Like many fans and pundits, former Bayern Munich and Germany great Philipp Lahm can look at Germany’s attack and see that it has been lacking.
For Lahm, there might be too much pressure — and dependence — on Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala for this World Cup cycle.
“The fact that Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala still haven’t really found their rhythm in the tournament is largely down to the way we’re playing. There’s no doubt they have immense talent, but we need to put them in positions where they can shine more often. Against physically strong, hard-tackling opponents, we’ve struggled to find them in the right areas of the pitch,” Lahm told Kicker (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “Perhaps they’re not moving well enough themselves, or sometimes not everyone sticks to their position and they end up getting in each other’s way. It’s not always clear who should drift inside and who should stay wide. We need much more from our front four – Wirtz, Musiala, Kai Havertz, and Leroy Sané. But if we continue to show faith in them, I’m confident they’ll eventually demonstrate their true quality.”
One of the most key points that Lahm makes is that Wirtz and Musiala were just not ready to take over this team and lead it yet — at least not in the current positions they are in. Maybe it was unfair to assume the youngsters would be ready, but it is pretty clear that the DFB was banking on them to pace the attack. So far, that has not happened. The knockouts would be a great time for it to get going, though, right?
Maybe Julian Nagelsmann’s master plan will unlock the attack now…or maybe we see more of the same from the Germans. Either way, the aforementioned players will need to be at their best for the upcoming schedule.
