MY TAKE ON THE GAME VS CROATIA VS ENGLAND .

england played crotia in the world cup semi final's . before there were two different views about two coaches . first up england as to how gareth southgate has gathered england and united them . compared to crotia who had face some very good teams england's path to the semi's had been easy . now crotia started the game with their favoured 4-3-3 formation while england started the game with 3-5-2 formation .  out of the two coaches southgate was out of his depth in terms of the tactical innovation and nothing great to offer as how he can surprise the other team . england had started with the same formation for all of the game . i think he favoured this formation for the fact that these were the best 11 that he had and just wanted to be put together on the pitch there was no nothing new that he tried to do . but then he did acheive which few england managers failed to acheive .
the game started with familiar pattern of england sitting back while crotia dominated the possession . england went ahead inside 10 min because alli impeded by modric and tippier scored from the spot . now the onus fell on crotia as to how they are going to equalize . croatian coach had talked about how his side on offense had not been doing well . england were playing on the counter so when england lost the ball england's fullback would tuck along side their centre backs making it 5 across the back line . this means that the croatian fullbacks had  a free run to go upfield . the midfield was very much compact with england match crotia woth the middle three . croatia wanted to stretch so both modric and rakitic went on each flank trying to overload the flank . so croatia were trying to overload the flanks but the trouble with croatia was that in the first half england players had energy to close down croatia quickly so croatia were just not able to thread england's defense . while england had been defending well there counter attack was doing very well . kane was playing the no. 10 role trying to hold up the ball and bring alli and lingard in the move . while the other move would be to try to release sterling behind the back four especially against vida who england would struggle against sterling . henderson in particular was the one who was trying to time and again to release sterling behind the back four . 
in the second half after 10 mins england's closing down and their concentration started to drop while croatia which were overdoing things like trying bring the ball from the wide but were failing in doing that . this was because crotia's offense wasnt that crisp which was needed because england were thing in the  middle and croatia could had troubled england had they swithched the flanks quikcly . after 60 min croatia started to cross the ball in the box with either rebic or perisic coming inside to join manzukic in the middle . it is very important to realize that when you are defending at that time try to be first to the ball and dont wait for it to get to you . walker waited for it to arrive and perisic pounced to score . the equalizer was the turning point since england's shoulder dropped and croatia upped their ante . the trouble was that england's counter attack fell apart in that process . the trouble was that at this time the coach needs to provide input in order to freshn up things . croatia showed more desire to win the contest and one mistake by england cost them the place in the world cup semis . the reason for this is that that after the first goal england didnt showed the urgency to score the second goal and they were more than happy to defend and too the contest somewhat lightly which was the reason for their down fall . southgate should had insisted to that the team score second . there  wasnt a lot of tactical innovation in both the teams but crotia were able to grind out of the result and that would be one of the satisfying thing for croatia . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN BRAZIL VS BELGIUM .

brazil played belgium in the q/f of the world cup . brazil started the game with 4-4-2 formation with neymar starting alongside jesus upfront . while belgium started the game with 4-3-3 formation with fellaini starting the game alongside witsel in the belgium midfield . while chadli was there to support witsel and fellaini . should we call martinez a brilliant manager or is it that he just survived the test . for me brazil just didnt do enough to test belgium and didnt do enough to test them . martinez must had studied brazil and he had seen where neymar operates and he wanted to just close down that zone but at the same time he didnt tried to stop him or try to man mark him instead he just allowed him to have the ball and let him drive to get him isolated and then stopped him . fellaini and munier did an excellent job when he went either ways .
the game started with belgium sitting back but at the same time keeping lukaku,hazard and de bruyne high up the pitch so that he can hit brazil on the counter while at the same time he had 7 players back .  belgium were set up in a very specific way they just wanted to defend the 18 yard box and didnt bothered to chase brazil on wide side . instead they wanted brazil to come inside and then stop them . belgium were so compact that no two players had more than 5 yard space between them . martinez had studied how brazil operates and he knew that if he stops neymar he virtually stops because they try to find him on the pitch . so fellaini was specifically placed from where neymar likes to cut inside to stop him . chadli who started the match was suppose to start at the left back but vertroghen started there and chadli started in the middle three . jesus who starts in the middle cannot beat toby and kompany in the air and both have decent pace . belgium had the first chance when de bruyne found fellaini in the hole who scuffed his short . the warning signs were there for both sides which belgium having some clearances of their own in front of their goal . 
in the first half brazil were trying to control the tempo of the game . they were actually trying to slow the tempo of the game so that they could asses the belgium formation and then try to open them . the trouble with brazil was that brazil were just not able to put more than three players  together in the move then they were able to bring belgium in trouble just look at willian ,pauliniho and wagner combining on the right side and belgium had some scary moments . first off brazil mostly like to operate from the left because neymar likes to operate from there . secondly he has coutiniho and marcelo to complement on that side . but at the same time he likes to spend time on the ball where on if the opposition is good enough then they can stop him . brazil's offense was a story of two half's . in the first half brazil were seen trying to slow down the pace of the game and try to control the tempo which can be upped at their behest . the trouble was that brazil's two player were combining together but they were not able to bring the third into the play and really stretch belgiums defense . the other trouble was that brazil's slow build up was aiding belgium's defense who were able to organise themselves properly to stop brazil in the track . had brazil brought the ball from back to front quicker they troubled belgium . brazil ended the first half two down .so a change was necessary .

brazil on offense while belgiums shape to counter . 

brazil made changes in the second half . they brought firmino who a better link player than jesus who was switch wide with willian making way . tite thought that belgium were not stretched enough so he wanted to have marcelo high up the pitch while lukaku was marked by miranda . so marcelo was sent high of the pitch to try to open up belgiums defense . but then belgium had already noticed that they cannot out to stop marcelo so they wanted him to come inside and waited for him to cross or come inside . even though the players and formation  were changed but the script remained the same for brazil . they just couldnt have a good interplay between their players to trouble belgium's defense who had to thank courtouis . but then he is there for that . it wasnt that belgiums defense was watertight there were spaces that could had been exploited had tite ordered his players and his team showed a little bit of creativity and some patience which they entirely lacked in the second sending one crosses after another . the first goal for brazil showed that belgiums defense wasnt impregnable and had brazil showed some better interplay things would had been different . they should had been patient just look at the number of shots from  beyond the box and had they shown a little patience then .
for belgium lukaku ,hazard and de bruyne started upfront with de bruyne trying to mark fernandiniho his team mate. martinez had the idea that both hazard and lukaku playing on both sides of the pitch will stretch the brazil defense and the spaces will be explored by them . belgium were playing on the counter they scored two in the first half . ( had martinez bouth a page from conte's book of how to operate the front three then i think he would had caused brazil more problems ) . brazil were trying to man mark both hazard and de bruyne but one is skilled and the other is very physical . both can run can on defense and at times i though that at least in the second half belgium just didnt enough on the counter particularly hazard who should had crossed the ball when he had players in the box . instead he choose to keep the ball and in doing so he had to pass the ball back and lost possession . at times it looked like he was trying to prove a point and playing a game of upsmanship . he should had crossed more and that would had kept brazil on the back foot . with lukaku in the box he should had crossed more and tested brazil more instead of trying to  be a smart one .  fellaini was the better player but i would prefer to have dembele who deserve his chance .
martinez passed the test but it would be better to assess to how he can get his three front players to combine together rather front three going in three different ways . instead try to combine them together because france will be a lot tougher than brazil .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN FRANCE VS ARGENTINA

argentina played france in the first round of 16 . i read sampoli talking that argentina tried everything to messi but to be honest can he say that a single tactics that he played the team he got it correct . it had always been the struggle for argentina . he didnt knew his best team and tactics that he devised were just not  on the same plane with the players available at his disposal . while looking at both the teams you can clearly make out that france had the better teams  both athletically and technically . they were a better youthful side than argentina and that was the difference maker .
both argentina and france started the game with 4-3-3 formation and it was rightful because both wanted to have maximum player behind the ball when they losse the possession . even though france had the youthful side they choose to sit back and play counter . it wasnt that argentina was dominating or anything but a clever tactics to pull argentina out of shape and then hit them on the counter with pace of mbappe and griezman . the warning signs were from the start with mbappe making the run and winning the penalty . there were some obvious things that were missing in the argentinian defense . first off they are trying to play pressing football but dont have the legs . secondly they are playing a high line compare to france who even though younger took the cautious approach of playing a deep line because they had seen as to what messi and banega can do with that kind of space . both teams like to play out of the back but the problem is that when the ball comes into the final third . argentina just didnt had any ingenuity when they would bring the ball near the france's box . 
argentina played messi upfront with di maria and pavon alongside him . both played wide in a bid to stretch defense but france were not going to get pulled into their trap who choose to stay compact . when messi was upfront for the first 15 min argentina were not able to work the ball to messi . secondly argentina were spend too much time on the ball for me .argentina's buildup was slow  the extra touches gives defense time to adjust themselves and make that much difficult for the  offense to conjure a move that would open the opposition and question there organisation .  when messi was not getting the ball upfront he becomes restless and that is a good sign to be a football but at times you need to ask a player to hold his position just like gaurdiola ask jesus to hold his in the man city formation so if messi was to come inside either pavon or di maria should had taken his to pose that threat . the thing that was very baffling was argentina trying to work the ball from the right . what were trying to do because untill they dont have a credible threat in the middle them working the ball there and trying to overload that side had no meaning . what argentina were trying to do when they had the ball was not making no sense . france had shut up shop in the middle and they had bodies in the middle with very little space there . aerial crossess were of no uses for argentina because messi was not going to win aerial duel with varane and umtiti . the wide players run were just hopeless because they were just one dimensional trying to run down the line and then crossing aerially and wasting the ball . there was no ingenuity in their runs and they just couldnt trouble france's defense . di maria scored a wonder goal but was absolutely hopeless in the open play . most of all where was argentina's defense on the fourth goal which just went to sleep where on they let france score a four pass goal .
france got the tactics right but still the performace needs some introspection because france's front three are not on the same page . mbappe brightened their day other teams will not let him have that easy . pogba too needs to needs to release the ball early just keep the ball rolling. deschamps needs to show him that he is not making proper choices because at times he trying to pass the ball to a player where on the play is going to get bogged and that there is not further passes to that move or that the player might just end up lossing possession . when france take that ball which they generally do on the flanks they are struggling to bring it inside or continue that play and are ending up in lossing possession . they need to work that offense because they kind of got easy against argentina but others will not be that easy .
portugal played uraguay in the other round of 16 . now for the last three seasons real madird had won the champions league and it is nothing because of the finishing power of ronaldo who is just deadly in and around the 18 yard box . but here i was surprised by fernando santos tactics . i waiting for the crosses because when you have ronaldo in the box you just have to take advantage of the world's best header of the ball . portugal started the game with 4-4-2 formation while uraguay started the game with 4-5-1 formation .
the game was going to go in familiar lines with uraguay sitting back and portugal dominating the possession and trying to open up uraguay's defense . portugal had jao mario and bernardo silva on the flanks both like to come inside try to link up with the front players . but both have that bad habit of spending time on the ball . this slows down the offense and an opportunity is gone to catch opposition flat footed . from the first kick of the game till queresma was put in the game i was waiting for crosses to be made and just put one on ronaldo's head . instead portugal were trying all different things but they were just not crossing and whatever they did crosses were just too much off the mark . uraguay had too shots on goal and they scored two and then just stopped portugal  . really dont understand fernando santo's tactics as to why his plan A was to take the ball the ball wide and cross and then improvise . he has ronaldo in the team just ask him to stay in the box and there about and we have the game . disappointed in the coach's tactics plus the wasy the players executed them .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN NIGERIA VS ARGENTINA .

aregentina started the game with 4-3-3 formation while it was shown as 4-4-2 for me it was 4-3-3 because perez was shown on the right side but di maria was as high as messi . while nigeria started the game with 3-5-2 formation . nigeria just needed a point while argentina needed the win to progress so i think nigeria went with a defensive mindset of trying to stop messi and company . in the last game messi didnt saw lot of the ball and sampoli was criticized for that . another thing was that messi was far  away from goal and that stalled argentina's offensive somewhat . so sampoli made the necessary change he switched messi to all winning barcelona position on the right from where he can cut inside . another change that sampoli that was equally important for me is that he bought banega in the side . the little man is very good on the ball and his long balls created the win for argentina .
the game started with nigeria sitting back and hitting on the counter . now the nigerian coach must had thought his tactics right . he wanted to play 5 at the back but at the same time play a little bit of a high line because he knew that if they played deeper just around the edge of the box and if messi can find a space there then he knew of the quality that messi possess . so nigeria played a little bit of high line . argentina had different tactics than previous game here they were leaving messi and and di maria high of the pitch but wide to stretch the defense . higuain was coming inside to disturb the back line organisation and that when he comes inside the space he leaves behind will be exploited by messi and di maria . . now even though the nigeria thought of tactics right the execution for it was the bane for nigerians because who was going to pick di maria and messi when they were going to come inside was the real trouble . time and again argentinian players were finding space between the lines and most of it there was no cohesion on defense between the playters as to who is going to pick who and that confusion let to the first goal . the lines were flat and the coach failed to clear the confusion for the whole game . the game burst into life with banega finding messi behind the back three and messi scoring the goal it is because of that again in the first half banega could release di maria behind the back three . even though argetina scored the first goal  for me the offense for them was not working because first off banega was main progenitor . he was the one who pulling the strings . he was a little bit deep when he was trying the final ball and second was that messi was on the right but argentina dont of the quality they can successfully bring argentina inside and make messi pontent that he really is for that they lacked the left sided player that barcelona had in form of  neymar who could exploit the space that messi created by attracting the defense on right side . di maria was absolutely hopeless for me . 
i  had talked about the point of attack and that was the main problem for nigeria as well . first off nigeria only had two upfront they had three in the middle and they were pretty close in the middle the reason may be fear of messi . in the first half nigeria had to go musa and Iheanacho very quickly because argentinian players were pressing the nigerian midfield . mikel was the main man for nigeria . he was player who was  pulling the strings and he tried to play musa who has that tendency to drop on the left and then cut inside . musa was lively but the trouble was that he didnt had the proper support of other players because they were deep in their half and by the time they arrived argentina would had player behind the ball and were able to press musa .

distance between argentinian and nigerian midfield and frontline .

in football the distance between the line matters and particlular on offense . you need to take into account the time the ball gets to the player as well as his distance from the goal because if there is too much distance between players then the inter play between gets affected because the opposition can intercept the play and the offense falls apart . the distance between midfield and the front line matter because again as i had said that the interplay gets affected and if you want to have crisp interplay in your team then you need to have the lines very close . there was too much of distance between nigerian's midfield and front two . even in the first half the distance between argentian front three and the middle two was a bit too much and it was affecting their offense and because of that they had to go wide and then they were not able to bring that ball inside .
last but not the least untill now the officiating had been very good in this tournament and i just hope that the turkish official doesnt gets to officiate the game again because his stupid

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN GERMANY VS SWEDEN .

germany played sweden yesterday . this was one of the best games played in the tournament not just because germany scored a last gasp winner but because both teams had a very simplified approach as to what are they going to do with or without the ball . germany started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation while sweden started the game with 4-4-2 formation . the game was of two halved for germans who adopted different approach in both the halves . in the first half werner was the no.9 and germany wanted to outpass sweden and try to score .
anybody can read as to how the game was going to proceed . germany were going to dominate the possession and sweden were going to hit on the counter . germany had both the fullbacks high up the pitch and were trying to stretch sweden's defense . sweden were not going to drawn in german's trap. they were patient and sat back compact conceding wide spaces to germans and instead waited for germans to come onto them rather than trying to be proactive they were going to be reactive for german actions . 

the reason why werners name was taken was because sweden are one of the biggest team in the tournamet but are not that mobile  so low played werner with the idea that he would make diagonal runs which would get the defense stretched and the three at the back  of werner would be able to exploit that space . the trouble with germans is that germans have good positional knowledge and tactical very astute but the trouble is that they still lack that cohesion and they keep searching for pass . germany were finding space on the flank but there trouble was that bringing the ball inside . i had already said that when one player makes the movement it should be key for others . instead players were not on same wavelength of each other . that is why even when draxler and rues were able to find space in the box they were not able to find  their teammates who didnt had the cue make the move and make themselves  available in the box . second thing is that werner is the no.9 . even though werner is no.9 he like to make diagonal runs and get himself involved in the game . when the ball goes wide werner needs to hold his position in the box try to occupy the two centre halves which would open spaces for other . if he is going wide in trying to get the ball deeper then somebody from german team should try to occupy werner's position . germans were having all the possession and were crossing but were failing to find team mate in the box . this was the story of the first half .
low must had noticed that he wasnt having a traditional no.9 in the box and a target man in the box . so he bought on gomez to be the target man and freed werner to make those diagonal and have run on the defense in a bid to disrupt their discipline  and organisation . but the trouble for germans had been for germans all night long was that they were not able to bring that ball from the wide areas into the inside . i think they had one two many touches on the ball which slowed down the game and allowed the opposition to regroup and make it harder for them .

germany on the attack and spaces exploited by sweden on the counter . 

sweden just played according to the script . not both teams can play possession football . teams need to play to their strength and sweden just did that . for me berg and toivonen were very good in holding the ball and then releasing classen and forsberg beyond them . most importantly berg's passing was very good . sweden's organisation was very good and should have had got something from the game . the one player i was disappointed was forsberg . it is because he has the quality and he needed to show more of it . he should had noted that it was necessary for them to keep moving the ball and shouldnt spend time on the ball and two or three times he lost the possession in trying to be smart . still i am picking him to be the player to be signed by man utd if mouriniho has some brains . he is the missing piece that utd want. the no. 10 that they desperately need .

if germans  need to repeat their  exploits from the brazil worldcup then they need to improve overnight because there is still a lack of cohesion between the front three and they should devise some special play and try to have that one touch football going because better team in the world cup will exploit them .

MY TAKE ON THE GAME BETWEEN ARGENTINA VS CROATIA .

yesterday argetina played crotia . to be honest i had never seen such a weaker argentina side in my life . they all talk about maradona but it was not lone maradona . he had a great support cast who would do the work for him . sampoli is talking about how the other player didnot get with messi and that is cause for defeat . if you had looked closely then i think that messi is not 100% . either he is injured or unfit and that is why he is not seeing more of the ball . secondly it is sampoli who is to be blamed for the defeat . its his team he is the one who has chosen the players . he is the one who has chosen the team and had devised the tactics . if messi is not fit then he should had just dropped him and showed the balls . sampoli just put the players on the pitch and then wants his team to gel . geling doesnt happens overnight . plus the coach needs to have his thoughts cleared if his team needs to perform . all of failure falls squarely on sampoli's shoulder and he should be the one who needs to be put to sword . i had never ever seen argentina team getting outmuscled and outpaced by the opposition . they were literally second best all night .

argentina started the game with 3-2-1-3 formation . while crotia started the game with 4-3-3 formation with brozovic playing the anchor role in the middle of the midfield . even before the game anybody would read the script that messi wasnt going to get time and space on the ball and that is why brozovic was bought in front of the back four . the game started brightly for argentina with messi finding aguero and releasing him behind the back four and this was the only chance created by messi and the argies . after that the game just slipped out of argies hand . what were argentina were going to do with the ball is very questionable . sampoli played two wing backs with the thinking that they would stretch crotia's defense but while doing that he didnt take into account other factors . first off he was having aguero in the middle so aguero beating lovren and riga in the air is not possible .secondly just consider the mobility of perez and mascherano to modric and rakitic . crotia had better midfielders than argentina . argentina were always going to have problems when they were going to bring the ball from wide areas to inside of pitch because croatia were going to have numbers behind the ball and most importantly argentina's interplay wasnt that crisp . to be honest going forward argentina just didnt had a clear plan and most importantly what is sampoli doing on the sidelines pacing up and down . he should had corrected and gone to plan b but sampoli for me just didnt had a plan b . instead he took off perez and bought messi in the midfield . now when  you bring your best player that far from the goal you give opposition the chance because you have to move the ball that much to get the ball to opposition box and in doing so you give the opposition that much chance to stop you in the tracks . the other thing was that argentina were trying to play out of the back a very risky thing to do against a good opposition . it was always risky for argies to play out of the back . argies offense not working is all sampoli's fault and he should  answer for that and not messi . messi didnt made the tactics it was sampoli . 

speaking of tactics sampoli wanted to stretch the play so he deployed two wing backs and to play out of the back with the thinking that croatia would come out and press them . i havent seen a team who had gone to press opposition in their half . instead all the team are playing safe and sitting back and press team when they come in their half . secondly team are not going to chase you in wide instead they want  you to come and then defend in numbers . sampoli's tactics were just not justifying with the ground realities .  most importantly all the teams are not capable or playing out of the press and it doesnt work very well .without the ball argentina were having five at the back so both vrsjlko and strinic had no opposing player for a good half of the pitch . the tactical problem was that whether the fullbacks tuck alongside the centre backs or do they go on and press their opposite numbers which leaves the centre backs exposed .

croatia had a simple game plan they just wanted to hit argentina on the counter and most importantly they had players to do that with manzukic and rebic very good at holding the ball . most importantly the man of the match performance came from their three midfielders  modric,rakitic and brozovic who moved the ball very well .

when the match started the only players that i was worrying about were caballero and subasic who are good goal keepers but are mistake prone and i wasnt wrong with my assumption with subasic making a hash of the situation when he should had just gone to collect the ball when lovren was sheilding it and asking him to collect it . for caballero's mistake i would again put sampoli in the cage because he wants them to play out of the back a move which backfired .
all and all hope argentina are just not the team who can win the cup and for me crotia are the dark horse who can go all the way since they have the team and style to do it . 

MY TAKE ON THE GAMES BETWEEN BRAZIL VS SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY VS MEXICO .

 swiss played brazil in the world cup match . brazil started the game with 4-4-2 because both jesus and neymar were upfront and even though they looked like 4-3-3 they were not they were more like 4-4-2 . while swiss started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation . now in what world would you let one of the best players in the world have time and space on the ball and leave him alone . it was abvious from the start that the swiss were going to strangle neymar . now here is where tite needs to coach him tell him and change the tactics . the more neymar is drawn into the battle the more he wants to fight it . instead tite should had just tried  to play one touch football and keep the play rolling and tite should had created the offense with other player who too are actually good .
the game started with a fimiliar note with swiss trying to sit back and strangle neymar . now i had just read the statistics that neymar was fouled 10 times in the match why wont he be . brazil were always going to have their offense on the left side because that the side neymar operates plus coutiniho was deployed there so that neymar can link up with him and can open up the swiss defense. brazil started the game brightly neymar was closed down so they spread the ball to willian who was on the other flank and he caused swiss the problem by crossing good  crosses  in the box . the trouble started with neymar getting shutdown more by berhami who was very good . what brazil lack is that height upfront which they make up with their crisp passing . jesus was never going to win headers against ikanji and schar so keeping  the ball on the floor was the best option .
swiss were never going to chase brazil in their half what swiss lacked was mobility but they had the physical advantage over brazil . now neymar likes to come deep and start dribble from there . berhami was specifically told to keep tabs on neymar who and he did a very good job with that . here is where i am disappointed with tite . neymar is the main man for brazil as messi is for argentina and every thing and anything is going to flow through him .  so the opposition are going to strangle them . now either you create and offense where on the other member of the team combine when neymar is strangled or create offense so that he can have space to work . the second thing that i was disappointed with tite was neymar's positioning . neymar likes to start from the left and deep . first off the deeper he comes the deeper the offense starts so brazil has to work that  length of the pitch to get to the box or goal . secondly when he getting closed down why not ask him to play one touch football instead trying to drive the ball and prove his ego . why play to his ego . if tite had taken the cue then it was there in the match when neymar was high up the pitch and he beat schar and schar had to take a card to stop him  . so why didnt tite asked him to stay high up the pitch and let the ball come to him and work his magic or let him stay on one side of the pitch and attract the opposition and let others combine . 
i was disappointed in brazil but i was more disappointed in swiss because going forward they didnt had a plan as to  what they are going to do when they are going to take the ball in the final third . now seferovic is a very good player and a good header of the ball plus you can play around him but none of that was visible in the swiss offense and shaqiri,dzemaili and zuber when the ball was bought high up the pitch . just try to cross the ball in the box for seferovic and test silva and mirando with both shaqiri and rodriguez good crosser of the ball . going forward the swiss were pretty hopeless and if the swiiss want to get into the next round then they need to have a better offense . the swiss let a very good chance of beating brazil who i think were vulnerable in the match .
both tite and sampoli need to solve neymar and messi or it may not get them far in the worldcup .
yesterday germany played mexico . germany started the game with 4-2-3-1 formation while mexico too played with the same formation . the tactics were clear from the start that mexico were going to sit back deep and hit germnay on the counter for that they had hernandez upfront who pace can trouble anybody but his overall link up play and finishing are found wanting . germany wanted to stretch the game so that kimmich high up the pitch trying to stretch the play so that players can ozil and kross can exploit that space in the defense and find muller,draxler and wener upfront . the warning signs were from the start from both sides . first germany had the shot when werner found the space behind the back four with his diagonal run . this was because mexico tried to play a slight bit of high line and werner showed his pace to find space behind the back four .  while mexico were finding the space in the hole where on either or vela or hernandez were coming inside and releasing  lugano on the left . lugano was finding the space because kimmich use to high up the pitch and his pace was causing germany the problems . germany were playing the high line trying to congest mexico and press them but the trouble is that mexico are very good in one on one situations and are extremly mobile plus their ground game is very good . their crisp passing is very good with good positional  knowledge .
the game was all about germany dominating possession and trying to open up mexico and even though they lost it doesnt means that germany were bad . it was only that they could not find the back of the net . their game plan and the way played was actually decent and i think after this game low must had thought that perhaps he had a player like sane who can make run on defense with his after burners and open it up . the only player that i would criticise here is ozil . he is the no.10 in the side and on one of the time in the game he could had just released werner . he needs to be strong on the ball and needs to pull the strings and get himself more involved in the game . vela played the no.10 role for mexico and he played it with aplomb . both the teams should could had done more into the game . mexico should had thought about having a bigger scoreline while germany would had thought to have atleast a point in the game .
i think that low needs to look into his side and play kross in place of ozil and needs to have some crisp passing going because otherwise i think that there was nothing bad with the team with some little adjustments . if mexico are to go far into this worldcup then i think hernandez's game needs to improve overnight . the second thing is that they need to be a bit more patient they work the ball in a good position but they just get impatient with their shot . instead if they just can be a little bit more patient then they can just trouble a lot of teams but playing this deep and taking chances against team would someday catch them .