com/g8rAugqRKy
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) June 11, 2019
This was good...maybe even great, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves
An 8-0 win over anyone is excellent; there is no denying that. What we need to see, however, is a performance as sharp as this one against better competition. Germany still has issues and still will show signs of cracking, but this was an important step on the road back to being a world power.
There is still a lot of work to be done under Joachim Low. When the longtime coach returns to fully take the helm, it will be interesting to see how the team reacts.
What were your big takeaways from the game? Tell us below.