Man City star Leroy Sane didn't deserve Germany spot at World Cup 2018

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  • A poster of Leroy Sane is removed from the Football Museum of the German Football Federation (DFB).

    Incredulity quickly followed the shock news that outstanding Manchester City winger Leroy Sane would not be terrorising full-backs at World Cup 2018.

    How could a talent judged PFA Young Player of the Year for his searing exploits with the runaway Premier League champions be so swiftly judged expendable by Germany? Even for holders possessed of such depth of outstanding performers, the call appeared mystifying to dump the 22-year-old in favour of Bayer Leverkusen’s Julian Brandt.

    “Leroy is a huge talent,” explained head coach Joachim Low. “He will be back again from September.

    “He had not arrived in international matches yet. It was a very close decision.

    “If it was a 100-metre race, it would have been a photo finish.”

    These words, taken in isolation, do not prove why the £37 million (Dh179.4m) signing from Schalke 04 in August 2016 will be sitting out this summer’s major event. This is how Low came to his decision.

    SANE’S STRONG CASE

    It’s only fair to outline at this point just how exceptional Sane’s 2017/18 was.

    His 15 assists from 32 run-outs put him just one behind colleague Kevin De Bruyne as the top creator in the English top flight. Indeed, the Belgium attacking midfielder was the only performer in Europe’s top-five leagues to tee up more.

    Spain wizard and club-mate David Silva has long been considered the division’s leading creative force – he registered four fewer.

    The addition of an impressive tally of 10 strikes means there will be no surprise to learn this was by far the most productive league campaign of his fledgling career.

    To detail the startling jump in output from his debut season at Etihad Stadium in 2016/17, his goal count doubled (from five) and he set-up five-times more (from three) via only six fewer appearances.

    On numbers alone, there is only one winner when contrasted with Brandt.

    Sane’s fellow 22-year-old played 34 times in the Bundesliga for his fifth-placed employers.

    From two more games than Sane, but 86 fewer minutes, he produced one less goal (nine) and 12 less assists (three).

    Sane’s minutes per goal or assist in the Premier League was 96.9. For Brandt, this more than doubles to 194.8.

    Why then did the former Wolfsburg youth product get the nod from Low?

    CENTRE OF THE ISSUE

    Sane has wreaked havoc at Man City by hugging the left touchline, getting 15 assists and six goals from that position in 29 2017/18 Champions League or Premier League appearances.

    Enlightened club head coach Pep Guardiola decided his unrelenting pace and dribbling skills at speed would be best utilised away from the middle ground in his usual 4-3-3 formation.

    At international level, no such individual accommodation exists.

    In the 4-2-3-1 utilised by Low, pure wingers do not exist. They transform into forwards, tasked with cutting inside and providing link-up options with a central striker – most probably RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner.

    Brandt, Borussia Dortmund’s resurgent Marco Reus, Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller and Paris Saint-Germain’s Julian Draxler regularly play this way at club level and will be expected to do the same for their country.

    But when the space gets constricted, so does Sane’s output. His touch becomes uncertain under pressure, especially with his back to goal.

    A final cameo for a World Cup spot came in Saturday’s 2-1 friendly defeat at Austria. He was hooked after 67 ineffective minutes for Reus, an attacker perfectly familiar with the demands of Low’s deployment.

    All of Sane’s senior international caps have been won during the current regime. He is currently scoreless in 12 matches, getting just one assist for Bayern-bound Leon Goretzska during October’s 5-1 competitive routing of Azerbaijan.

    Only 114 minutes were handed to Sane during Die Mannschaft’s charge to a perfect 30-point haul from qualifying.

    Germany are now experiencing an unexpected five-match winless run in preparatory matches.

    Sane started three of these (England 0-0 Germany, Germany 0-1 Brazil, Austria 2-1 Germany), came on as a substitute in another (Germany 1-1 Spain) and remained on the bench for one more (Germany 2-2 France). He featured for 237 of the available 450 minutes in this frustrating period, not even contributing an assist.

    Leroy Sane during the friendly with Austria.

    Leroy Sane during the friendly with Austria.

    GERMANY’S SHOW OF STRENGTH

    In fairness to Sane, only Muller – deployed on the right flank – managed to score during this fallow period.

    His equaliser in March’s warm-up against Spain makes him stand alone among the other wide forwards who will make the trip to Russia. Reus, Brandt and Draxler contributed neither a goal or an assist.

    But Low holds the belief that his way of playing is alien to Sane, and familiar to the others. The City man has been handed ample recent opportunity to show he can fit these parameters – and failed.

    Germany’s talent pool is so deep that a player can be adjudged superfluous who would be in the top-three performers for most other nations.

    Regardless of their current travails, this is an ominous message for all other contenders in Russia.

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