And the winner is….. http://www.spox.com/de/sport/fussba...tskader-fuer-europameisterschaft-bekannt.html Goal: Manuel Neuer (Bayern München), Marc-André ter Stegen (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover 96) Defense: Jerome Boateng, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm (all Bayern München), Per Mertesacker (FC Arsenal), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke 04), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund) Midfield: Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira (both Real Madrid), Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger (all Bayern München), Marco Reus (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Mario Götze, Ilkay Gündogan (both Borussia Dortmund), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Andre Schürrle (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln) Attack: Cacau (VfB Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern München), Miroslav Klose (Lazio Rom) So a bunch of surprises. "Surprise nominees" include ter Stegen, Gündogan and Draxler. Surprise dropouts are Rolfes, Aogo and Träsch (the latter two not really a big surprise and Helmes (a surprise after the reports over the last few days). Will post a translation of Löw's comments shortly.
Nice team Personally I would also bring Jantschke to the training camp. Cacau is a special case but clearly the 23th of the final 23. So it makes sense if he's a well known and well liked part of the team off the field. So I don't really care. No Träsch, Rolfes, Kießling and Aogo. Not that bad Jogi. I also very like the idea of ter Stegen. Weidenweller must buy a lot of handkerchiefs
I think he's known that he's not going to be there because of his age and relationship with Löw....even though he's better than the #2 keeper. This is a nice squad though.
I agree with you. This is an excellent squad selection. Löw seems to always stick to his shitty players until a big tournament and then drops them. Really happy that Träsch, Rolfes, Kießling and Aogo weren´t called up. But I would have definitely preferred Castro over Jantschke and Schmelzer as well. He had a good season and was one of the best players for Leverkusen. Additionally he is freaking versatile. Unfortunately Cacau is in the squad. We don´t need three strikers. Even if both Klose and Gomez get injured Cacau would never ever start. So he´s drop out candidate number one for me along with Zieler, L. Bender and Gündogan or Draxler.
Here are Jogi Löw's comments (my comments on his comments in brackets): "The preliminary extended squad includes 27 players, four goalies and 23 field players. The players from Dortmund, Madrid and Bayern will be given extra time to finish their season and join the remainder of the squad at a later time. This is a difficult situation, but we will make do. We will not travel to the Ukraine as "World Police", but retain a focus on sports. I support the call for more humane treatment of Ms. Timoshenko, but not a boycott of the tournament. On Cacau and Helmes: The decision pro-Cacau was made because we see Helmes as more of a counter-attack striker, believing we will be meeting teams with a defensive outset (yeah right, the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark are all known for parking the bus!). Cacau has always convinced as a sub in previous years and scored important goals in this role, which he will continue to play for us. At the same time we were very pleased to note the positive development of Patrick Helmes. (This confirms my belief that Cacau gets to go so a Stuttgart player is included. This has nothing to do with personal favorites or diversity issues, it's a favor to "§$%&"! Stuttgart!) On Draxler: He's a player with enormous potential who shows a very intelligent style of play. We believe he shows very much potential for the coming years. His dribbling skills and his speed on the side of the pitch show potential for a great development. On the goalies: We allowed for the fact that Manuel Neuer will not be joining us until later. We want to prepare with three goalkeepers. Ter Stegen has played an outstanding season and shows an excellent attitude. Right now we don't see any need to make a final decision. We'll see how training goes and then make a call. On Mertesacker: We've been in contact with him the entire time. In the end we will have to see whether he can make it over the coming weeks. We'll take a very close look at him in Sardinia. On Klose and Podolski: Dr. Müller-Wohlfahrt completely green-lighted Miro. We presume he will play in Italy next week and then travel straight to Sardinia. He knows himself and his body very well and knows, when he needs to do what. I am confident that both he and Mertesacker will find their form. Lukas Podolski has played a great season and now finds a new task on the road ahead. Being relegated with Köln will be rough on him, but he will get over it and focus on the task at hand, playing the Euro in Poland, his home country. On the fullbacks: We have lots of options to man the defense. Boateng and Höwedes are highly flexible defenders. I will seek the discussion with Phillip Lahm to determine on which side he will ultimately be playing. With these seven players we have all the options and moreover, Lars Bender could also take position on the side. On Aogo, Rolfes and Träsch: Simon Rolfes was always part of the team, but he did not have his top form at all times this season. Lars Bender and Ilkay Gündogan were significantly stronger and we believe this must be recognized (Good move I think.). The same is true for Aogo and Träsch. The rest of the press conference was focused on the outlook for the tournament and the effect of the Champions League final. Jantschke and Holtby were never mentioned. Personally, I like this squad and with the exceptions of Mertesacker and Cacau I think these are really the best options we have. It'll be interesting to find out which goalie and which three players he will have to axe. That will be a tough one, but I hope he gets to make it instead of having injuries make it for him.
I once read an article describing Weidenfeller as follows: Perhaps the best goalie in the world, ever, to go an entire career without seeing a single national team cap or even nomination.
I would leave RRZ and Cacau home for sure. If Merte isn't 100%, I'd cut him, too. He already bring so little to the table without an injury. After that, it would really depend on how the training sessions and the friendlies go. From Jogi's comments it sounds like Lars Bender is a near lock for a spot. Thanks for the translations, HSV-Jung.
Good job Jogi, i hope he drops Cacau since Muller or Poldi is enough for third strikers and Gundogan or Draxler get a chance. Lars Bender out for sure.
Why hasn't he gotten a call-up? Is it because of his inappropriate comments? Does he not get along with other NT players outside of BVB?
Cacau will be cut as otherwise Löw would have nominated another striker to have a backup nearby. Ter Stegen, Gündogan & Draxler are the other backups IMO. I don't think Löw will integrate new players before the tournament, they are just cover for injuries with DMs also covering for defenders.
Nope, I don't think it's anything he's done or not done or his personality or attitude. It's just that neither of the head coaches ever really saw him among the top three. In his younger years they would always take Kahn, Lehmann and Hildebrandt or Butt. After they transitioned to the younger generation from Lehmann to Neuer/Adler/Enke, he was never considered again, since Butt held the position of token older experienced guy to use if everything else fails. Just plain bad luck!
Made all the right choices in my opinion. Those few exclusions/inclusions are minor at best. Well done Jogi.
It's basically the expected 23-man-squad. The good version of it (no Aogo, Träsch, Rolfes). Then there's 3 additional players who were somewhat expected as well (ter Stegen, Gündogan after his great displays in recent months and not only one Bender twin, but both), plus Draxler who can gain some valuable experience in the training camp. I think there's little room for debate this time. The only possible exceptions are Cacau vs Helmes/Hanke/Kießling and not giving Jantschke at least a chance in this preliminary line up. As far as the 3rd striker position goes, Jogi made it clear that this isn't about the player who played the best club season, but mostly about who's the best 'joker' in emergency situations. So, basically, the profile for this position is something like this: · The player needs to get on pitch in the ~80th minute and maybe score a goal in the dying minutes of a game. · Apart from that, the player needs to sit on the bench happily, without complaining. · The player should also be able add to the positive spirit within the team and entertain the rest of the squad, preferably by playing the bongos, displaying some Samba moves and revealing funny anecdotes about his past, e.g. why he's nicknamed 'Helmut'. Cacau is the most experienced when it comes to these tasks, so his inclusion is ok. At the very least it's not as outrageous as I've seen some people making it out to be. Helmes is probably the better player overall and, if he is finally able to keep up his form, might play a role towards 2014. I don't really rate Kießling much, despite of his recent league goals. Hanke might have deserved the place for playing a good season, however, he's hardly the type of player that is known to score the winning goal in the dying minutes of a game. Since that is the major task for this role and Cacau having shown he can score late winners/equalizers for the NT a few times, I can see why Cacau was prefered over Hanke. I would have included Jantschke personally, but not as one of these 27 players - and thereby replacing one of the other 7 defenders - but as an additional one. However, it seems like Jogi trusts Boateng and Höwedes to play RB and I guess that's ok. After all, they didn't do all too bad in the qualifiers. I can see Jantschke getting an invitation after the Euro. If he keeps up his form, that is.
Here is a controversial thought: *IF* another striker is needed why not Mike Hanke? He had a great season, had the same number of goals as Cacau, had more assists than him, can play recessed striker or outside wing and has a great work rate. For me it is total bullshit that Grosskreutz is not on the list. He is to his team what Mueller was to Bayern this season, so why leave him off? He had 7 goals and 7 assists and they were champions. Schuerrle had lesser stats than Grosskreutz and he made it. Just a silly decision IMHO.
Goalkeepers - One of Zieler and Ter Stegen will go home, dont really think it will make a difference as neither will get any playing time. Defenders -Its quite clear that all 7 defensive players will be part of the 23 man squad - I think its a good mix as all 7 players can back each other up. LB - Lahm, Schmelzer, Boateng RB - Lahm, Hoewedes, Boateng CD - Badstuber, Hummels, Merte, Boateng, Hoewedes I read somewhere that Loew mentioned even one of the Bender brothers can play at the back if necessary. Attacking players As sad as it is Loew will pick Cacau and waste a nomination on him - I think most of us agree that Poldi, Reus, Muller and even Schurrle would have been sufficient as a third striker option. Just the tought of Loew subbing in Cacau in the tournament instead of moving say Poldi to CF and subbing in Reus, Goetze or Kroos. Midfielders So this means that three players from the midfield will go home. On this list we have 4 suspects L and S Bender, Draxler and Gudogan. I don't think that Loew will only send home one of the Benders so I believe he will send them both home, especially that we already have Kroos, Schweinie and Khedira for their positions. The last would be a choice between Draxler and Gundogan and I believe that he might send home Draxler due to his age, and we already have enough attacking options there. On a last note, my biggest concern in this team is Cacau, and I really hope that he is one of the players to stay behind as I believe he adds the least to all the 27 players called up. Otherwise all round happy with the choice especially that Traesch, Aogo and Rolfes have been left out.
I think Hanke and Grosskreutz are system players, and known more for their workrate than affecting the game when needed most.
Who and what systems? Bayern is also an exception because their players are almost always already experienced and part of the setup.
Not sure what this means, unless you are saying that those two players are less felxible than some of the others. If that is the case I would have to argue that Cacau is more lazy and less "impactful" than someone like Hanke, who is far mroe versatile and defends far better. Grosskreuz plays the same system Loew uses, so not sure why he wasn't taken over Schurrle or Draxler. I think the real argument is more in depth than anything. I could see someone saying that Grosskreuz was not taken because Mueller and Podolski are the likely starters on the wings, with the next in the depth chart being Reus or even Goetze. Let's face it, Grosskreutz is not a DM or AM, so it is not like he could be moved elsewhere. FR, I don't buy the not "affecting the game when needed most" of either Grosskruetz or Hanke. Their past two seasons say otherwise. Certainly no worse than some guy named Mueller. I firmly believe that if Grosskreutz played for Bayern he would be on the squad right now.
I'm talking about way back now. Like christian ziege, carsten jancker, and some others. Not every bayern player that has been called up over the years has been an outstanding talent.
Two back-to-back championships would suggest that the key German players at BVB are up for the challenge too, no? Not to open the can of worms, but if Hanke or Grosskruetz played at Bayern I am fairly certain they would be on the short list...and we would be complaining about too many Bayern players on the roster. I just think it smells like oop: that one of the key players from the two-time champions is left off. When was the last time a key Bayern player from a campionship side was left off a WM or EM roster?
That's exactly what I meant. Hanke benefitted tremendously from Favre's system and the same is true of Grosskreutz at Dortmund. What puts Cacau ahead of Hanke in Löw's mind is the obvious experience in the setup but also his overall football IQ. His form dipped big time this season but he is a more well rounded footballer and in Löw's "plan" that counts more, especially given how he plans on using him. Remember, this is about an option off the bench to make an impact. I think its fair that he was left out because the other options are simply better than him. He deserved to be called up to the preliminary squad perhaps but even then he would have been cut from the tournament team. Again, Grosskreutz is behind all the other options in quality so its simply a matter of a long pecking order. Can't honestly tell me you'd pick him ahead of the likes of Schürrle, Götze or Reus, right? As for Hanke, he has never been useful coming off the bench which is exactly what Löw sees in Cacau apart from the other things.
I don't think Ziege was a "system" player. Jancker was just around in a time of decline for talent overall and back when Germany still favored that traditional type of striker.