EURO 2016 Preview: How important is Schweinsteiger to Germany?

Manchester United fans were delighted when Bastian Schweinsteiger signed from Bayern Munich. He didn’t have the best season though and when international duty with Germany ended his season in March, supporters weren’t best pleased.

Having not played for United for months, he’s now fit enough to play for Germany at the Euros. Matt Hermann talks about the role Schweinsteiger will play for Germany this summer.

How important is Schweinsteiger to Germany?

He’s been a troublesome case for some time, but he’s ultimately a guy you can’t leave at home. Schweinsteiger was unfit going into Euro 2012 (where he was mostly terrible) as well as heading into World Cup 2014 (where he played himself into shape and was a 120-minute midfield monster in the final).

There’s definitely concern that Joachim Löw is using up a squad space on an unfit player who might not be able to contribute. Still, he’s been a world class midfielder for over a decade and has done so much for Germany in that time that it’s virtually impossible to leave him out – and his role in France is likely to be limited anyway. Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos are very much the first-choice central midfield pairing, and while Löw has several good young alternatives there (Emre Can, Julian Weigl, Joshua Kimmich) none have played in a major senior tournament.

Schweinsteiger is vital as cover in case of injury, and as an alternative to put in as the tournament goes on. Löw knows he could leave Schweinsteiger on the bench throughout and then start him in the semifinal or final and trust him to get a job done.

How is his time at United viewed in Germany?

It’s viewed as a puzzlement, and a great shame. Apart from casual fans and the especially sentimental, nobody was too surprised that Pep Guardiola was ready to ship Schweinsteiger out at Bayern after so many years at the club. His age was beginning to show and there was a logjam in midfield there. The inevitable ‘why isn’t Schweini playing?’ stories in the popular press were beginning to be a distraction. Going to a club with serious pedigree like United (as opposed to Galatasaray or the like, as Lukas Podolski had) was seen as a move worthy of a great player, and reuniting with Louis Van Gaal seemed like a great idea. After all, LVG was responsible for turning him from a very good winger into a superlative holding midfielder. But he never really got fit and integrated, did he? Some wondered why, if LVG was so under fire and the team was struggling so much, Schweinsteiger didn’t get more games. But even when he was fit the team’s deficiencies weren’t really ones he could help with. I think the prevailing notion here is that Schweini’s time at United was all a Missverständnis, and he’d do well to find a new employer. Though who knows? Maybe Jose will take a shining to him…

How well do you expect Germany to do in the Euros?

I think they’ll have a good tournament as long as they score goals. Germany’s defensive record is not the strongest and could be further weakened by Mats Hummels’ missing perhaps the entire group stage. They might not keep a lot of clean sheets but an on-form Germany are good for at least two goals a game. They’ll win their group and probably make it to the semifinal or even win it.

That said, when Germany fire blanks they can put themselves in a lot of trouble. Anyone who watched them utterly dominate Ireland last fall in Dublin yet lose 1-0 because they didn’t finish their chances knows this team is vulnerable. They’re quite capable of losing in the round of 16 to a third-place side like Russia or Austria.