DW SportsVerified account @dw_sports 15m15 minutes ago André Schürrle: "Azerbaijan made us work hard but we were more comfortable in the second half." DW SportsVerified account @dw_sports 12m12 minutes ago Schürrle: "I feel the trust of Joachim Löw, which is obviously different when I don't always play [for @BVB]." DW SportsVerified account @dw_sports 11m11 minutes ago Löw speaking to RTL: "Could tell we hadn't played in four months. Some of the automatisms were missing. We won 4-1 but it wasn't all great." DW SportsVerified account @dw_sports 10m10 minutes ago Löw: "Mario Gomez has great timing when meeting crosses in the box." DW SportsVerified account @dw_sports 7m7 minutes ago Löw: "Kimmich is doing a great job both at the back and going forward. Hector already has that understanding of when to attack and defend." DW SportsVerified account @dw_sports 1m1 minute ago Mats Hummels to RTL: "We were a bit arrogant today, so I don't think that's very good. We made it harder than it needed to be."
halfway through the Qualifiers Germany 15 pts Northern Ireland 10 pts Czech 8 pts Azerbaijan 7 pts Norway 3 pts San Marino 0 pts 5 points ahead of 2nd place and 7 points ahead of 3rd. I hope Northern Ireland loses points in their next game to make our qualification faster.
All good with the team... I think we will have a solid squad in 2018.... Confed Cup will be a nice one for some of the youngsters.. but wont bargain for us to win that one. NO one has ever won the WC after winning the ConfedCup !
and the ones who failed to win the WC after winning the Confederations Cup are Brazil and France. Thing is both sent their A teams to those tournaments, we aren't and besides Brazil have been pretty dreadful since they won the 2002 WC. also http://www.dfb.de/en/news/detail/loew-all-focus-on-the-2018-world-cup-164654/
I m sure Loew will field Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Khedira, Oezil, Reus, Mueller, M.Gomez as starters n core of the team But some of them are aging Of coz Kimmich, Hector(who isn't that young at 26), Draxler n Sane will be some of the newcomers of the team. But the starting XI aren't aging much in the last 3 years. I think we need some depth at LB n CF. Werner is ok but he isn't an aerial presence like Gomez; I think Rudy will be Kimmich's backup but at LB? Will have big problem if Hector can't play
2018 World Cup, I would love to see this lineup -----------------------Neuer --Kimmich--Boateng---Hummels---Hector -----------------Emre Can---Kroos ---Sane-----------Mueller-----------Draxler ----------------------Gomez Second Unit ----------------------ter Stegen ---Rudiger----Howedes----Sule-----Plattenhardt -------------------Khedira----Weigl ----Gnabry---------Oezil---------------Reus ----------------------Werner Backup: GK) Leno DF) Henrichs, Rudy, Tah, Mustafi DM/ZM) Goretzka, Kramer RW) Bellarabi LW) Schuerrle, Brandt CF) Wagner
while you are worried about players being able to head. Which most of our players can do when required. I'm actually more worried about the lack of dribbling in our team. You had Draxler who was not long ago praised by Low for his dribbling skills. Yet against Azerbaijan I don't recall him doing much of that. It's like a team like Azerbaijan should have been the team to practice such things. We seem too fixated on passing the ball and finding openings instead of creating them ourselves. Having players who can dribble is a valuable asset.
The only players I see in the current selection who are dynamic dribblers are Sane and Brandt. Draxler is good, but he is much better in counter attack situations.
if it's only Brandt and Sane I don't expect either to be in the 11 if every player we have is fit. They are more likely to be bench players for the WC.
My Neuer vs Ter Stegen team Neuer- Hector- Hummels - Boateng - Kimmich - Kroos - Khedira - Draxler - Ozil - Muller- Gomez Ter Stegen - Gerhardt - Sule - Howedes - Henrisch - Weigl - Gundogan - Goretzka - Reus- Sane - Werner I can bet that Stegen team would win 3 of 5 games if they play.
Trapp vs Leno team Trapp Kehrer Rudiger Mustafi Plattenhardt Can Dahoud Brandt Amiri Gnabry Stindl Leno Toljan Stark Tah Klostermann Rudy Kramer Demirbay Havertz Schurrle Selke
I think Sanè has every opportunity to be in the 11 for the World Cup. A lot can change in a year. Overall I feel like Sanè and Gnabry are the players in our pool that can beat defenders relatively consistently from a standstill. The likes of Reus, Brandt, or Draxler can beat defenders with a running start, like in a counter attack situation. The "dribbler" problem is still much better than it was a year ago IMO given the progression of players like Sanè, Gnabry, and Draxler.
I would like to see....this Neuer Kimmich, Hummels, BOA, Badstuber Gundogan, Kroos Sane, Oezil, Draxler Muller Reus, Khedira, Brandt, Howedes , Gomez as subs
Sane and Gnabry are the "real" only wingers we have. I dont expect much of them in the first WC though
"Leon Goretzka is fit for the last match before the European Championships and can hardly wait to be involved, "I feel fit and have trained fully over the last few days. I’m ready," said the midfielder from Schalke 04. He also said at the official pre-game press conference that there are a lot of full internationals who still don’t know which tournament they’ll be going to in the summer. "We’re not thinking about whether we’re going to Poland or the Confed-Cup. We’re hoping that both teams give a good account of themselves in the summer. We’ll have to wait and see who plays for which team," said the 22-year-old." http://www.dfb.de/en/news/detail/write-their-own-story-u21s-face-last-test-before-euros-164715/
It's strange to me that Lars Stindl has not had a chance to play for NT. I see he could fill the void of Ozil behind the striker. Schuerrle is like another Poldoski in the team who doesn't need to score to stay in. For Confed Cup, Loew could let senior squad to have a break, and use a chance for new faces like Stindl and Werner. Just a hope, i know, a slim chance.
if he can score against teams in the top 10 fifa rankings, then I'll shut up. Otherwise, it does not count.
Schurrle notable matches Euro 2012 - 0 wc 2014 - Algeria and myb final Euro 2016 - 0 He scoring against weak teams...Somebody says he is productive in NT,you kidding me? He must me productive in NT with 10 monster players behind you.Give another player opportunity he can also do same things even better
eh, at Euro 2012, he only played like 2 games and 1 of them was from the bench. LOL and you forget that he scored a brace vs Brazil and assisted one goal vs Portugal and the winning goal vs Argentina. than in Euro 2016 he always played from the bench. Fact is Germany in it's entirety didn't play well at that Euro. Can't blame one player for that. thing is Schurrle is mostly a bench players and so far he's been productive given his minimal role. One player that I think isn't productive/inconsistent and that gets better chances than Schurrle is Draxler and from what I've seen his only impressive game was vs Slovakia and that's it. Yet he usually gets a free pass on these boards.
Schurrle ... definitely is good super-sub ... he often made an impact off the bench and that is exactly how Loew is planning to use him in future. I would say Goetze is the one that got the most chances in the starting line up. Draxler is still young .. if he does not shape up in the next two years then yes we can start hammering him .. here an overview of our wingers/Striker Draxler 38 Caps 3 goals 12.66 Games per goal (GG) Goetze 62 Caps 17 goals 3.64 GG Schurrle 57 Caps 22 goals 2.59GG Reus 29 Caps 9 Goals (interestingly)3.22GG Sane 6 Caps 0 Goals 0GG Muller 85 Caps 37 Goals 2.29GG (best ) You can SEE that Sane and Draxler need to step up now, but with these 6 players playing for 2/3 positions we are well stacked.