Germany eventually outwit impressive Ivory Coast defensive scheme to complete comeback – The Conventional Playmaker

For 60 minutes, Ivory Coast were the better side in their match against Germany, leading 0-1 as a result. But as Germany made necessary substitutions, the game swung in the European sides favour. Deniz Undav scored twice to seal a 2-1 comeback, in doing so highlighted what he is good at, and what Germany had to do to outwit Ivory Coast’s impressive defensive scheme.

Ivory Coast had switched from playing a 4-4-2 in their opener against Ecuador, to playing with an extra midfielder, opting for a 4-3-3 in the process. This was to combat Germany’s flexible 3-3-3-1, which saw Joshua Kimmich play in a back three, and Nathaniel Brown play narrowly in midfield, but with licence to move to the left.

Ivory Coast attacked largely via the flanks rather than through the centre, and set out on sending the ball to Yan Diomande stationed out wide, which seemed inevitable given his stellar display against Ecuador.

This time, however, Diomande started on the left, rather than the right, and faced up against Kimmich, who is not the quickest. The tactic was to give the ball to Diomande so he could take on Kimmich whenever he could, on the outside or cutting inside, with left-back Ghislain Koran providing the overlap. To make matters more difficult, Kimmich did not always receive cover from another defender, or a midfielder.

Diomande did not create as many chances as he did last Monday, but his dribble, and cross, effectively created the opening goal.

Diomande received the ball on the left, and dribbled towards Kimmich, with the German dropping further back.

In isolated 1v1s, decelerating, and then picking up speed, can be a handy way for the player with the ball to create separation between themselves, and the marker, so that can open up to cross or goal for goal themselves.

And Diomande slowed down the dribble, before almost instantly darting down the outside…

zipping a low cross across the six-yard box, which was difficult not only to clear, but for goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to do anything about too.

Ange-Yoan Bonny, and Amad, were the main targets in the box, but Amad could not properly find his footing as Brown blocked his initial shot. Though Franck Kessie, who had advanced from midfield, pounced on the rebound.

Germany had a few chances prior to conceding, including a goal which was disallowed, but now had to respond. Brown looked to advance beyond midfield, making runs via the left channel. Musiala was the main instigator on the ball for Germany, and looked to receive the ball in pockets of space. Kai Havertz thought he had scored, but again Germany were cancelled out after Musiala was ruled to have fouled defender Odilon Kossounou on the edge of the box.

As mentioned, Ivory Coast played an extra midfielder in this match. This helped Ivory Coast be compact in midfield when they did not have the ball, and made it more difficult for Germany to overload that area of the pitch. The midfielders supported when the side was defending attacks out wide, would apply pressure to Germany’s midfielders when the Germans tried to move the ball between the lines, and along with the wingers, closed down passing lanes.

Space between the midfield, and defence was also reduced, meaning there was less space for Germany to combine in close proximity on the edge of the box. Ivory Coast were simply more organised and dynamic without the ball than Curaçao, who Germany thrashed 7-1.

When a team is facing a compact defence, the initial response is to play around the block, if they cannot play through it. This arguably needs numbers inside the box to meet deliveries following quick attacks down the flanks, be that through deep crosses, or 1v1 situations. But when Germany had the ball out wide, Ivory Coast’s full-backs got tight to their wingers, with the midfielders also tracking back, which meant the ball was often played short. If crosses did arrive in the box, it was from deeper positions in the channels.

In that sense, more dribbles could have been useful in an attempt to draw Ivory Coast out of their shape, or draw fouls close to goal. Towards the end of the first-half, Musiala, and Florian Wirtz, swapped positions, with Musiala moving wide left, and Wirtz playing as the no.10. Musiala weaved inside the box, but no foul was awarded after he went to ground.

The start of the second-half saw Germany carry out a nice move in the channel. Brown’s positioning invited a disguised pass from Wirtz. Brown then found Musiala, who started inside the box, but midfielder Ibrahim Sangare was there to close down.

Ivory Coast countered twice after intercepting passes in midfield. First Kessie, and then Christ Inao Oulai, carried the ball from deep, move the ball to the right, with Amad finding them in the box before shooting at goal. Here is a break down of the Oulai’s chance.

Wirtz attempted to play the ball form out to in, but his pass is intercepted by Sangare, with Kessie initially having jumped to press.

Sangare quickly passed to Oulai who begins a mazy dribble, leading the counter for Ivory Coast.

The ball was then sent to Amad, who outwits Brown in the 1v1, before laying the ball to Oulai…

But his shot went over the goal.

Germany did have a plan B in the mix. After the hour mark, Germany made three initial changes. Leroy Sane was replaced by Jamie Leweling, Aleksander Pavlovic came off for Nadeem Amiri, whilst Musiala was swapped with Deniz Undav. Undav provided two assists against Curacao, and is a different profile to Musiala; Undav is more of a presence in the box.

And it was the two substitutes who combined for the equaliser. Midfielder Felix Nmecha passed to Undav, who had dropped into a deeper space to offer the passing option. Undav then passed first time to Amiri towards the right.

Amiri carried the ball forward, and Undav marauded into the box.

Amiri then played a delightful deep cross into the box from the right channel. It was in the perfect space between Havertz, and Undav. Whilst Havertz did not meet the ball, Undav was there to convert.

It was a case of brilliant service meeting numbers in the box.

One could argue the match could have been different had one of Ivory Coast’s midifelder taken a chance on the break. But this is how football works.

Ivory Coast had another chance to counter, but Simon Adingra should have shot first time. The run from Evan Guuessend created room for Adingra to receive the pass across from fellow substitute Nicolas Pepe.

Instead it was Germany who went on to score the winner. This time, a clever pass from Nmecha, arguably Germany’s best player across 90 minutes, was played between th lines, towards Undav.

A clever turn from Undav led to him facing his back to the defender, with his body now between defender and ball. His shot sent the ball into the bottom corner, meaning 9 goals in 11 caps for the forward, and the comeback was complete.

Germany now have two wins from two, showing how alternative profiles, and therefore alternative solutions to defensive schemes can go a long way. Yet Ivory Coast showed they can pose a challenge to anyone, and are still within a good chance of qualifying.