Review: German National Team News & Discussion Thread - WC 2014 & Beyond

Nuer for me

 

Klose is 36 and is likely to retire soon, so giving captaincy to him is certainly not a long-term option. Dude cannot play 90 minutes as well. So Schweini or Neuer is the best choice IMO.

 

Mustafi, Lahm's natural successor as both RB and captain.

Seriously, it's quite bad. Germany have depth in all positions aside from FB and CF, and the (possibly) only two players that are retiring are Klose and Lahm of all people.
I don't see a good replacement for Lahm now, only decent makeshift options. It would have been good for him to play until 2016 or 2018, which would have given new emerging FB talents another 2-4 years to develope. At the moment, it's a big loss in quality.

 

Agreed. Boateng has done a decent job I guess, but he's extremely valuable as CB. Then there's Großkreuz...

What about up and coming players?
Is Cédric Soares already capped by Portugal?
How about Sebastian Jung? I haven't really followed Wolfsburg, so does anyone know how well he could do?
Or Julian Korb? He became a regular for Gladbach this season...
I know that Antonio Rüdiger can play RB, though he's probably also more of a CB.

There really aren't that many options...

 

Lahm retiring is quite a surprise! I was hoping he'd stick around until 2016, at least. I don't think Schweini is going to be around the NT for much longer, either, so Neuer is a shoe-in for captain - actually I think Neuer should captain Bayern as well, after Lahm eventually retires from club footy, too.

Still, Philipp is already a legend and the dude deserves the highest praise and respect for his great work within the NT! I also can't really blame him for wanting to end his NT career on a high note and it doesn't get much higher than this.

EDIT:

 

Some matches I remember:

Away to Hoffenheim: Durm involved in both goals against
At home against Hertha: Durm responsible for first goal against
Away to Stuttgart: Durm responsible for second goal against
Away to Madrid: Durm responsible for first goal against

There is a reason why Klopp always plays Schmelzer when healthy.

And I will say it again: Durm (or any right footed player) should not play left back. He can't cross. Always has to move the ball over to his right foot. Defending is worse as well. Even Lahm said he can defend better on the right side. I'm sure Durm can become a very good player. But why not allow him to become the best player he can hope to be? He will never be as good on the left side as he can be on the right. On the left he will always be limited by his non-existent left foot.

 

what the fack?
why and how ?

 

Volland/Reus/Mueller/Warner?

Durm (left)/ Jung (Right) or Grosskreutz (any side)

 

Actually, I think being an opposite footed fullback has its strengths...even with crossing, most wingers and fullbacks aren't used to defending opposite footed FBs and most CBs aren't used to dealing with in swinging crosses

 

Or how about moving Durm to the right?

 

Loew now needs to play durm at left back and jung right back for Euro2016

 

One things for sure, the fullbacks need international experience on a constant level. CL experience every year. It isnt enough for winning titles to ave them playing Euro league every two years. Bayern, Dortmund, Levkusen the heck should be playing German fullbacks.

Id like to see sth like this

Emre Can for LB. Jung for RB.

 

This is really shocking for me - not only that he retired, but that he was also the first person to announce their retirement. I also expect Mertesacker, Klose and potentially Schweini to all announce their retirements from international football soon. I think Schweini may be persuaded to stay on with the NT, now that Lahm has retired in order to give him the captaincy and keep some much needed experience on the side for 2016 at least.

I agree 100% with what @MatthausSammer and @White/Blue_since1860 said with regards to the FB's. Both Boateng and Hummels must be our starting CB's, with Ginter and company becoming the immediate reserves. With Lahm leaving it is time to fully address and work through the integration of new FB's into the NT with no delay (and no interim options). This includes giving guys like Durm, Can, Jung and Grosskreutz an opportunity in the next two years.

 

Closest replacement for Lahm would be Zhi Gin Lam!

Seriously though, I agree that whoever will fill in at RB, should be integrated asap. I'm assuming Löw will look into it in upcoming friendlies and by next summer we will see a regular starter in that pos.

Durm will not be selected for that role unless he regularly played there at BVB. KG is an option but lacks regular time in that spot at club level. Jung sounds like an interesting proposition.

 

Yeah, Jung is top choice. Wolfsburg will be playing in the Europa League which offers him another level of competition and experience. They'll also be fighting for CL again for the following season.

Our U19 squad that qualified for the upcoming 2014 U19 EM have a couple good prospects who play RB. They are still a few years away. But are potential options to look forward towards the future as they develop further. Schalke's Pascal Itter and Hoffenheim's Kevin Akpoguma are two talents that offer different skill sets. Itter provides better defensive coverage, with strong work rate and tackling. Akpoguma has better technique and footwork, which is an asset to dribble forward while also providing width on the attack.

Other good talents include, Werder's Luca Zander who has a nice overall game. Bochum's Lukas Klostermann emerged last season onto the club's first team at age 17. Easily one of the fastest prospects, as a youth he participated and won national running competitions in the country.

 

How about Julian Korb? Any Gladbach fans here that could give some insight?

 

Another possibility: Maybe Löw will switch to a 3-5-2? Though given that this would be quite a switch for the players who usually don't play like that in the Bundesliga, it's probably not the most likely scenario...then again, come EURO 2016, he'd have enough time to practice during preparation.

 

Now that Lahm is gone, I am thinking if lack of enough solid FBs would force Low to try his 4 CBs crap again. I have had multiple heart attacks seeing Mustafi and Howedes play together in the world cup!

 

I'm still flabbergasted! I wish he didn't make the announcement so soon after we won the championship. It makes it doubly emotional to rewatch that ceremony knowing that that was it for Philipp. Why do this me?!