Julian Nagelsmann’s surprise move pays off immediately – Lennart Karl makes his mark in the DFB squad

Against Switzerland, it was clear from the outset just how much the DFB team had focused on set-pieces. Germany’s first goal resulted from a superbly rehearsed move: the corner from the left was played short to Joshua Kimmich, who, without even attempting to turn towards goal, laid the ball back to Florian Wirtz. Wirtz collected the ball on the touchline and delivered a precise cross to the far post, where Jonathan Tah shook off Silvan Widmer and headed home to make it 1-1. “If you do it quickly and switch play fast, you catch the opposition off guard. That’s the hardest thing to defend against,” said former BVB coach Edin Terzic, praising the move after the match on RTL.

The goal that put Germany 3-2 ahead, scored by Wirtz – who put in arguably his best performance in a national team shirt and was directly involved in all four of Germany’s goals – also came from a set-piece. Serge Gnabry once again played a short corner to Wirtz, who was left completely unmarked by the Swiss defence; he cut inside, took a couple of steps towards goal and smashed the ball spectacularly into the far corner from the edge of the box.

But even the set-pieces that didn’t lead to goals had an impact. Kimmich’s corners, in particular, frequently arrived dangerously and uncomfortably for goalkeeper Gregor Kobel at the near post.

This newfound strength is no coincidence: a few weeks ago, the DFB team strengthened its ranks with the Dutchman Alfred Schreuder, whom Nagelsmann already knows from their time together at TSG Hoffenheim. The aim was to give set-piece coach Mads Buttgereit more freedom so that he could concentrate fully on this specific task: “We decided to bring him in as an additional expert so that Mads Buttgereit can focus entirely on set-piece situations in training. We expect set-pieces to take on even greater significance at this World Cup. That’s why we want to place even greater emphasis on them in training and in our preparations,” explained Nagelsmann. A complete success.

A glance at the scoreboard and the four goals scored is enough to confirm that the DFB team’s attack had an outstanding day. Alongside Wirtz’s world-class performance, Lennart Karl’s debut for the senior national team also stood out. In the limited 28 minutes he spent on the pitch, the 18-year-old impressively demonstrated that he certainly has a place in the team.

Against the Swiss, the Bayern youngster played fearlessly and unfazed, racing down the right flank at pace and repeatedly creating danger with crosses into the opposition’s box. Leon Goretzka was unable to capitalise on Karl’s first assist, but the second resulted in Wirtz’s 4-3 goal in the 86th minute.

The statistics also underline Karl’s successful debut: with three goal-scoring assists, he was the second-best German player after Wirtz (five). Furthermore, in his brief time on the pitch, he had 31 touches and completed 18 out of 20 passes to a teammate – nine of them into the final third.

Karl’s rapid rise this season is therefore continuing. It was only in November that he made his debut for the U21s and made a name for himself at FC Bayern as a player with a bright future. With performances like this, he can also hope for playing time at the World Cup.

However, not everything went as hoped. As strong and efficient as the attack was, the defence proved just as vulnerable. In particular, centre-backs Nico Schlotterbeck and Jonathan Tah were having an off day. Schlotterbeck was involved in two goals conceded with two hair-raising misplaced passes, whilst Tah lost the decisive challenge against Breel Embolo for the second goal. After that, Tah didn’t make any more major mistakes, but Schlotterbeck remained prone to errors.

“I didn’t particularly like Schlotterbeck today. He made a lot of mistakes in his passing, and his two passes led to the first two goals. Of course, you have a game like that every now and then,” said expert Lothar Matthäus on RTL.

The biggest winner among the centre-backs was therefore Antonio Rüdiger, who could now put immense pressure on the first-choice pairing. Matthäus agrees: "Rüdiger will go on the offensive; that’s his style. He’s a top-class player. It’s great for a manager to have that choice. We’ve got a few players who can put pressure on those two at the back."

The manner in which the goals were conceded came as little surprise. It was somewhat reminiscent of the 1-2 defeat against Japan at the World Cup in Qatar: plenty of possession, the dominant side, yet at the back it felt as though every attack found the net. It was a similar story against Switzerland, who were clearly outplayed in most statistics (0.59:2.63 xGoals, 7:22 shots, 3:9 shots on target, 1:8 clear-cut chances, 3:17 shots in the penalty area). Nevertheless, the result seems fairly balanced.

“Defensively, we didn’t quite perform as well in some situations. We were good with high pressing, but deep down we were sometimes too passive. The third goal was a shot without any build-up; he struck it from a standing position into the corner,” explained Nagelsmann. This problem must be resolved quickly to avoid a Japan déjà vu at the World Cup.