It has been a long time since the German men’s national team showed this amount of tactical dominance — and got the result to match. But under Julian Nagelsmann, the EURO 2024 hosts ticked off both boxes in its 5-1 demolition of Scotland in the tournament opener. Let’s take a quick dive into how it happened.
Scotland was really, really bad
This is not to take away from Germany’s performance, as it takes a good setup to identify weaknesses and good execution to exploit them. But Scotland was pulled apart with shocking ease from the opening kick — as Tifo’s JJ Bull explains well in this Twitter thread:
Nagelsmann knew Scotland were gonna be in 541 with a narrow midfield, so he has forwards ready to run wide and his full-backs positioned to tempt the Scotland wing-backs onto them, which will leave the space behind/wide for forwards… pic.twitter.com/0uANDv0T9Z
— JJ Bull (@jj_bull) June 15, 2024
As left-back and Liverpool star Andy Robertson spoke of the confusion Scotland felt with Germany’s mixed movements. Either the German full-backs were free, or the forwards were able to dart between the center-backs, or often, both. Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz was on the receiving end of a golden chance in the opening seconds, and would find his finishing touch soon enough.
How could the forwards get through? That was the other part. Scotland played a perplexing high line — but one that neither compressed space for Germany to operate in nor added pressure on the ball. Toni Kroos, who quarterbacked with superb efficiency (99% pass accuracy from a deep-lying playmaker role), was afforded time to calmly scan the field. Nearby Scotland players didn’t step in to press, and it is hard to tell what they were protecting against.
In the second half, Scotland sat deeper but was already down to 10 men, and was eventually pulled apart. It is hard to see other teams approaching Germany this way — particularly after this result.
Gündoğan at the No. 10 — where he belongs
As bad as Scotland looked, however, Germany was also at its sharpest. Several players — Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sané, and İlkay Gündoğan, sliced through multiple defenders in tight spaces to connect with their teammates, showing a chemistry in attack that should not be taken for granted. Nagelsmann has this team humming. For a national team side, that isn’t easy. For Germany, that hasn’t been the case.
Gündoğan especially stands out. Often maligned and not fully appreciated for his contributions to the national team, like Toni Kroos (a EURO 2020 standout) before him, the former Manchester City and current FC Barcelona star is excelling in his role as central attacking midfielder, especially off the ball.
It was Gündoğan’s movement that created the space for Wirtz to run into on the first goal, for example. Thomas Müller is not the only German interpreter of space:
Gündoğan channeled his inner Raumdeuter again for Germany’s fourth goal with a darting forward run — spotted by Leroy Sané — and laid it back first time for striker Niclas Füllkrug.
The veteran also helped initiate Germany’s adaptation to Scotland by dropping deeper, taking the spaces on offer between the lines and pulling the strings. His setup for Germany’s second goal — through Kai Havertz to Jamal Musiala — was Germany’s best through-ball of the night:
At the FIFA 2022 Men’s World Cup, Gündoğan was slotted down in central midfield and Kroos was retired from international football. At EURO 2020, the two were paired in central midfield with Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller in attack. Now, Kroos central and Gündoğan in attack looks like the combination the Germans have been missing.
Luck or class? Let’s go with class
Despite results, Germany has not been tactically inept in recent tournaments. Losses or draws to the likes of England, France, and Spain were all high-class, hard-fought contests. And it must be said that the malaise that has plagued Die Mannschaft — random conceded goals from nowhere — has not disappeared either, with Antonio Rüdiger gifting a baffling own goal back to Scotland late.
Fortunately, the score was already 4-0 and Scotland was down to 10 men.
But could it have gone differently? Germany’s two early goals came from minimal xG — as well constructed as they were, it took sweetly-hit shots from Wirtz and Musiala, and less than Scottish keeper Angus Gunn’s finest moments.
Some questions therefore remain. Can the relentless German pressure on display Friday carry over if the Germans hit another patch of poor finishing — as they have been known to? Or if they get hit by an early goal, as happened seemingly every time at EURO 2020 and WC 2022?
In that respect, Wednesday’s group stage match vs. Hungary could provide a good measuring stick. The Hungarians have frequently proved a tough match and hit Germany on both counts in EURO 2020. But that Germany team, under then-outgoing coach Joachim Löw, was shell-shocked and desperate to claw their way to the knockouts. This one — for now — is brimming with belief under Nagelsmann.
And in football, that can make as much difference as good tactics.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Germany’s massive EURO 2024-opening win over Scotland? Good, because the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show has you covered! We’ve got takes on Julian Nagelsmann’s lineup, the brilliance of Toni Kroos, Germany’s relentless attack, and why Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala are probably winning over a lot of new fans. You can get the podcast on Spotify or below: