By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
World champions Germany made a business-like start to their
EURO 2016 campaign on Sunday night, comfortably overcoming Ukraine 2-0 in their
opening Group C game.
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| Mustafi opened the scoring with his first goal for Germany |
The Germans were rarely troubled by their opponents and
cruised to victory, putting aside some of the doubts that had been building up
into the tournament following friendly defeats in Berlin and Augsburg to
England and Slovakia respectively. The goals were scored by Shkodran Mustafi (pictured) and
substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Nevertheless, the game will still have posed some conundrums
for German coach Joachim Low, especially in the striking position.
Götze not
the answer
Germany does look short of a natural striker in the squad
and in truth, have been missing one since Miroslav Klose retired after the 2014
World Cup. Both Kevin Volland and Max Kruse were left at home, whilst injury
has kept Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus on the sidelines.
Low turned to Mario Götze to fill the shoes of Klose on
Sunday in what is often referred to as the false no.9 position. He is not the
answer to the issues they have.
Götze tried hard but looks a player short on match fitness
and short on confidence too. He barely featured for FC Bayern München last
season due to a combination of injury and not being selected on a regular
basis.
Götze’s best work has often come in a no.10 role and it
might be the only way to fit him into this team. Thomas Müller looked wasted
out on the flanks and Andre Schürrle is another potential option.
It is an area Germany will seek to improve going forwards.
Whilst Götze’s talent is clearly evident, his demeanour is not always the best.
Going forwards, he needs to be either deployed elsewhere in the team or become
an impact substitute.
Sharp
reflexes
Despite a lack of productive quality, Ukraine still forced
Manuel Neuer into some decent saves throughout the match. The German number one
goalkeeper made at least four sharp stops, proving he is the best in the world
at his reflexes.
Reflexes were also something Jerome Boateng showed in
abundance; superbly stopping Yevhen Konoplyanka’s goal bound shot in the first
half. Having initially got his feet in a real muddle, Boateng used great athleticism
to get back and clear the ball away from the line. He ended up in the net.
Luckily for Germany, the ball didn’t.
Mustafi scored a decent header but looked nervy at the back.
Mats Hummels will surely slot back into the team from his injury for the vital
match with Poland on Thursday night.
Ukraine were generally disappointing. Their best moments
came in the first half, but they tired as the game wore on and the scoreline
ultimately reflected a routine win for the world champions who completed the
job with minimal fuss.
My best
three players of the match
Man of the Match: Toni Kroos (Germany)
The Real Madrid midfielder completely bossed this match. His
range of passing was at times staggering and he delivered the free-kick for the
opening goal from Mustafi in the 19th minute that calmed German
nerves.
2nd: Sami Khedira (Germany)
Playing alongside the gifted Kroos also brought the best out
of Sami Khedira. Ukraine gave him far too much space in the centre of the park
to dictate the tempo. This was a calming performance from Khedira.
3rd: Manuel Neuer (Germany)
If you captained him, Neuer scored 14 points in the official
EURO 2016 Fantasy game, so it was a worthy pick if you did this. He
demonstrated his reflexes with several decent stops to prevent Ukraine from any
hope of salvaging an unlikely point.
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