By now, fans of Germany know they need not put too much stock in friendlies, especially those played during the preparations for a big tournament.Head coach Joachim Low uses these games to mix and match, to experiment and to see the alternatives to a first-choice XI that's largely in place for months. It's a luxury a coach who's won the 2014 FIFA World Cup can afford, even more so when his team is filled with experienced players of the highest quality. Germany don't need to win test matches to feel good about their chances in a tournament.That being said, losing 3-1 against Slovakia on Sunday left a somewhat awkward feeling behind. As BBC commentator Steve Wilson pointed out, it wasn't exactly a one-off occurrence, either:Of course, Germany were without a number of key players in goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, centre-back Mats Hummels or midfielders Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil. But one would still expect the team that was on the pitch to look better against a pedestrian Slovakian team that had to do very little to come away with the surprising win.The hosts started well in a somewhat scarcely filled WWK Arena in Augsburgwisely, many visitors stayed at home during a storm over southwestern Germany. Mario Gomez gave Germany the lead from the spot after 13 minutes, and his side continued to ask questions of Slovakia 'keeper Matus Kozacik.Low had opted for a fluid system with three defenders, Jonas Hector and Sebastian Rudy as wing-backs and Gomez as the lone true striker, which gave creative attackers Leroy Sane, Julian Draxler and Mario Gotze a lot of freedom to move in and out of spaces, at times forming a three-man forward line.Gotze looked especially lively, which has to go down as perhaps the biggest positive from the match. Having overcome a broken rib he suffered on the final Bundesliga matchday against Hannoverwhen he scored a bracethe 23-year-old didn't show any sign of rust after a difficult campaign with Bayern Munich.He was too much to handle for the visitors' defence, skipping past opponents with relative ease numerous times. It was by no means a coincidence that he won the penalty Gomez expertly dispatched; Gotze was quicker than his marker time and time again, both with his feet and mentally. He should've won a second penalty shortly before the final whistle, but Belgian referee Serge Gumienny inexplicably waved play on.It must have been liberating for the World Cup winner to play football for a change after being at the centre of near-constant speculation surrounding a potential transfer in recent weeks.Gotze had put those rumours to a momentary rest earlier in May, committing himself to the Bavarians for next season in comment to German tabloid Bild (h/t Stephan Uersfeld of ESPN FC): "I look forward to the new season in Munich and will do everything possible to be in top shape for my first training session under Carlo Ancelotti."Per German sport magazine Kicker (h/t Uersfeld), Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has expressed surprise at Gotze's decision to stay at the club and fight for his future under incoming head coach Ancelotti, even urging the Germany international to reconsider his plans."We made everything clear to Mario," Rummenigge said. "He knows what the club thinks, and he knows what the future coach thinks. Mario has to consider for himself whether he wants to constantly get minutes. Maybe he just wants to go into the European Championships without any speculation."Gotze is unlikely to get that wish fulfilled, but at least he put himself in a position to show himself during Euro 2016. Seeing as Gomez is the only out-and-out striker in the 27-man preliminary squad, Gotze's best chance of playing time during the tournament will probably be at the top of Germany's attack.With Gomezwho experienced quite a resurgence of his career with Besiktasand Gotze rounding into form, Germany's attack looks to be in good hands.If the loss against Slovakia is any indication, however, the same can't be said about the defence. All three goals debutant Bernd Leno andin the second halfMarc-Andre ter Stegen allowed were avoidable.Marek Hamsik's wonderful strike from distance in the 41st minute was worth the price of admission by itself, but Jerome Boateng could still have closed the Napoli midfielder down with more urgency.Only three minutes later, Joshua Kimmich, another debutant, lost his man at a corner and allowed Michal Duris to attack the ball with bags of space a few yards in front of goal, his header giving Leno no chance. The third goal again followed a corner, with AC Milan's Juraj Kucka getting off a clean shot that Ter Stegen should've kept out.As stat provider Opta pointed out, a weakness against set pieces has been a common theme for Germany in recent games:Of course, it would be remiss if one didn't point out the borderline irregular conditions following the half-time break. The aforementioned storm over the region brought thunder, lightning and even hail.The match wasn't far from getting cancelled altogether when, after a delay of almost 40 minutes, play somewhat surprisingly resumed. With the soaked pitch proving to be unplayable for a good amount of the second half, though, the rest of the friendly was rendered pointless:It was especially harsh on Julian Weigl and Julian Brandt, who debuted in the second half. Both the Dortmund and the Bayer Leverkusen men are players who could've used a good performance in the only friendly match before Low has to cut down his squad to 23, but conditions didn't allow for it.Brandt's technical qualities did shine through a number of times, as he linked up with Gotze quite well, and Weigl, as per usual, was a magnet to the ball, picking up 50 touches, per WhoScored.com, but the circumstances didn't allow a true show of the players' ability at the international level.Low won't get to make his decisions with the benefit of a full exhibition game to judge upon. Performances during the first week of team training will be one driving factor behind the final call-up for the Euros, with medical evaluations the other.Per Marcus Bark of Sportschau.de (link in German), the coaching and medical staffs will get together before any decisions can be finalised. Hummels' health seems the biggest question mark at this point, as there are rumblings that the 27-year-old could miss the first two group matches in France, per Bark.That would likely mean that defensive players on the bubblesuch as Antonio Rudiger, who played fairly well in a 90-minute appearance against Slovakiacould be safe and that all four players who'll have to stay at home could come from Germany's bulging midfield.This writer's best guess is that Weigl, Brandt and Karim Bellarabi will get the axe, while any one of Emre Can, Kimmich, Sane and Andre Schurrle could be the fourth man to miss the Euros.Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist who also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
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