Argentina-Germany Quarterfinal Review

Sunday, 04 July 2010 01:53

Khamosh Argentina

QF Argentina-Germany 4-0

Diego Maradona does not have anything to complain about. Starting right from the time since his shocking appointment as head coach. Given a free hand he tried more than 100 players before narrowing down on this squad. His failure to find two central defenders who would stand like walls of a fort was his biggest failing and this was an accident waiting to happen (read: http://bit.ly/csd3sI). The wait was for an opposition, which does not have the fear of Maradona & Messi & of the World Cup stage.

The Germans came at him like lions on their prey. By trampling all over Australia and England, the Germans had let out the roars of warning that their tanks were rolling in. But Maradona refused to pay heed. The defense remained disorganised & a school boyish focus on attacking persisted. Argentina in lots of ways was different from those two teams mentioned above, which are glorified EPL teams, at best. However, in some very important ways, Argentina was not too different. Lopsided in the front with a sprinkling of fine attackers but mediocre in the middle & downright obnoxious at the back.

High intensity

Germany started off with high intensity football that can unnerve South Americans who like to take it at a slower pace. The Germans got a bonus with a goal scored even before spectators had taken to their seats. Otamendi & the defense was something that could not be called a defense.

And what’s more, the goal came from 20-year old Thomas Mueller whom Maradona thought of as a ball boy & refused to share the dais with in the news conference following the Argentina-Germany friendly in March. He ensured Maradona would not forget his face, ever. It was an ominous sign of what was to come.

Thin defense; flank attacks

When Gabriel Heinze moved up during attacks, Argentina defense would be three and sometimes two men when Otamendi would also be slow to fall back. On the fast counter attacks, Germany attacked from the flanks, which worsened the state of the 2 or 3 defenders being faced by 2 or 3 German attackers. This was the problem with having the team stacked with attack-minded players who were reluctant to lend a hand in the defending.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was marking Messi & within a few minutes it was clear that he had saved his best for this day & even Messi will have to step up his tactical prowess to beat this defense. Later in the game, the highly impressive Sami Khedira kept a watch on Messi. Tevez was being handled by the central defenders.

The bottom line was that Messi failed but there were moments when he managed to send in a pass or two. But, there was no sustained danger. When Messi fell back to fetch the ball, it was clear that the Argentine midfield had failed.

Absence of quick passing game

However, Argentina attackers would also have to take the criticism of failing to release the balls with urgency. The extra-time spent on the ball could have made the difference. It was the opposite with Schweinsteiger, as also with Oezil & Podolski - they concentrated on getting that killer pass. Like in the last game, Basti was seen higher on the pitch later in the game, taking more active participation in attacks. If Klose had been in his best form, the score line could have been worse for the albiceleste.

Argentina looked better before the second goal came half through the second half. Worsening the condition of hardworking playmakers like Tevez & di Maria was Gonzalo Higuain who was horrible with poor first touches, poor work rate, poor positioning & soft harmless shots.

Because splitting the defense that was sitting deep & playing solidly, became difficult, Argentina started looking for long-range shots & realised the power & accuracy had deserted them.

Old fashioned team-work

The defeat is embarrassing & may weigh on Argentina’s psyche for a long time because of the absence of any tactical response from Argentina. Some time in the first half di Maria moved to the right flank & Maxi Rodriguez went to the other side. It did not have much impact. Javier Pastore came on with 20 minutes to go & to his credit looked fine but it was too late. Aguerro was also on the pitch as was Higuain. Who was to break attacks & win the balls?

A remarkable phenomenon was the ease with which Germany operated & got the goals. Most came from the left (this is the area that was the big hole right since the start of the campaign. First it was Jonas Gutierrez, a right winger, who was tried in disguise of a right full back. His deficiencies in  defense were exposed in the first two games & he was replaced by Nicolas Otamendi, another defender in disguise. Like Maradona, a coach in disguise, these two were not supposed to be there in the first place).

Germany tried no long-range efforts. Just the good old passing game. Philip Lahm, the danger man on the right need not have to be involved at all. The gap on the left was so easy to pierce that Germany just concentrated on that side. Germany did not even sit back after say 3 goals like most teams would. Instead, it got a fourth one without expending any extra energy. The end result is that despite being faced with such a high voltage contest that can mentally sap any team, Germany will go into the semi-finals still relatively fresh than what could have been after a tougher match.

A good thing from this: Maradona will not run around naked in Buenos Aires though Argentina has been stripped bare.