It is confirmed by all major media sources in germany and Löw already hinted at moving Lahm back to LB, not to mention that Lahm said in a recent interview he wouldn't mind to play as LB again. At this point it would surprise me not see Lahm as LB next season.
Great game, especially the first half. Gomez, despite his brilliance, still missed a chance he should have put away. Either way, it was an inspiring performance by him and it looks like he'll take Klose's place in the NT. Schurrle blew my mind, finally,finally, finally - Podolski knows he can't be granted a spot on the team because he impressed at the 2006 world cup. Hopefully those two could battle it out but I have little doubt that if Schurrle can score, he'd be preferred because unlike Podolski, he isn't a brat. Schmelzer, disappointment. The guy has got talent, but today was just a bad game for him. Hummels, not bad - great tackle at the end but his positional awareness could improve, but that might due to the fact that Friedrich is past his prime now and Hummels got drawn out too quickly. No doubting his quality but maybe he needs to play a few more games with the NT. Would have really wanted to see Howedes and Hummels in the middle, but Leow seems to have other opinions. Badstuber was solid as well, I think it's either him or Hoewedes who'll partner Hummels at this rate. Kroos still remains one of the best passers of the ball, though Rolfes simply couldn't partner him.
Because it's destabilizing and even Lahm is against it. You want consistency as a player. It's pretty ridiculous what has been asked of Lahm over the years. Pretty much a done deal.
What options? Most of these players are prospects at best. I'm not trying to burst your bubbles, but Reus, Schmelzer, Schurrle, Howedes, Kroos, Bender are not at the level of Khedira, Oezil, Neuer, Muller, Klose, Gomez, Schweini, Lahm. Most of them have yet to come face to face with the best. This is not Spain, we are getting there - but Leow is taking this approach cautiously for that reason. Schurrle seems to be getting to the level required of him to at least be in the NT squad, and Goetze/Hummels are already there in terms of talent at least but the remainder are still young and not at the level needed.
Shmelz didnt impress. Schurrle was great. Kroos unoticed. Hummels was great, needs to start permanently. Howedes did great needs to start too. Goetze is germanys wonder kid, needs to be super sub. Regulars were good. Podolski was consistent but o have one major issue with him, he has inferiority complex, anyone notice anytime he's called up lately with test games he refuses to pass to any younger players??? Is it me or did anyone else catch that...
I would like to see Howedes and Hummels in the middle. Yes, might be disastrous because they've never played together and are untested at the very top, but might work really well if they can make it through the next few qualifiers. Kroos did very well for what he was supposed to do, distribute. He can't break up play, but is an excellent passer of the ball which is what any backup for Schweini needs.
I'm not sure how you interpreted what I wrote. I think those players can very well reach that level in time. For the time being they are very effective options.
Too much love for Schuerrle on this thread. Yes, he scored a wonderful goal but he did precious little apart from that. All in all, a good outing, but definitely nothing that warrants so much hyperbole. What exactly does he bring to the table as a LM over Podolski? My pecking order: Podolski>Marin (when 100%)> Schuerrle>Jansen
FYP. You previously mentioned Leow was "spoiled" when it came to options. Now, I don't disagree with you that the bundesliga now offer a wider array of talent - but many of those young players are not at the level needed for us to truly perform against Spain or Brazil, perhaps against smaller teams for the time being - but when the push comes to shove, we'll have to wait and see how they develop and if they fit the system Leow wishes to implement. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for what we have - but just not getting carried away with it.
Honestly I dont believe that the NT really needs a plan B, they have many young talented players to replace anyone in the starting line-up. So what ever happens there is always some one to replace any player in the team. The only time they need a plan B is if there are 20 minutes left to play and they are on the loosing side, where they have to play all in to make it to the next round. My idea of Plan B would look something like this ----------------------------Neuer---------------------- -------------Hoewedes----Hummels --------Lahm ----------------------Khedira-------Schweini (assisting more on defense then attack) -----Muller/Goetze-------Oezil------Poldi/Schurrle ----------------------Klose-------Gomez
Forums tend to generate these kind of things for sure. Now, Schuerrle gives us more than Podolski in terms of work rat for sure, he tracks back and seems to be more flexible on the left. Now Podolski has literally been granted this position, and to some degree justifies it with the number of goals he scores. But what if Schuerrle can score with the same frequency? He had done better than Podolski this entire season. I think players should be gifted a position only when their club form is comprehensive, like how Goetze, Schmelzer and Gomez have been. Also, I'd imagine Goetze and Kroos, both very young, especially Goetze - to be keen on taking that spot. If both those players can mature, we'd be excellent in terms of depth as we'd have players to cover Schweini, Khedira, Oezil and LM. Marin doesn't look like he'll be making the squad anytime soon, he isn't the kind of player we need at this level, and unless makes huge improvements - doesn't offer anything we don't already have.
If we went in with that kind of game, even for 10 minutes, we would get hammered. If you're thinking more offensive: -----------------------------Neuer Lahm-------------Hummels--------Howedes------Schmelzer --------------------Kroos----------Schweini--------- Muller/Reus/Goetze-------Goetze/Oezil----------Schuerrle---- ---------------------Gomez (some other CF)-------------- Leow had the right idea against Spain - taking out Khedira and putting in Kroos and it nearly paid dividends had Kroos finished right. Oezil doesn't seem to be the player who peaks during the 80th minute, so we might use Goetze to spark some creativity wherever he is needed. Reus has much appreciated pace to his game, and its a gamble that could pay off.
I hear what you say , its a big gamble only fielding three defenders, but in the last 10 minutes of the game in a situation like that, the midfeild normally does not exist, so hence the idea of having five defenders with the double six moving back and the rest full out attack. Although having said that in the real world this probably wont work, but i would really love to see it, as that is the line up I use playing FIFA11
So let me try my hand in some ratings. Neuer (8): Terrible gaffe on that offside 'goal' but otherwise a super game by him. Saved crucially on a number of occasions. Lahm (7): No nonsense, no frills. Solid defensively, adventurous attackingly. Freidrich (7): Bad tackle on Suarez, but considering he came in for a lot more one-on-ones that he usualyl would, had a good game Hummels (9): Hardly put a foot wrong. Superb on interception, fantastic sharp passing, good carrying the ball out and made a sharp saving tackle at the end there. He might just have made his mark here against excellent forward opposition Schmelzer (4): Poorest German player by a mile. Got beaten too often on one-on-ones. Not defensively solid and provided little impetus in attack. Still has a lot of convincing to do. Rolfes (6): Found it hard initially to get a hold of the game, but is an intelligent player. Hard tackling not his style and that contributed to the Uruguayan's getting a lot more opportunities that they should have. Kroos (6): Audacious attempt on that chip. You can see he is a good passer, but too often was disconnected with the rest of the team, especially in the second half. Fair to say that he has a starting spot locked on for the qualifiers though Muller (6): Quiet game, full of running but created zero of note. Schurrle (7): Bright inventive, sharp passing. Could have done better on a number of occasions though, but a stunning stunning goal made up for it. Gomez (7): His game has come on in leaps and bounds and what a goal he scored. Super sharp, but missed another great chance that he manufactured towards the end. Subs: Klose (7): Did quite well playing a deeper role once he came on, but by that time Germany represented a disjointed outfit with a 4222. Podolski (5): Did little of note and often left Schmelzer alone to defend the left flank. The rest of the subs really did not play enough to warrant a rating.
Oh i forgot Ozil (6): did well to set up the goal but was a largely fleeting presence and did not dominate the game as he has been in the past few internationals.
Is there a page with the stats of the match? Like posession, shots on goal, shots wide, fouls, corners, etc.
Klose suffered a bruised rib and will miss the two qualifiers. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...232/artikel_rippenprellung_klose-sagt-ab.html
One striker left??? I think Schurrle can play some CF if needed. Barcelona with Messi, Pedro and Villa up top showed that u dont really need a towering targetman at CF. At CF, i doubt our tactics still require a typical #9/towering targetman anyway. We need a good finisher with decent pace, agility and ball control. Schurrle can be our Pedro. If Loew doesnt want to play him there, he should consider Thomas Muller or even call up one of Kiessling/Helmes/Kuranyi/Cacau/Schieber/Nils Petersen/Mlapa............but none of them is good enough to be honest. But these are already some of the better options if u consider Asamoah, Hanke, Schlaudraff(who's actually not bad but not a CF) n Sandro Wagner are some of the starting CFs in the BL
the Kicker ratings Neuer (2) Lahm (3) A. Friedrich (3) Hummels (4) Schmelzer (4,5) Rolfes (3,5) Kroos (3,5) T. Müller (4) Özil (3,5) Schürrle (2) Gomez (2,5) Klose (4) Podolski (4)
You can't play with three defenders in the modern game. You'd get raped. Maradona tried that against us in the World Cup and we handed him his ass. You play three defenders in the dying minutes of a game when you're looking for a goal or two. Even in the mid 90s when Germany was playing with three backs, Voegts had two-wing backs play deep, Reuter and Ziege. In attack mode, it might have only looked like we were playing with three backs, but there were really five back there.