3.Lack of proven scorer: Is Werner the right man to lead the German line?
RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner looks set to step into the shoes of Thomas Muller as Germany’s leading man. Another much-touted 22-year-old attacker, this time from Leipzig. Not his day, but he showed hunger and made all the right runs. He gets close to the byline frequently and his pace and touch are good weapons. If anything Werner was too hungry to announce himself. He snatched at a shot in the 19th minute on the turn, rather than look for a more effective layoff, but he was constantly nagging the back four with runs into the channel.
Much was made ot the omission of Leroy Sane – calls that will grow louder now – and yet many of the issues that Germany faced stemmed from the personnel in their style of play. Getting the ball wide and into the box wasn’t an issue for Julian Draxler or Thomas Muller, but the choice of striker didn’t suit that system at all.
Werner is a finisher and gets ‘s into interesting spaces with supplies coming from Draxler. Kroos and Mueller but he is not a target man like Mario Gomez neither he has the poaching skills like Miroslav Klose. Lowe has to use him tactically if Germany has to outscore their opponent in the World Cup 2018.