Women’s International Friendly 2022: How Germany’s attacking realism helped them beat France – tactical analysis

Germany Women faced France Women on Friday, October 7, at the Rudolf Harbig Stadion and the match ended with a 2-1 win for the Germans. It was an important game for both teams to assess their readiness for the upcoming 2023 Women’s World Cup and see what they lack and what they need to improve in order to beat their rivals during the tournament.

It was also an opportunity for both national team head coaches to test their players and try their tactics ahead of the upcoming important games. Germany looked more compact and more determined to win as they exploited their chances very well and were able to score two goals thanks to their striker Alexandra Popp and her finishing abilities.

At the same time, France tried to equalise and disturb Germany but they were only able to score one goal thanks to the sub Viviane Asseyi. Germany confirmed their huge potential once again after reaching the Euros 2022 final and surprising most followers. And this time, they proved that they are developing even further and that they are still able to beat top European teams despite the lack of experience that was seen as weakness prior to the Euros and which turned out to be a source of strength.

Moreover, the mixture of young talented players and a few experienced players can always create solid teams and bring positive results. Therefore, Germany are actually on the right path and their fans have the right to dream about exceptional results in the upcoming World Cup.

In this tactical analysis article, the focus will be on both team performances and especially on how Germany’s attacking performance. At the same time, the analysis will tackle France’s issues and what needs to be fixed in order to improve their performances against powerful teams like Germany.

Lineups

Germany were lined-up according to the 4-2-3-1 formation with Merle Frohms as a goalkeeper, Nicole Anyomi, Kathrin Hendrich, Sjoeke Nüsken and Felicitas Rauch in defence, Lena Oberdorf and Lena Lattwein as central midfielders, Svenja Huth and Klara Bühl as wingers while Bayern Munichs Linda Dallmann was the advanced playmaker behind the experienced striker Alexandra Popp.

For France, the team started the match with the 4-1-4-1 formation relying on Pauline Peyraud Magnin as a goalkeeper, Chelsea’s Ève Périsset, Manchester Uniteds Aïssatou Tounkara, Wendie Renard and Selma Bacha in defence, Charlotte Bilbault as a defensive midfielder, Kenza Dali and Grace Geyoro as central midfielders, Kadidiatou Diani and Delphine Cascarino as wingers while Ouleymata Sarr was the team’s striker.

Germany’s performance

It is true that Germany won this match and looked better overall. However, they still need to improve their performances from a statistical point of view since they shot 14 times and only three of these shots were on target. This certainly needs to be improved as it is fundamental to shoot on goal whenever chances are created especially at this high level.

The team shouldn’t underestimate their opponents and have to focus more than 100% on every created chance in order to finish it well and get a positive result out of it. And perhaps the mentality of a player like Popp can encourage the rest of the players to be more efficient in this aspect since she scored two goals out of complicated situations and made sure that she exploited the opportunity she had.

The key