Before the game against England, Thomas Müller called for a better defensive performance from the German team. Conceding goals shouldn’t be as easy as against Hungary.
Thomas Müller is a hardworking person. On the lawn he rotates in the offensive zone, confuses the opponents, commands his own people and plays one or the other clever pass. Likewise, he is quite diligent in terms of communication and it is not without good reason that he is nicknamed “Radio Müller”. And because Müller is a skilled speaker, he did a few media meetings at the weekend. He described and analyzed the performances of the German team, and logically he looked at the upcoming opponent, the English national team – and directed a warning to the teammates.
“What made it look bad against Hungary were the goals we conceded. That will also be the deciding factor against England: That we don’t concede a goal,” he warned. Not only the 31-year-old is worried about how easily the Hungarians scored their two goals against the Germans. His warning was also a clear criticism of his colleague: “What is striking is that we are rarely outnumbered when we conceded goals, but had enough players behind the ball.”
Particularly susceptible to counterattacking
Müller put his finger in the wound with his criticism. Because the defensive performance of the German team is their biggest weakness at this tournament so far. The fact that there was only one goal against France was due to two millimeter narrow offside decisions. The French were denied two hits. The DFB team conceded two goals each against Portugal and Hungary – and the defense around boss Mats Hummels all too often made a rather airy impression.
The German team is particularly susceptible to counterattacks. The Hungarians’ first goal by Adam Szalai from Mainz is symptomatic of this weakness. Passover Roland Sallei was not seriously disturbed by Toni Kroos and Hummels and Matthias Ginter were far too far away from the goal scorer in their own penalty area. Sometimes the gaps are damn big because the last step is not taken. Or the organization is bad.
Thomas Müller: Not allowed to concede a goal against England
Leroy Sané had to serve as a scapegoat in the party against Hungary because, among other things, he let himself be boiled by Andras Schäfer before the goal for the 2-1 lead for the Magyars. But: The hit fell immediately after the restart. The entire German team was in deep sleep, and Sané was the fool at the end of the chain of errors. It is this negligence that worries Müller.
So far, the English have not been noticed as a goal machine. They scored two hits in the preliminary round, but did not classify any at the same time. Nevertheless, the Germans cannot afford to be negligent on the defensive in the round of 16 at Wembley Stadium, they would mean knockout: “(…) We have to keep the English offensive in check as well as possible. Maybe then we just have one or two scoring chances, that can be so, we have to use them – or we go 0-0 into extra time, “said Müller. He no longer spoke of a possible penalty shoot-out.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
