Joachim Low decided to test Antonio Rudiger at left-back for Germany’s Nations League opener against France. Marcos Alonso, Emerson Palmieri and any other left-back hopefuls at Chelsea have nothing to worry about.
While N’Golo Kante was languishing in his former position for France, across the pitch Antonio Rudiger was probably longing for his. Rudiger started at left-back for only the third time in his career. His speed and passing ability make this seem like a potentially fruitful move, at least for his country if not his club. After 90 minutes in the Nations League, though, neither Chelsea nor Germany are likely to repeat the experiment without a lot of practice and a real sense of need.
As Chelsea’s left centre-back last season Rudiger gradually progressed up the pitch as he became more comfortable supporting the attack. He was able to recover faster than Gary Cahill could, which was part of the reason he displaced Cahill on the outside of the back line.
This season he and David Luiz seem to have an early / late arrangement over who goes forward. Luiz tends to move forward – either to dribble across midfield or to find a long ball pass – early in the play. If the ball falls to Luiz in Chelsea’s penalty area and he sees a lane in front of him, he will take it and Rudiger will stay behind to cover. If Chelsea are in sustained possession, though, Rudiger is more likely to move up towards the top of the opponent’s penalty area. In these situations Luiz stays back towards midfield. Rudiger has had several shots from extra-long distance this season after gradually working himself closer to the play.
His movement as Chelsea’s centre-back did not transfer well to his day as Germany’s left-back. Rudiger rarely found the timing on Germany’s attacks, both in transition and in possession. He made shuttle runs up and down the left side looking for a pass from the midfielders or centre-backs, but his runs were rarely in sync with the movement of the play. He had several overlapping runs around Timo Werner, but was not able to get deep enough to draw defenders towards him. Nor did he complete any of his attempted crosses. Overall, he is more involved on offence as a centre-back than a left-back.
Rudiger was so far out of the play that he had 17 fewer passes and 23 fewer touches than his counterpart at right-back, Matthias Ginter. The play that has most people talking was his awkward fall which led to him dragging his foot across Benjamin Pavard’s neck and chest. The incident was a complete accident. Rudiger and Pavard were both going to ground, Rudiger’s foot had to land somewhere, Pavard was closer to the ground and that “somewhere” was unfortunately on Pavard. But the referee could have given Rudiger up to a red card, and would not have been faulted too harshly for it.
Antonio Rudiger did finally receive a yellow card in the 88′, and with the last kick of the game nearly scored an own goal to top the one from the Huddersfield-Stoke game in the Carabao Cup.
All in all, Rudiger did not make a case to be a left-back for club or country. He has more pace than Marcos Alonso, but that is about it. Emerson Palmieri could match him step-for-step, and has better sense of the timing necessary for the role. Maurizio Sarri has nothing new to think about at left-back.
Fortunately, Rudiger’s place as Chelsea’s starting centre-back is quite secure. Hopefully Joachim Low will play him to his strengths going forward, as he has much to offer a German team in need of rebuilding.