You can't count the TOTAL pool. You have to count the players that saw playing time. Count again. Look at the players with appreciable time in the 66 WM. When you compare that squad to the 70WM it is largely intact. Then look at 72EM and the 74WM. Try fussballdaten.de. Better stats.
In terms of the players - Yes of course 66 snd 70 are mostly the same. 72 and 74 are mostly the same too. But there is a big difference between 70 and 72. And quite a big difference between 74 and 76. So you can't call what the DFB put out between 1966 and 1976 "one team", can you?
I think Nekki said largely the same team. If you look from 66-74 it is largely the same team. Compare with the similar changes in Spain during a similar time period are they are close...very close.
Since the original topic has derailed awhile ago.. Did anyone see the recent FIFA-sponsored The Simpsons episode, where Germany beats Brazil in the WC final on the account of Brazil not being able to cheat?
No he just said "team". And he also said 1966 to 1976. Not to 1974. But even from 1966 to 1974 it was hardly the same team, brcause a lot changed after world cup 1970. How many of these guys got substantial playing time in 66? Maier Beckenbauer Schwarzenbeck Vogts breitner Bonhof Hölzenbein Grabowski Müller Höness Overath kremers Flohe Höttges Wimmer Off the top of my head those guys composed the starting XI and the most used subs in 74. Only two (beckenbauer and overath) or maybe three (höttges) of them played substantially in 66. The majority weren't even in the squad. That team had seeler, schnellinger, tillowski, emmerich, schulz, haller, held and guys like that as starters.
If you take spain from 2007 to 2012.. Weren't casillas, xavi, iniesta, ramos, puyol, villa and torres there as key players every time? Well, puyol and villa were injured in 2012. Pique, Pedro and Busquets played in 2010 and 2012. Alonso started in at least two tournaments. Silva was there quite an important player for two if not three of the tournaments as well. It was mostly the same set of players
We compare apples to apples and then the 66-71 team falls short of the Spanish team. Your comparison relies on comparing apples to oranges.
ROFL...actually it's Nekki's not mine. I said Brazil from 58-70, but feel free to take 58-66 if you like. I only chimed in to point out Germany's team from 66-70 did not change more than Spain's has in a similar five year period.
Fair enough. But do you believe it to be absurd or invalid for people to consider Spain 2007-2012 to be the best ever?
Sidestepping the land-mine, do you believe it is reasonable to say Spain 2007-2012 could be the best NT of all time?
You keep changing the timeframe. But this team was second in 66, knocked out by - i think - albania in 68 (schön olayed netzer, beckenbauer and overath in midield) and thrd in 70. They were the most impressive in 1970. But spain won three titles in recent years and also showed a very impressive style of possession-keeping and attacking. So the comparison isn't even. But brazil from 58 to 70 i agree with; as long as the composition of the team was pretty constant.
Absurd? Let's say premature. Had they won two WMs instead of two EMs I think you'd have more of an argument. Let's see how they do this summer. For those old enough to know, there was a similar argument when Brazil was winning back in the early 60s. Perhaps we are in the beginning or middle of Spain's "Golden Age". Perhaps we aren't. This summer will tell for sure. IF they don't win this summer I think the argument as them being the best ever is weak...esecially when compared to Brazil of the aforementioned era.
No, I said originally that Brazil of 58-70 was the best ever. Nekki started us down the Germany path. You kept mentioning the 5 year span for Spain, so I merely said take the five year span for Brazil from 58-63 to have an even comparison of accomplishments and team turnover.
It's okay, we find it absurd people show up every fall thinking their team will be promoted when there is no chance of it happening. Or worse, the belief that the last five years in the US have been any different than the previous eight.
I mean you kept chsnging the timeframe for germany. From 66 to 76, to 66 to 71. I wasnt ever talking about brazil. I dnt know much bout them
The change was to match the magical five year time frame you were giving for Spain to compare apples to apples. But like I said, not my argument...that was Nekki.
That magical timeframe has a basis - during it the players mostly remained the same. The same is true for germany from 66 to 70 and 71 to 74. Compare those two periods to spain's five-year, if yu want.
i think t is harder to come up with, from germany of that era, a period of five years where the team was mostly the same. For spain it is quite straight-forward.