Das Martina-Upgrade: Sickle Cut Into Your Defense - Road to WWC 2019 [R]

Marozsan will play no matter what lol, she’s never going to get benched. She’s been on FIRE for Lyon this season

 

I thought Bremer and Kemme were back to full health, but I guess they're still a long distance away from playing serious minutes for their first teams...?

 

I'm sure Bühl will be a very strong wide option for the national team, and one day a potentially very strong forward option too. But who dropped out of the squad for her to come back into MVT's plans..?

I think your assessment of Peter's time finally ending, a genuine reality now lol.

So where's Gasper..? They lose Maier, I'd rather see Gasper come into the squad than Hegering.

 

Looks like we'll finally see Kathy Hendrich partnering Melanie Leupolz in midfield

 

Unfortunately not this time, and with Hendrich having one of her better performances as a RB during this latest friendly, I don't think she'll be put into contention for a CM place anytime soon either...

LOL, and I wouldn't be so sure about Marozsan never being benched for the national team either; as she still lacks the big on field presence of somebody possessing her talents, and is part of a national team not lacking for other quality options for the teams #10/CAM role.

 

Where did you see the game?

 

I saw the game on French TV, but missed the first 20-30 mins. And I will say it was good to see a German wnt with a potential semblance of a genuine system of play again.

 

Well I'll need to wait for the game being uploaded on YouTube before I'm making up my minds about it

 

It was a closely contested match with few clear chances for either side, where solid performances from Germany's defenders and mid-field helped silence a few doubters (like me, lol) concerned with the appointment of MVT.

 

Leupolz was used as a dedicated DM, and Marozsan the teams main CAM in support of Schüller. But what impressed me more than MVT actually understanding how to construct a tactical balance with a DM, and CAM, was seeing the players showcase confidence to press high, and finally pass the ball both short and long, using an all round far higher tempo of play.

Unfortunately some unnecessary second half substitutions would negatively effect the match for Germany's mid-field, with France gaining a dominance by changing formation and choosing to press the German defenders higher up the field.

But even in this second half scenario of Germany being pushed deeper into their own half, the players were still able to solve problems to evade the French pressure at various times, creating a few dangerous opportunities to potentially even score a second.

Meaning it was a promising start for MVT, in a game Germany looked like being something that I haven't personally seen in a long time... this being a physically competitive unit, that are all tactically aware of their opponents strengths, and weaknesses.

 

And it's only fair now that I say that Leupolz shut me up lol, proving she can definitely develop into being a quality DM, with new deputy captain Huth appearing to me as Germany's best all round attacker through the entire match too.

So with Elsig - Doorsoun - Simon making themselves 1st choice, with Leupolz, Däbritz, Huth, doing the same in mid-field. It's going to be very interesting seeing who else can force there way into a starting role ahead of the WC.

Oh, and Bühl also made her debut in the second half, coming into the match to play left mid-field. This being a positive sign for a team lacking positive 1v1 dribblers, still using their two strongest FB's Schweers and Simon in combination down the left.

 

If Dallmann can regain fitness and some form, I genuinely believe her chances of playing within this team very high too. With Lattwein 2nd half replacement of Marozsan a clear/positive sign to me of MVT's intention to use a CAM in her team, no matter the perceived status of the players.

So after years of needless changes, we'll see how MVT approaches the match versus Sweden, having seen Marozsan disappoint within her system perfectly suited to provide the platform for her #10/CAM's to succeed.

 

So I have watched the game now, and overall it was a respectable and solid performance from the team. Sara Doorsoun was very strong and definitely POTM for me - paired very well with Johanna Elsig.

To be fair I didn't see really much from the likes of Däbritz and Huth going forward either, so the offense looked rather bland yesterday where Germany's defense for once was the star of the game - I am curious though where Popp would've played if she was fit? Either on top for Schüller or where I preferably see her; midfield with Leupolz. So I'd much rather see Däbritz out left with Leupolz and Popp in midfield and Huth out on the right and Schüller on top

 

They form a nice balance, and are both comfortable on the ball. But unlike the match vs Spain, it definitely helped both of them having a defensive mid-field presence in front of them for most of the match, covering the various danger zones Hrubesch never really seemed concerned about.

I agree with the idea Däbritz a far more effective player out wide too, so hopefully it means Goeßling, Magull, or Lohmann, will be allowed to start in CM for the next match, with Däbritz finally moving into the role she can contribute towards scoring goals, not preventing them.

And while Schüller continued her fantastic scoring rate of 12 games and 8 goals, I don't see any reality where she starts ahead of a healthy Popp in this teams attack.

Popp as a CM is still a possibility, but I find it hard to imagine happening now with Leupolz, Goeßling, Magull, Lohmann, all in the squad as CM/DM options.

 

Oh, and did anybody notice how this was a German wnt without a single player from Frankfurt within it's match day squad...

Hoffenheim, Essen, Freiburg, Potsdam, Bayern, Wolfsburg, and even Lyon, but not one player from Frankfurt lol.

Of course this won't be regular occurrence when Frankfurt have access to strong junior internationals like Hechler, Kleinherne, Ebert, Pawollek, Freigang, Martinez.

But as somebody who's long felt too many good players ignored by the national team because of the national teams poor player analysis, I genuinely want to see how this continues with MVT.

 

Therefore I'm worried about Elsig staying with Potsdam and Doorsoun struggling with playing time for Wolfsburg although if Lerch saw yesterday's game he might consider her to partner Fischer again

But I mean, how would a midfield work if you pair someone with Leupolz that's basically pretty similar to her? I mean, I'd much more prefer Hendrich there to use her speed than pairing Leupolz with Gössling or Lohmann

No but really Popp should play in midfield where she'll have the greatest impact on the game offensively and defensively as I like this idea much better than her playing alone on top..

So this team should look like this:

Schult
Maier, Doorsoun, Elsig, Simon
Leupolz, Popp
Huth, Marozsan, Däbritz
Schüller

Which formation did Germany play yesterday though? I never thought about it, but it looked like they've gone back to the 4-2-3-1 formation

 

I love that this team doesn't feature the likes of Peter, Blässe and Islacker anymore and the next one to go should be Knaak 100%
But I don't think they've given up on the NT at all... especially not Peter as she seems to believe that she deserves a place and to start, but to be fair, over the years I've gotten the impression for some reasons that Peter's not popular within the team at all Correct me if I'm wrong but I suspect that Gössling's critique last year against Steffi Jones was because she felt annoyed that Peter was called and not her considering that Steffi blamed Lena for her defensive skills

Gwinn's got potential, I really do like her game

However I mean, with a team featuring captain Popp, vice-captain Huth and Däbritz and Marozsan, I can't imagine anyone of these being left out from the starting eleven if they're fit and healthy

 

I was thinking about what would have been more effective vs France though, seeing how much Däbritz and Marozsan struggled to combine together in the central areas of mid-field..

It just would have made more sense to have Goeßling and Leupolz work as the double 6 partnership, in the process allowing Marozsan to try and be more assertive further forward.

And I say this personally believing Goeßling the superior DM in this squad too, also believing Magull the obvious CM to set the teams tempo, helping Marozsan link the attack should MVT decide to move Däbritz out wide.

So even if Hendrich and Popp talented enough to start in CM for this team, there's definitely other options who also posses qualities more suited to the way MVT may want to see her team play.

 

If MVT can get Marozsan or another CAM/AM's to start positively contributing towards the team scoring goals, that might be the real difference between this team remaining wasted potential, or becoming a legitimate threat again.

So while Schüller and Schweers will be important players for this team, for good reasons we know if healthy exactly why Popp - Marozsan - Huth - Däbritz, are the most obvious names to lead the attack.

 

Names in red are who I think the most likely starters in a WC squad....
-------------------------- Schult/Frohms/Schmitz ---------------------------
Maier/Hendrich - Doorsoun/? - Elsig/Demann - Simon/Schweers
---------------- Leupolz/Goeßling - Magull/Lohamann -----------------
Huth/Gwinn ------------- Marozsan/Dallmann -------------- Däbritz/?
-------------------------- Popp/Schüller/Petermann ------------------------

with this potential list highlighting the reality that a lot of good options won't be going to the WC, making the disregard of Peter, Blässe, Islacker, rather irrelevant now that Elsig, Schüller, Doorsoun, have been able to show themselves to be the most credible choices worthy of playing for this team.

I mean Oberdorf and Pawollek have easily been two of the best domestic players this season, and probably won't be headed to the WC. So if Peter's annoyed about her current situation, she needs to recognize there's more healthy competition for places now.

 

just saw the game; my impression;

didn't expect MVT to coordinate such a strong defensive stand, but that's exactly what she did, limiting France to taking long shots that went haywire & very few fast breaks. Did like too that she occasionally mixed up by switching to a 3 back with Leupolz in the middle so that the FB's could race up the flanks & get a wide game going.
Possible weakness in MVT's plan, not able to take control of the midfield, but that's cause the mids were stacked more vertically than horizontal, so it was Leopolz behind Dabritz who was behind Maro, more than it was side by side. But GE's ball movement was coning up the sides anyways.
Playing so defensively, obviously going to cut down on attacking chances, but here is where Huth was so capable with her swift dribbling, drawing out defenders & opening up her team mates like Schuller. Speaking of Schuller, she pretty much enshrined herself into the starting lineup with that brilliant goal.
But as mentioned, the hero of the game was the defense, or at least 4 of the 5 defenders, as sorry Simon fans, if it wasn't her horrible passes getting continually intercepted, then it was her mark, Cascarino, cruising right passed her(though this don't seem important for lil Leo fans either, lol).
Special shout out has to go to Hendrich though, I mean look what she did this game;
1) she spend the whole 90 minutes marking France's current red hot player, Diani, out of the game
2) when the 3 back was converted, raced up & became way more influential in the attack as compared to the slow poking, Simon
3) with all that she still had to battle the opposite FB, who was way more prominent than her team mate in the other side

very strong 1st half, 2nd half was getting away a bit, but that was do to the bad passing by Maro & Simon. Thankly, MVT saw that & subbed them out. Not much can be expected the last 30 min. as the obligatory, friendlies subbing can take away the flow & don't think any of the subs had a good game except for Rauch, who had a near goal.

keep in mind that France was missing their dynamic dual of Le Sommer/Majri, but likewise could be said of some German players missing

 

But in my mind Gössling and Leupolz are too similar to play alongside each other, so I would like to partner one of them with someone pacier and physical like Kemme or Popp

You know in my mind, Schweers should be backup for Simon unless Däbritz won’t play on the left side - I like Schweers game as she’s doing tons of running, but I don’t see her in a starting eleven to be fair

 

You know Peter won’t ever play for the NT again lol, she hasn’t even had the chance to protect her place within the team lol - and in some way I feel bad for her as she OBVIOUSLY considers herself to be an important asset for her teams, but this only shows the big problem with Lerch, Kellermann and Jones playing her no matter what... So I feel like why I get annoyed by her is due to the fact that I believe she thinks she’s way better than she is...

 

Yes, this was a game where the defense finally looked composed and good for once, but if Leonie Maier’s healthy she will start hotjam, just realize it

But Hendrich is a good player so I’m not sure where she would fit in this team - I’d rather see her partnering Gössling or Leupolz - she had a TREMENDOUS game against Wolfsburg where she was a part of the backtrio just playing as a defensive midfielder as well

So we clearly see an eleven with world class abilities, so let’s see what MVT can do with this team