This game will be showing live on ESPN and WatchESPN this Saturday june 21 at 12 noon PST / 3PM EST a win for germany will almost guarantee them the qualifications to the next round. i want to say its the battle of the two brothers but we got the better one - so its not much of a battle Lets go Germany!!!
SO against Ghana , do we go with the same starting line up? Or does Loew want to pull a 2012 again and change the teams starting line up every time until he gets it wrong like against Italy ..... I recon he must just start the same team again!
How is Ghana going to play? In fact, they need to win and another defeat will likely throw them out. The bad thing is, their opponent is Germany. So are they trying to attack or bunker and wait for the counter? I can't tell.
Germany matches up against Ghana very well. The US forced Ghana wider and into more crosses by using Beckerman as a shield for the back four. If he can do it, Lahm should have no problem. Jones was all over the field for the US as our destroyer. Khedira can do that for Germany. Their CBs and goalie looked vulnerable the few times the US created chances. Germany's front 3 should give them fits.
I'm not sure he is fit enough for that. Khedira's fitness is clearly higher than Schweini. I wouldn't be surprised to see Schweini come in around 60' for Khedira in that match.
Löw said Schweinsteiger is 100% fit but he didn't start him because Khedira had more match practice. He was also planing to bring on Schweini around that time yesterday but didn't because he needed to replace Hummels.
Why withdraw muller at the 80th minute then? Bringing schweini some match fitness would have been better than giving Podolski some. Unless he wanted to rest muller.
It sounds like Hummels could miss the Ghana match, which frankly isn't a big deal. However, for discussion's sake, will Boateng or Höwedes move inside to fill the Hummels void?
Boateng should move inside. From there you have either the option of starting Durm or Großkreutz. I'd be good with either, but I think Löw doesn't like some of the recent controversy surrounding Großkreutz.
Confirmed, Hummels will miss Ghana match only, due to minor hip injury. No word on Boateng so we can assume he is ok.
Mats Hummels has a bruised thigh. When he will return to team training and if he can play against Ghana will depend on the healing process. Boateng has an injury with his hand Both doubtful
Update on the DFB site regarding Boateng and Hummels: http://www.dfb.de/news/de/d-fifa-wm...-boateng-muss-daumenschiene-tragen/59621.html Boateng injured his thumb and has to wear a splint for six weeks, but he can still play. Hummels has a bruise on his thigh and it's not clear yet if he can play vs Ghana. EDIT: Damn, Kirsten beat me to it!
So what will this team look like then? If both Hummels and Boateng are out, then I guess its Mustafi-Mertesacker or Höwedes-Mertesacker?
Mustafi-Hoewedes-Mertesacker-Durm is how the back four will shape up if Boateng and Hummels miss the match through injury.
Only a bruise, Hummels should play But Ghana play with hard tackles and are very aggressive /violent Maybe it's a good idea to rest a few injury prone players like Hummels We'll likely see ------------------Neuer --Mustafi--Merte--Boateng--Howedes -------------------Lahm ------------Khedira--Kroos --Mueller-------Schuerrle-----Goetze
Okay, slow down, folks. Boateng will wear a splint, BUT CAN STILL PLAY. The sensible thing to do would be to kick Boateng inside and use Durm out wide. I was never a big fan of Grosskreutz anyway. But using Mustafi at CB with Boateng out wide would not be awful, just not ideal. Save that for the US if necessary.
Mustafi over Grosskreutz? Surely you jest. With the injury, maybe we'll see a real CB like Durm in there.