U still dont get it Major parts of the limitations is created by the lack of personnel. Thats why Nürnberg have bad results and thats something more to do with their roster than tactics. If u dont have the right pieces, tactics cant be achieved. even if u hv Sir Alex Ferguson or Guardiola, it wont make them a champion Germany have good midfielders, thats it. We are not a champion team in this WC When there is no Fullback how to compromise? Playing Lahm at DM will only screw up the balance of this team Its not like fullback is not a position which can be hidden like the CF. Playing Goetze/Oezil up top to replace a CF? Yes there will be more fluidity, agility n creativity but unlike Messi or Totti, none of our "flase 9" has the ability to play inside the box n is lethal in front of goal. Even Reus is very inconsistent in terms of finishing Tactics is going to cover some of the problem of coz, but main issue is the personnel. With Grosskreutz n Marcel Jansen as starters? Gotta be realistic now.
The costs haven't been disclosed AFAIK. After the World Cup, it's supposed to be used as sport and nature resort. See here: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1650133/germany-build-custom-world-cup-camp
It's a usual sport and holiday resort which is in built for some time now. It just gets adjusted to the needs of a NT payed by Mercedes. It's a clever solution imo.
There is a part of germany-portugal that hasnt come up yet. In the 1998 WC qualifiers they were in the same group and germany benefitted from - presumably - just being a big team. Germany was trailing 1-0 in Berlin when Rui Costa got a straight red card for walking off too slowly during a substitution. That tipped the balance and Kirsten scored six mins later. Portugal won their last match and Germany won their last two. Germany ended up on 22 pts, Ukraine on 20 and Portugal on 19. Portugal was definitely robbed - they had drawn in Lisbon and would have topped the group if head-to-head was the determiner. The golden generation missed the world cup.
I have 4, maybe 5 extra tickets for Germany vs Ghana in Fortaleza. they are category 1 tix - private message me if you are trying to get tickets for that game
Basically, i mean there is nothing Loew could do if the personnel is not right n there are so many missing pieces. Without a class CF (Lasogga looks impressive but unproven at international level), we can play a false 9. But without an international class fullback, what can u do about it? Playing Westermann/Jansen there? Left back is particularly a main problem since both Schmelzer n Jansen are not NT calibre fullback, and there isnt any alternative other than Oczipka n Plattenhardt. Not to mention our false 9 all hv one similarity: not lethal enough in front of goal. Both Goetze n Oezil need dozens of chances in order to score once, and always miss easy chances. Positioning n timing in receiving crosses n passes are problems. Seems like our false 9 have zero lethality n scorer instinct compared to other famous false 9s like Totti, Neymar n Messi.
I was being sarcastic. I think there is more to this team that Löw just doesn't see. Yea we are missing great fullbacks and a striker but the reality is (and really pull back on context here) scoring should not be an issue with the forwards we have. Even if we won't score five a game, we should not be having trouble scoring. And we are just missing a good enough left-back but Schmelzer is not that bad that it shifts the entire team. The problem is actually Löw. This is a very very good team that falters often because of poor tactical execution, lack of a greater idea and confidence, which are all attributes that come back to the manager. Look at how a team like Liverpool has been transformed under one ideology and with a manager who has motivated EVERY single player. And you think what a team with the likes of our players can do if it had that transformation too. I'm sorry, I just think it really comes down to management more than anything. It's the galvanizing factor here.
Sweden is not stronger than either Ghana or US, not a chance. Sweden is actually rather.mediocre without Ibra.
Sweden with Ibra in the form of his life is still not better than the US or Ghana. None of Germany, Portugal, US, or Ghana would have faced any teams during qualifying that are as good as any of their group G opponents IMO I don't think this group will be as straight forward as some are predicting. I don't think any team gets 9 points. I am almost certain Germany will lose points. This group has many factors like , weather, travel, style matchups. I actually think that both Ghana and the US matchup well against Portugal, and I could see CR7 being frustrated and isolated. If we are going by odds and favourites and the opinions of the mainstream pundits , the most straightforward results, then it would be 1. Germany 2. Portugal 3. Ghana 4. USA But worldcups rarely ever work out that way. There will be surprises and I expect each team to be alive, and no team to be qualified when the 3rd game comes around. As far as I am concerned this will be the toughest group (counting all 4 teams) that I have ever seen since I started watching worldcups in 1990. I am predicting that Germany and Ghana will go through, but any team can do it, and honestly Germany is not as sure to go through as some are suggesting.
Germany has NEVER failed to get past the group stage in its entire World Cup history, and the 2014 team isn't exactly weak and made up of basically both Champions League final teams. Sorry, don't see that happening. However, I could imagine Portugal to fail sooner than expected.
That's a bold statement. I think you underestimate the Swedish team. Personally, I think Sweden, Ghana and the USA are all on a very similar level. But of course football isn't an exact science, so it's always part guesswork. I won't predict anything at this point, although I do think that Germany and Portugal are the likely candidates to go through. But there are always surprises at the World Cup: teams implode, others have the game of their lives, yet others simply turn out to be over-/underrated and then there's always the luck-factor. It's certainly no stretch to see Ghana or the US go through.
While this is true, the 1938 Germany team exited the World Cup in the first round. But back then there was no group stage. If you look at the history, this is actually quite interesting as it shows that Hitler not only failed as an artist, actor and dictator, but also as coach. He personally decided that the starting 11 should consist of 6 Germans and 5 Austrians, but the team that resulted didn't gel at all, which was very unfortunate as both the German and the Austrian team were really good before being forced to merge. Both were considered to be golden generations (at the 1934 WC, Germany was third, Austria fourth) and both qualified independently for the 1938 WC. Other than that though, Germany has been among the last 8 teams (at least quarter finals or second group stage) every single time they competed, which is the most consistent record out there. Germany didn't compete twice: In 1930 when participation was by invitation only and Germany wasn't invited and in 1950 when Germany wasn't allowed to compete after the war. Having said all that, while it is an impressive record, it doesn't tell us anything about the 2014 German team. History alone won't help you win. Then again, as you mentioned, the current crop of German players have shown a lot of skill over the years, so one would expect that they once again go deep.
Russia are much better than the us or Ghana so Portugal definitely faced a better side in qualitying and Sweden v the us and Ghana is a toss up given Ibra does play for Sweden.
Sure. But they were on the verge of being eliminated in 2010. Who knows what would have happened if handball had been called for the Lahm save off the line? Everyone (including me) expects Germany to qualify, but its not like they have always qualified with flying colours (1982 another prime example, where they qualified by setting up a match with Austria).
I can't see Germany ever not qualify from the group stages. I also can't see them be anything but first. Also Germany are much more dangerous then the 2010 team... I think the chance of Germany flopping at the group stages is 1 in a million..
Then how come they needed to cheat to qualify in 1982 (and everyone the world over acknowledges this as a big cheat)? Look, everyone expects Germany to qualify, including me, but its not like Germany is invulnerable, especially with this group. 1 in a million is really going overboard. I say that they have about 5-10% chance of not making it out...