The NT Players Performance and Ratings Thread 2011/2012

Helmes would have to stay injury-free to become part of the NT again. At one point, I considered him 2nd only to Klose and ahead of Gomez. But he got constantly injured right when he was about to reach his prime. Don't know if he can make a permanent comeback at the highest level. I kind of doubt it.

I think Götze has taken "the next step" already. If he continues to play like he did yesterday on a regular basis, he will have left talent/prospect status and be a major, major contender for a starting NT spot right away, not only in the future. If he keeps up this form and brings it to the NT, he needs to play. Likely on the left side.

Thy, yea, I watched a highlight reel of the Bremen game and he was involved in a couple of good scenes. He was praised by the commentators who saw the entire game and was interviewed after the game, which seemed to be a result of his more than decent performance.

Also, Marin had some good scenes, but also some bad ones. Mixed bag performance. I hope he'll manage to step up. Would be a waste otherwise. He often displays two or three flashes of brilliance, but then seems completely lost on the field for the next 50 minutes. Maybe it's him, maybe it's the team. 2 years back, he usually connected with everyone instantly.

Hummels had a very good game. Defensively, the few attacks that were thrown at him caused no problem (aside from the Hamburg goal, where everything was just chaotic) and he contributed about 100 good/great passes that led to instant attacks. Very dominant performance.

Bender acted as his usual "vacuum" self again and, especially in the first half, destroyed every Hamburg attack quietly and effectively. For the first 60 or 70 minutes, HSV literally didn't even get into Dortmund's half, apart from a couple of very harmless scenes.

90% of the NT (Bayern) will play tomorrow. Will be interesting.

 

Schlaudraff always had the talent to achieve more than he actually did but inconsistency, injuries and often also a bad attitude let him stagnate.
He will have to do a lot to convince people again and that means constantly good performances over a longer period of time, same is also true for Helmes.
Considering the amount of young players with huge potential available players like Schlaudrauff or Helmes will need to get their act together.

 

I'd love to see Schlaudraff in the NT again. Until now he always failed to show consistency in his skills, one moment he makes a brilliant play the next he's back to his crappier old form. But with him I think a lot of it has to do with confidence so if Hannover continues to count on him I believe it can become his best season yet. Maybe this will get him back on Loew's radar.

Hummels and Bender were great hands down and I shouldn't even need to comment on Götze. The biggest disappointment to me right now are the Bayern players, they are lacking in spirit but they will probably get their act together soon.

Volland continues to impress me, he is a very fast and versatile forward and I'm sure he will make his way into the NT eventually.

 

That's fortunate. There's a lack of talented AMs/wingers in Germany right now.

 

Here's one to keep an eye on, Markus Mendler. Did rather well against Hertha.

As for current players. Träsch did alright, Rolfes was meh. Neither should be in the long term plans IMO.

 

Klose with 1 goal and 3 assists for Lazio against Rabotnicki (6:0) in the EL and Schlaudraff with 2 goals against Sevilla and a MOTM performance.

Good to see Klose in such a shape which might be very important for the NT.
Regarding Schlaudraff: see my earlier post about him but if he plays more constantly on such a level it's at least not impossible for him to be considered for the NT at one point.

 

When is the next NT team game?

 

It is on September 2nd against Austria on Schalke's stadium.

 

I haven't seen any part of match, but it sounds like another great performance for Reus today against Wolfsburg: 2 goals, 1 assist.

 

He had an exceptional game, scored 2 goals and conceded a well deserved penalty for the third too. The kid has got a boatload of talent and it was nice seeing him play on the left as well. He should receive a call up if this form continues, especially if Mueller and Kroos can't impress.

 

Well, he has received 4 call ups, so it's not like he's being ignored. Chances are he'll play soon (if not for injury/sickness again), especially once the qualification is sealed. It's well deserved, of course.

 

Rolfes also had his best performance in a while from what I heard. All the Bayern players did well and so did Götze Grosskreutz and Gündogan.

 

Müller did well last game, it's a shame his finishing wasn't more precise. The winners for me are Gündogan and Reus though, wouldn't be surprised if they are called up again against Austria. Gomez finally scored but he also wasted some big chances, to me he's still just an average striker.

 

Sry but I hate those double standards when it comes to Gomez. Gomez plays and misses a few chances and he is an average striker. Müller plays selfish (should have passed to Gomez one time) and had even worse finishing and yet it's a positive performance.
No offence but I see Müller a bit more critical because he tends to shine too often just when he has the necessary space and a team that plays well.
I expect more of him when he plays in such a central role. He was yesterday the player with the worst passing stats and this not for the first time this season. Against top opposition you need a player who can hold the ball and pass it accurately/with intelligence and Müller is still often far too inaccurate in that department.
His actions have a huge spread and people probably notice it less because he does get involved a lot so for every two bad scenes there is also a good one and then people tend to forget the bad ones.
For the fluidity of the game / ball movement that is a real issue and was also obvious in germany's recent games. Müller has the ability to improve in that area but he really needs to show more concentration and consistency and must question himself more often it is really worth the risk to go into a dribbling or make a cross from a bad position.

 

It's not really a double standard, I agreed that Müller has poor finishing and I didn't compare him to Gomez in any way. With Müller it's always a difficult case but he's a running machine regardless and that can make the team more lively. My beef with Gomez is simply a personal one, I dislike his playing style and he lacks technical refinement which seems out of place with the current NT. And dare I say Podolski is another candidate who should be replaced due to poor form (preferably by Schürrle).

 

That's true but just running isn't enough and at the highest level other attributes are needed too. I just expect that he refines his game outside the typical "Müller-situations".

Gomez's technical abilities are ok, he just needs confidence in his game and then that's not really an issue.

Schürrle's performance for Leverkusen so far were also quite disappointing. A similar problem as with Podolski => bad decission making.
That's why Götze must be the first option to replace Podolski, we need players who make the right decissions on the pitch. Just like Xavi always says, it's all about making the right decissions and thus I continue to dream of a midfield with Götze/Özil/Müller/Kroos/Schweinsteiger.
I personally would also prefer Reus over Schürrle and Podolski because he is the smarter player but I guess that will have to wait.
Besides that I also rate Holtby very highly when it comes to intelligence and creativity on the pitch but he has to find more consistency in his game.

 

LOL hypocrisy how much I love this board for it, for it makes far more interesting!

Gomez runs his ass off in every match is one of Bayern's hardest workers, not to mention that Gomez is actually improve his technical side a bit and even had 2 great passes back to Muller. He missed 2 good chances, but Muller missed about 5 that game yet he had a great game and Gomez had a poor even though he actually scored one of his goals. Your bias is so ridiculous, I'm not sure how exactly to respond to it.