World Cup Tactics – Mexico Outclasses Germany with a Disciplined Counter Attacking Style

Juan Carlos Osorio’s side deployed a structured 4-2-3-1 formation that was well drilled in getting the ball vertical to break forward in transition situations. While the decision making in the final third needs to improve, Mexico was consistently able to slice through the German defense and force their opponents into desperate defending from literally the opening minute of the match.

Seen above, Hector Moreno bypassed the German midfield to find Chicharito dropping off the center backs. His first time back heel to Carlos Vela sprung a run from Hirving Lozano behind defender Joshua Kimmich. Fortunately for Germany, Jerome Boating was able to cover and block the shot. However, this provided a look at the problems Germany faced in their shape and team selection.

Joachim Low elected to field his side in an attacking 4-2-3-1 setup. His side was structured defensively in a 4-4-2, with Thomas Muller forced to drop on the right side to form a second bank of four with Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira and Julian Draxler. In possession, Muller immediately took up a central attacking position and right back Joshua Kimmich sprinted forward to provide width. Germany almost always attacked down the right side.

Ozil and Draxler were the creative links tasked with playing combining in attack. Timo Werner was able to get in behind in the 3rd minute but could only drag his shot wide. Khedira mad a patented run to the back post to narrowly missed his strike from just 3 yards out. While these half chances for Germany could have earned them an early lead, this left the back two of Mats Hummels and Jerome Boating completely exposed.

Seen above in the 8th minute, Mexico was able to break in numbers. Here, in a 4 vs 3, Hummels was only able to rush out and foul Vela leading to a dangerous free kick opportunity. This structure of Lozano staying wide left, Chicharito occupying the front line and Vela dropping into the hole worked consistently.

This finally paid off in the 35th minute when another outlet ball from Moreno found Chicharito in space. His quick one-two with Guardado and a Hummels slip led to the Mexican captain in space. He then slid a pass across to the left for Lozano who cut inside of Ozil and unleashed a shot to the near post past Neuer.

The goal was a carbon copy of the opening minute. The fact that Ozil was the last ditch defender said a lot about the German side’s first half tactical failure.

The second half opened with no player changes but Low clearly told Sami Khedira to favor the right side of the pitch to try and provide cover for Kimmich. Surprisingly, the Bayern fullback continued to take such extremely advanced positions.

Twelve minutes after the break, Germany were caught out again, this time from Hummels chasing the ball into midfield. Pictured above, play was advanced forward with Vela and Chicharito nearly standing next to each other at the halfway line. Boateng was the only German back and did a good job of retreating his position to take away the passing lane to Vela. However, the Mexican captain had a slight window to make the pass but his effort was too far in front of his teammate and the chance was wasted.

At the hour mark, Low threw even more caution to the wind and threw on Marco Reus for Khedira, moving Ozil back into central midfield. Osorio responded bringing off Vela for Edson Alvarez in a more cautious move.

The second half was less about tactics as each team began to wear out minute by minute. Mexico essentially dropped deeper and deeper as their lead continued to hold and Germany pushed essentially their entire team forward.

Mexico ended the match in a 4-5-1, bringing on Raul Jimenez to play a defensive left midfield and Rafa Marquez at holding midfield. Germany essentially completely threw any strategy and formation out the window. Following Reus onto the field were Mario Gomez and Julian Brandt.

While Brandt provided much needed width on the left, they almost had too many attackers and the final third was overly crowded. Brandt was able to lash a shot off the post and Gomez had a decent look at a header, the changes never allowed Germany to get a hold on the game. Pictured above, take a look at where the German players are situated, they tried to overwhelm the Mexican side with sheer numbers. However, El Tri are an experienced group and they mostly comfortably held to the task.

It truly was a collective effort, starting with the entire squad believing in the system that Juan Carlos Osorio had implemented in their pre tournament camp. They were disciplined and efficient in getting the ball immediately vertical to create counter attacks. However, let’s recognize the performance of Hector Herrera, who had to battle against some elite midfielders and led the charge in pushing all of his opponents attacks away from the center of the pitch. He truly was sensational.