Yea, fair enough. Every player can improve their game, Khedira is no exception. Well, everyone except Messi perhaps but he's not human. I'd agree. That tournament was probably one of the best individual performances by a German footballer in history. Shame he wasn't adequately recognized for his form that season. Do think Khedira has been the more consistent of the two in the last 2-3 years though for sure.
My worry with both Sami K and Mesut is that under Jose, neither will become possession oriented players. Its a bit of a poisoned chalice - see Wesley Sneijder
I agree with you, but he has gone missing for Real Madrid this season, but this is more a case of the entire team not performing rather than him.
Mourinho plays 4-3-3, its very possession oriented. Not like Barcelona, but still - they're developing phenomenally. My concern is not for the, but for our striker. Who exactly is going to score for us? I don't think Gomez is in tune with the rest of the squad in that respect.
Khedira has been one of RM most consistent players according to many of their fans this season. Mourinho primarily plays a 4-2-3-1. Khedira plays the double 6 role along Alonso.
That doesn't mean he hasn't gone missing, still a beast - but during their early losing streak, the entire team was playing badly and he kind of went along with them. You're right, I guess it depends on the opposition. Still very possession oriented, which is not very difficult considering you're playing in La Liga.
I don't get the Khedira missing comments. People are not used to box to box midfielders and most formations don't utilize them so it's easy to believe they 'go missing' but I don't think that's the case or even right to conclude. We can say that oftentimes he's been misused or when asked to perform a task can look out of element because it doesn't suit his game. Mourinho has changed this but if there is a player who doesn't go 'missing' he would be the last to talk about on that list. My biggest peeve with him is his negative retention but that's an issue with the entire German football contingent.
Correct, the whole team played below average...and Khedira along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Oezil were no exception. "Gone missing" to me means he was the exception while the rest of the team played well.
I'm not worried about Özil because he's too talented to be "untaught". He's the kind of player that could excel anywhere and adapt very quickly.
I think thats changing, Reus, Ozil, Klose, Schweini, Gotze, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm, Kroos, Gundogan are all great at keeping the ball. Phenomenal in fact. Khedira isn't that kind of player but he can do his job exceptionally well I believe.
when you say "team" you're referring to real madrid? die nationalmannschaft? schalke? this threads confusing and i have a tummy upset
meh, for quite some time now Schweinsteiger has been given the defensive role. He stays back and covers for the second CM who on the other hand is supposed to contribute to the attack while having little defensive responsibility. Yes, Khedira is vastly superior to Kroos on the defensive end, but his role at the Euro; running all over the pitch, going all out on attack and leaving the dirty work to Schweinsteiger, Kroos can do better.
The problem is Schweinsteiger didn't do his job well at the EUROs (for obvious reasons). Khedira covered a lot for him.
Khedira gives this team a verticality that none of our other midfielders do. He covers a ton of ground and is effective all over the place. Kroos is a more skilled player around the box, although Sami gets under-rated in that respect, and his size and strength are good to have bursting in, but Sami can drop back and cover for Schweini in a way Kroos just can't. Benders could play a similar role, but neither's skilled not to be a big downgrade around the box. Sami and Schweini really are a great pair when both are healthy, Schweini the more stastic deep passer, sami the box-to-box runner who's great at getting the ball back, getting forward in the buildup and even finishing in the box. Now Kroos would look great playing infront of those two in a three man midfield, but unfortunately he's gotta compete with Oezil for that spot and Mesut's just better right now, and is a more brilliant passer. This is why I think about a 4-3-1-2 with Reus and Mueller/Schuerrle/Poldi as the two "forwards", that way you could fit the three man midfield Kroos excels in without relegating Mesut to a wing and letting him drift around as he is want to do. Biggest problem would be Schmelzer, he'd need to play cause we'd need to have two FBs that can really haul ass up n down the flanks to keep our strengths in the wide areas.
Very good points. It shouldn't have to be a matter of Khedira or Kroos but one of tactical variety/experimentation but that precludes Löw being open minded to switching things around a bit. We have the players to change things up and there are so many choices to consider but one has to wonder whether Löw would be willing to venture so far out of his comfort zone. Schweinsteiger, Khedira and Kroos in midfield would give us a lot of flexibility and a great retention element that we've lacked against Spain if molded properly over time. Then you have the plethora of permutations up front with Özil, Götze, Müller, Podolski, Reus and Schürrle. It's worth a try in my opinion.
I never thought about that idea... I love it! Lahm hummels badstuber schmelzer Khedira kroos piggy Ozil Muller reus Gotze/schurrle rotate with muller/reus Ozil would have to play a more adanced role in this one though so that him and kroos don't clog up the same space in attack... Kroos is best outside the box taking his blistering shots in..
I see it looking something like. Although this would be asking a lot of our Wingers and fullbacks, but we know Reus can play as a second striker, so the question becomes can Muller/Schurrle/Poldi play next to him up top.
You're always going to be susceptible to counters against team that park the bus. Hummels and Bads at least have experience holding a high line with help from one of the fullbacks, Schweini and one of Ozil or Khedira back for retention.
Have to disagree there, Schweinsteiger definitely maintained that box to box position, at least during the WC2010. I think the fact that he's been injured for nearly a year means something, he never truly peaked after WC2010. He tore a muscle during the final against chelsea, only indicative of the kind of problems he's facing.