The Right Fullback, any alternatives?

I remember he previously said he wanted to represent Italy, never agreed with this idea of choosing the county, but that my own perspective. Regardless, needs a lot of work if he is to make it into either NT.

My mistake. Thanks for the correction.

For the defence, Loew will want to go with the four best players he has at his disposal atm. Those would be Lahm, Badstuber, Hummels, and Boateng (with Mertesacker still holding a slim chance if he recovers faster than expected). Including a guy like Schmelzer would leave one of the superior options on the bench, something Loew will not risk with the tournament as close as it is.

Therefore my guess is we see Lahm at LB (he is class on both sides IMO), Hummels and Bads in the center, and Boateng as RB. Like we have before.

I was looking forward to Jantschke Ribbery duel and wasn't disappointed at all. He Kept # 7 very quiet. This is very impressive considering how he was chained to the center back. Hope loew's assistant was taking note.

I still believe Lahm and Muller would make a better pairing then Lahm and Poldi. Rather have one strong side then two mediocre sides.
So I would say they should move Lahm to the right and Boateng/Schmelzer to left.
Boateng might also get used in the center if one of Hummels or Bads all of the sudden dont play so well at EC.

Bayern = Germany
Lahm Boateng Badstuber (Schmelzer)

Lahm and Podolski work well together too. On the other hand, we saw how the left side faltered with Aogo there against class opposition, on two occasions now (France and Netherlands).

Boateng was deployed at RB against France, if I recall. He's played there before and we are all out of test matches before late May. Therefore I think it is likely that he stays there.

lol will never be good enough

How do you all rate Timothy Chandler? He has played 8 friendlies for the USA but has declined two call-ups that would have cap-tied him, so it seems that he is waiting on Germany. He does not play for an elite club, and he has said some negative things about the DFB in interviews and thus burned bridges. On the other hand, he has had interest from other clubs and he is still young (22) and is just emerging as a player in the Bundesliga. Would he have a chance as a back-up in 2014 and as a challenger beyond that?

I don't think this has really been discussed before:

Can anyone imagine Lars Bender as being a good RB? Jogi recently mentioned him as a sort of "last resort" option for that position. Could he be more than that?

I've never seen him play as a full back. I'm not even sure he ever played there.
He should have the defensive part down and is also an incredible runner who should be able to cover the flank well enough. But I'm not sure whether his skillset includes strong, precise crosses as he usually comes almost exclusively through the center.

Maybe it's way off, but seeing as Bender is still quite young, maybe he could be converted into a right back. His native position at DM/CM is stacked with awesome players and, even though Bender is a great player himself, it seems like both him and his brother (or, at the very least, one of the two) might never be more than bench options for the NT. At the same time, with the current shortage of RBs this would be a welcome measure - only if he's good at it, of course, which I cannot judge at this point.

Any opinions on that?

I think if Loew opts for lahm as a rightback, boateng will be our CB as he is more experienced in that position.

Loew talked about using Lars as a right back. We all agreed it is a good idea. He may be tried there in the coming friendlies.

In the recent matches of the German team the right offensive side was always the side the action happened. Müller's right side was not only the outlet of the action - he got a lot of help by either Khedira, Klose, Özil - and somebody of them often switched into that place to let him rover around. Sometimes - with Boateng e.g. higher on the pitch - the ROM-spot was empty.

When Lahm is left and is going forward a defensive lineup with Boateng/Höwedes-Hummels-Badstuber can be formed.

I just think that the right side already has enough power going forward - and especially if there is a lot changing going on in the right offensive position it might be good to have somebody very defensive behind.

Don't you agree that the CBs are most likely to be Badstuber and Hummels? I don't see Boateng starting if Lahm is slotted in at RB.

You don't think there's 1% of a chance we'll see Mertesacker instead of Hummels? Personally, I'd much prefer to see Hummels in the starting line up and I think he's also the frontrunner, but I'm not sure it's that clear.

Sorry I meant fullback. I have no idea who Loew will opt for, isn't there a friendly before the euros sometime?

Two. Tomorrow against Switzerland and another one next week against Israel.

Sweet. I hope to see Reus in tomorrows fixture.

Will be interesting - it will be Schmelzer against Shaqiri.

Well, at least one question has been answered.

Lahm on the left seems to be our best option now. I trust him there more than Hoewedes or Boateng, and Schmelzer should probably be cut altogether TBH.

Kicker reports Lahm on the left vs Israel.