Germany coach Jogi Löw helped Mexico with bad decisions

A quick glance at the stats for the World Cup Group F match between Germany and Mexico might lead you to believe that the defending champs got unlucky. Germany finished the match with 66 percent possession and an eye-popping 26 shots to Mexico’s 13. But only half of them came from inside the box, only nine were on target, and most of them came in the second half, when Mexico was defending it’s 1-0 lead.

During the first half, Germany got ran over. El Tri should have scored three or four times. And on the one chance Mexico did convert, Die Mannschaft’s tactical problems were evident.

Look at who runs back for Germany in an attempt to slow down Hirving Lozano — it’s Mesut Özil! The Arsenal attacking midfielder is specifically famous for not running back on defense. It was a regular point of contention during the club regular season over the past four years that his manager, Arsene Wenger, wouldn’t bench him in big games where more hard work was required. And yet, there he is, sprinting all the way back to his own box for Germany.

That’s a very nice thing to see, but it’s also indicative of a problem. If Özil is sprinting back into his own box, it means no one else is.

There was a lot of talk before the tournament about the players left out — namely Leroy Sane, and the two players who combined for the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup, Andre Schürrle and Mario Götze. But the player that Germany was really missing was another one who got left out of the squad — Liverpool’s Emre Can.

On Sunday, German midfielder Sami Khedira had an awful game. Four years ago, Khedira saved Germany’s World Cup when he was inserted into the lineup and their play turned around dramatically, but there’s a good reason he wasn’t in the lineup in the first place. Khedira has a history of chronic knee injuries, and Germany didn’t know if he could go full speed for 90 minutes. Now, in addition to still having those injuries, he’s four years older. He looked like he just couldn’t run against Mexico.

Khedira, somewhat ironically, is about to get replaced at club level by Emre Can. Why Juventus was able to figure out that they needed to do this, but Germany was not, is tough to figure out. Juve’s interest in replacing Khedira with Can has been known for several months, so maybe Löw should have taken the hint.

But he can’t fix that problem now. Can is sipping coffee in a Turin cafe laughing his ass off at the moment and won’t be making a trip to Russia to save the day. That doesn’t mean Löw is without options, though — he had plenty of midfielders on his bench he could have introduced to slow Mexico down.

Ilkay Gündogan, like Khedira, has a history of chronic injuries. But he did have a very good club season with Man City, and is certainly in better form than Khedira. Leon Goretzka isn’t a true defensive player, but his positional discipline is decent and he’s a good athlete who would have helped slow down El Tri. And there’s also the nuclear option of putting in true defensive midfielder Sebastian Rudy or subbing in a defender, then moving versatile right back Joshua Kimmich into the center.

Instead, Löw did the exact opposite of these things. He kept taking off defensive or balanced players and throwing on forwards, thinking he could overwhelm Mexico. The result was a very nervy game with a lot of shots (and the first ever 3-1-6 formation), but not a lot of clear chances. Mexico’s back four and goalkeeper Memo Ochoa stayed in control, mostly because they always had a way to relieve pressure, since Germany had no one to shut down the middle of the field.

The good news for Germany supporters is that Löw is adaptable. He started the 2014 World Cup with bad tactics, leading to four mediocre performances by his team, before finding something that worked well. After Germany’s group stage performance in 2014, no one would have believed you if you told them that the same team would go on to beat Brazil, 7-1. But his team is fighting an uphill battle now, and it’s because he didn’t put them in a position to succeed.