Former Bayern Munich and Germany great Philipp Lahm came away just as disheartened as most fans after watch Die Mannschaft drop a 2-1 decision to Japan.
It was equally disappointing and frustrating for Lahm, but he does not think he would resort to switching Joshua Kimmich out of the central midfield. Instead, Lahm would use a more conservative approach and deploy stay-at-home defensive bodies like Matthias Ginter and Christian Günter to man the outside-back positions.
“Moving Joshua Kimmich from midfield to right-back is out of the question for me. I’d put Ginter on the right and Günter on the left. Why? Because it’s now all about having a compact defense,” Lahm told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “You can’t expect Ginter to be running up and down the wing, and he doesn’t have to either. He’s an extremely reliable, responsible player, a stabilizer.”
Germany manager Hansi Flick may opt to go that route against what looks to be a very confident and formidable Spain side. The former Bayern Munich boss is going to have to hope his struggling offense can come to life without compromising its defensive integrity.
Loading comments...