The aim is wrong and the moon is crooked, but it’s not a coincidence

«Germany lacks enlightened midfielders»

Arno Rossini: «High level and great balance: this is why the attackers struggle».

SPORT: Results and rankings

COLOGNE – The top scorer of the European Championship? Mister Own Goal. For a few days now, people have been joking on social media about the terrible scoring streak of the attackers who are fighting in Germany. It is joked about the fact that, in fact, there are more own goals than the goals of the best striker.

In any case, the jokes tell a surprising, almost uncomfortable truth: in the continental tournament, for the moment at least, the bombers have not been seen.

«They have disappeared – Arno Rossini intervened – or, rather, they have not arrived. They are on holiday.”

Jokes aside, what’s going on?
«It depends on the game and also a little on chance. The Frenchman Mbappé, for example, had some opportunities in the match he played. He could have easily scored. Then he got hurt and spent the second match on the bench. This matters to him too. In any case, I believe that, at least so far, what weighs on this statistic is the very high level at which practically all the selections are performing. And consequently the balance.”

A balanced match…
«It’s a match in which the defenses don’t open up. And the fewer spaces there are, obviously, the more difficult it is to find the way to the goal. The fact that there are no weak teams – all the national teams are well structured, tactically and physically – takes away the possibility for some attackers to “get ahead”. In events like this, the top scorer ranking is often won by a player who, in one or more matches, managed to score multiple goals. With a double or a hat-trick you go on the run. Germany also lacks something else: enlightened midfielders.”

Bellingham, de Bruyne, Foden?
«The former scored in the first match but is not playing at a very high level. The second scored in the second but he isn’t enchanting. I think of those players, central or attacking midfielders, capable of beating the man, creating superiority and perhaps inventing an assist. Without those in support, it is tough against the defenses lined up for even the best-bred attackers. It’s clear that it’s mainly the “others” who end up on the scoresheet.”

Who can benefit from such a situation?
«The selections that didn’t have a designated striker from the start and therefore didn’t base the game around him. Switzerland, for example, or Denmark or even Austria. All very organized teams; it is no coincidence that they have been among the most convincing so far seen in action.”

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