Borussia Mönchengladbach coach Gerardo Seoane (Lucerne, 45 years old) is a deep connoisseur of German football. In his previous spell at Bayer Leverkusen, he coached three of the first-team players for the German national team managed by Julian Nagelsmann. He spoke to Morning Express just after Portugal reached the quarter-finals after eliminating Slovenia in a penalty shoot-out. “How exciting, beautiful and tough football can be,” he agrees on the other end of the phone.
AskWhat game do you imagine?
AnswerThey are the two best teams, with very similar game principles. They want the ball, to be dominant, but at the same time they play counterattacks very well. They have very fast players who attack spaces very well. In addition, both teams like to apply very aggressive pressure after losing the ball.
PWith two teams so similar, what will make the difference?
R. The one that dominates the facets that we have talked about. It will be a very vibrant match, with a lot of intensity. The ball will travel at high speed, there will be no time, both teams will want to keep the field very short and we will see the highest level of technical demand of this Euro Cup. For me, honestly, Friday is the final. Both teams have always started their matches with everything, without leaving anything for the last half hour. With tactical rigor, yes, but with the intention of going after their opponent.
P. That possible match you describe will also have high physical demands.
R. What I would highlight about Spain, which is something that has impressed me, is their physical level. I don’t remember seeing a Spanish team with so much power. The centre-backs are fast and strong, the full-backs are like daggers, Carvajal and Cucurella are very fast and aggressive. In the centre of the field, Rodri and Fabián are two very physical pivots, with a lot of range, and up front, De la Fuente has fast and mobile players and two daggers on the wings like Nico and Lamine. If I had to describe Germany, I would say the same.
PAnd where can Spain hurt you?
R. On the wing, I think that the German full-backs, if they have a bit of weakness, it is when defending, whether it is Raum, Mittelstäd on the left or Kimmich on the right. They are not hyper-aggressive in defence and with Nico Williams and Lamine you can do a lot of damage to them. The centre-backs, Rüdiger and Tah, are two animals. Both are coming off a season with titles, they are confident and you can see it when they bring the ball out. If you catch them from behind, they can suffer a bit, especially in tight spaces with dribbles and one-twos. However, they are very strong in aerial combat and man-to-man situations.
P.The midfield will offer high-level duels.
RBoth have players who run a lot, like Gündogan, Andrich, Pedri or Fabián, but they also have strategists like Kroos or Rodri, who bring the game to a halt very well. I think that in the middle it will be a physically even match, but I even see Spain being a little superior.
P. Andrich, who you coached at Leverkusen, was the new addition to Nagelsmann’s last XI against Denmark. Does his introduction allow Gündogan to free himself up and play closer to Havertz in order to combine?
R. Yes, Andrich is the element that was missing in the German midfield. He is an aggressive player who cuts in, who crashes, who makes some rather strong tackles. He has a very good second-line shot. He is not a player who stands out for technical manoeuvres. He is neither a Kroos nor a Gündogan, he is more rustic. Nagelsmann likes to work with different profiles and that has allowed Andrich to take over the position.
P. Nagelsman’s big tactical gamble is to play Havertz as a false nine, whom he had very closely under control because he was going to coach him at Leverkusen but he left for Chelsea the same summer that you arrived at the club.
R. Havertz allows Germany to have a lot of mobility and variations with players who come in from the second line because he drops to the wing or between the lines and, above all, he is a very good finisher. He is not a pure striker like Füllkrug, who is an animal when he attacks the ball with his head, he has a header that is like a shot. Nagelsmann uses him, like when Spain had Fernando Llorente, to put crosses into the area. Havertz gives Germany a special element. With Nagelsmann, Germany is not playing typical German football, they are playing a more Latin football, with possession, control and players between the lines. That is why he has decided on Havertz, a more creative player who is capable of resolving in the final third. What I am seeing in the Euros is the need to have players like that in the last zone, because all the teams defend very, very compactly. You see a lot of people behind the ball. Spaces are so tight that you need those types of players who can dribble on a tile, fake, do a one-two or pass.
P. Havertz is evident in Benzema’s coldness.
R. He seems invisible, but he almost always appears. He doesn’t seem fast, but he is very fast. He doesn’t have a powerful physique, but he is very good with his header. It’s not that he dribbles like Nico Williams or Wirtz, but with the first touch he is capable of eliminating opponents. Sometimes it seems like he isn’t there, but if you analyse him he is a great player. He did very well at Leverkusen, won the Champions League at Chelsea and had a good period. At Arsenal he scores goals and gives assists. He is also very cold in penalties.
P. Germany played very well against Scotland, but against Hungary, Switzerland and Denmark they did not combine so well. What happened?
R. What Switzerland did was block Kroos’ passing lines. He’s not going to miss passes, but you can limit his interventions or, when he has them, force him to make easy passes. You can influence his choice to make a pass that doesn’t hurt.
P. Wirtz’s performance also declined, going from strength to strength and he lost his place to Sané against Denmark.
R.He is a guy who plays with a lot of physicality and this season he played a lot of games. He is a bit like Pedri, they are players who are always running and moving and I am sure that Wirtz is paying the price for the phenomenal year he had. I think Nagelsmann wanted to have a bit more depth with Sané against Switzerland. It is possible that Wirtz will return to the team against Spain.
P. France and England are attacking very poorly despite the potential of their midfielders and attackers.
R. The process of building up Germany and Spain with centre-backs, pivots and full-backs is much more fluid than that of England and France. In Germany we are enjoying and learning from what Xabi Alonso brought to Leverkusen. Building up from the back with superiority, pinning down the opponent… Having a clear intention, when the centre-back comes out with the ball to give your teammate more time and for the midfielders to have the right position. This is the big difference between Spain and Germany and the other teams. France and England show a bit of a lack of fluidity in building up, the ball doesn’t reach their forwards with the advantage that it reaches Lamine or Nico Williams. Spain takes you to one side and then turns you to the other very quickly and, if they are closed there, they turn again very quickly to the other side.
P. Spain has regained the importance of wingers.
R. Yes, teams are closing in with a lot of solidarity, everyone goes back to defend as a block, you no longer see three or four forwards hanging back and not defending. It is very difficult to get into the centre because everyone is blocking the inside corridors because the passes inside are the ones that hurt. This forces you to play on the outside. The role of the full-backs and wingers will be much more important again in the future, but not just the long winger, but also the winger who goes inside and the full-back on the outside or vice versa. At the very least, on each wing you have to have a full-back or a winger who is capable of dribbling because it gives you many options.
P.Can modern football, which involves one-on-one players all over the pitch, develop centre-backs who are good dribblers as well as good footwork?
R. When opponents press you one on one, each player is obliged to be able to create superiority. If you drop a midfielder to help build up and create superiority, the player left free is the centre-back, and with space he has to accelerate with the ball. The Italian Calafiori is the type of centre-back that modern football demands, capable even of integrating into the centre of the field to create something unexpected that unbalances the ball.
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