COMMENT
Untidy at the back and ineffectual up front, those are the takeaways from Germany's dreary Group C draw against Poland at Euro 2016. Only Toni Kroos is functioning close to his club level for the world champions, with key players elsewhere lacking in fitness, form or both.
Mario Gotze was chosen again to lead the line by Joachim Low. The Bundestrainer famously told Gotze to show the world he was as good as Lionel Messi before sending him on to win the World Cup but it's going to take more than motivational speaking to make Gotze into a player worth comparing to Messi.
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The Bayern Munich hierarchy are said to be at their wits' end with the once-coming talent of German football and are ready to move him on. He won't have impressed watching clubs with his display here. Too often moves broke down at his feet - at one stage Low turned away and punched the air in frustration when Gotze took the ball down and laid it backwards instead of attempting to move it forwards. He missed his only presentable chance too - blasting into the gloves of Lukasz Fabianski when it looked easier to score.
That opportunity - provided inevitably by Kroos - came immediately after Poland should have taken the lead themselves. The dangerous Kamil Grosicki found space on his right foot to cross for Arkadiusz Milik. The Ajax man stooped to head the ball after Jerome Boateng got his attempted clearance all wrong but missed from under the crossbar.
It wasn't the only occasion on which Boateng and his central defensive partner Mats Hummels were caught out. Although both made great blocks in one-on-one situations from Robert Lewandowski, they allowed Milik too much space again in the second half but they were lucky his shot was scuffed.
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Both Boateng and Hummels are recently returned from injury and they appear a little rusty together. While they held Lewandowski at bay, a team with more varied threats than Poland might well be their undoing. Carlo Ancelotti will be watching keenly to see how his new defensive machine progresses throughout this tournament.
Mesut Ozil, meanwhile, continues to live down to his talent. He managed a shot on target at least but his creative genius - a prominent asset for Arsenal - is again lacking in tournament football for his national team.
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Given the names of the players on show, it would be expected that Low could present a team with more fluency going forward. Instead there is predictability. They try the wings - with Jonas Hector and Benedikt Howedes - and try again if nothing comes of it. Thomas Muller cannot get his grip on matches while replacements up front Andre Schurrle and Mario Gomez barely contributed.
Low, too, also opted to leave wild card Leroy Sane in reserve - he must feature against Northern Ireland - when he might have given his stale side a spark here.
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And now, level with Poland, there is still the possibility that they might not even top the group, thereby distorting their predicted path in the tournament. It is still very much up in the air with Northern Ireland yet to play while Poland will fancy their chances of inflicting another defeat on Ukraine.
As a marker of where Germany currently stand, it says plenty. They might be among the pre-tournament favourites, but they are going to have to get a lot better to win Euro 2016.
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