Saw only the second half. Germany didn't really create much as Croatia sat back and looked to counter. That kid Brekalo for Croatia is really good.
Full time : Croatia 2-0 Germany Croatia sat deep in the second half and Wück's strategy to break them down was f*cking awful. Our ball playing CBs kept playing the ball through the middle but our midfielders were surrounded by Croatian players so they kept losing the ball again and again and again. Croatia crowded out the middle so use the width for f*ck's sake. It was ridiculous, the same mistake again and again. Also, why weren't Dorsch, Janelt and Özcan coming deep to collect the ball and start attacks the way Xabi Alonso is doing for Bayern. Our CBs(mainly Gül) had their passes intercepted way too many times. We needed a deep lying playmaker to help them out. Wück was supposed to be a good tactician.
I didn't watch about 10 minutes of the second half so I hadn't seen those 3 German misses in the highlights ( at 1:07, 1:13 and 1:21). Wow Eggestein pulling a Chicharito there (at 1:21). What a horrible time to miss an absolute sitter. Considering Schmidt's great shooting ability, he also should be scoring that chance from just outside the box(at 1:13). There was no one around him and he was in a good, central position. The build-up play from the back was the most disappointing aspect from the second-half performance. Gül's rushed passes into congested areas wasted our time and momentum . Did he think one of his teammates is Messi and can pull away from two or three markers?! Wück should have scolded him. Would have been nice if they had stayed patient, passed the ball as quickly as possible from side to side and waited for an opening. Gül was rushing from the 60th min onwards. Poor play from Nesseler for the first goal and from Burnic for the 2nd goal. No one else will comment on the match ?
Congrats on the victory. Hope you will win the tournament so that Germany will have lost to the winners. But I have a feeling that your next opponent Mali will win the whole thing. They look very impressive. Wish Passlack had Brekalo's close control and dribbling ability. Your goalkeeper is also very very good.
Wasn't able to watch the match live but those highlights pretty much tell the whole story. Props to Croatia, they played a better game and well executed on their chances. That second goal was just a killer counter attack. Both of Burnic and Nessler could have done better but the whole team over committed and was left scrambling to get back. Typical game ending dagger even on the senior level of play. Eggestein's miss on the far post was the critical moment. Read that cross wrong and was late on the anticipation. Looks like he couldn't get the right footing down first and rushed on controlling that touch. I'm a little less harsh on Schmidt's chance. That's still a difficult shot to make in that quick moment of reaction.
From my comments, some may get the impression that the team is horrible, the players are horrible, etc which is definitely not the case. It was a tight match, Croatia have a very good team(15 games unbeaten and even outplayed and defeated Nigeria) so it's not really a disaster to lose to them. There are positives. Niklas Dorsch had some very good moments on the ball. The commentator praised his performance. You can see he has a lot of potential (and Wück thinks he will make it in the Bundesliga). The two other midfielders Janelt and Özcan are also technically very gifted and could become excellent players in the future. However, all three(Dorsch, Janelt, Özcan) are skinny and need to bulk up. They had some difficulties with the physicality of the opponents. Gül and Karakas have good potential and we all know how talented Eggestein and Passlack are. Burnic, who produced a fantastic piece of skill towards the end of the match, is highly rated at his club. If the aforementioned players have a strong work ethic and stay injury free, they can turn out to be really good players. Some will fade away of course. It's not realistic to think all of them will make it big. From the German u17 team that lost to Switzerland in the Round of 16 of the 2009 U17 World Cup, there are 4 players who play for Champions League clubs - Mustafi (starter for Valencia and is a World Cup winner; linked with Barca and Bayern), Mario Götze(needs no introduction), Ter Stegen(plays for the best team in the world and is a Champions League winner), Bernd Leno(1st choice for a very good Leverkusen team). Also, Kevin Volland will probably move to a Champions League club soon and is part of the senior national team. Plattenhardt and Malli have good careers at mid-table Bundesliga clubs.
Other positives are of course new talents will emerge too in the next step of development. Many of the current senior NT players didn't play a big role until they reached the U19 or even U21 stage. The beauty of youth football is also the unpredictable story lines. France lost to Costa Rica in penalty shootouts, while Russia is also out now after losing 4-1 to Ecuador. That Brazil vs Nigeria game next round should be a helluva match.
Yep. From the German U17 team that reached the semi final of the 2011 World Cup, Ginter, Gerhardt,Toljan and Arnold( and Calhanoglu) weren't part of that squad and are Bundesliga players now. From the German U17 team that reached the final of the 2012 U17 Euro, Kimmich, Weigl, Wellenreuther, Selke and Gnabry have emerged despite not making the squad back then. To be fair, Gnabry missed out because of an injury. I like the unpredictability of the U17 WC. The Champions League has become very predictable these days, especially the group stages. One might argue that it's more interesting to watch those youth tournaments.
http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/news/y=2015/m=10/news=passlack-leading-by-example-2723418.html Good article on Passlack.
Thanks! Saw the whole game later and yes Semper the goalie had some big saves in the first half. Passlack impressive player as well. Strong with good dribbling skills. Mali will be difficult especially with our best defender Soldo getting hurt against Germany. We have a good team though who play good football so i think we have a chance. Beating Nigeria gives me hope.
Here's my list of other 1998-born players who have potential to emerge later and eventually join this generation's top talents on the youth NT scene. Melvin Krol- Third member of Werder U19's Big 3. Has already shown himself as a capable scoring threat. Primarily a winger but his well rounded and versatile attacking game allows him to play at any forward position. Arrived at Bremen with a reputation of being a difficult character but honestly haven't heard any issues about him yet. Seems like an alright kid who's still young and finding his way. Janni Serra- shouldn't necessarily be on this list as he was already part of the original selection but chose to sit out from the U17 WC for personal reasons. Big, strong, classic center forward type. Pretty solid player, and important part of Dortmund's strong U19 team. Transitioned to becoming a striker because of scoring instinct and knack on finding ways to finish. Luca Horn- Werder's highly skilled LB talent. Forms great team chemistry with Eggestein, Schmidt, and Krol in attack. His technical ability and movements forward also allows him to cover the left wing position. Jayson Breitenbach- From Mainz, and is rated by some scouts as the top natural RB of this age group. Ermedin Demirovic- A dual national who can also play for Bosnia. I though he was set on representing Bosnia where he played his U17 NT with. Until he accepted a invitation to a Germany U18 training camp in October. Still uncertain which team he'll end up choosing but regardless he's still a quality talent. Fabian Benko- Pretty complete midfielder who's made good strides already with Bayern's reserves this season. Is also eligible to represent Croatia. Jannik Mause- Köln's striker who actually has a better scoring rate and percentage than Serra in the A-Jgd West. Could develop as a good alternative if he keeps it up. Agyemang Diawusie- Good winger prospect that Red Bull poached from FCN Christoph Daferner- Sechzig always produces good talents, this striker could be another one. Marco Stefandl- Was an early bloomer for Bayern and Germany youth NTs. However hasn't played this season yet though, as he's recovering from a fractured tibia. Others: Gorkem Saglam, Tim Probst, Dijon Ramaj, Justin Petermann, Amos Pieper, Paul Grauschopf
I thought about making a list like this but now I see that you've already done it. One player you haven't mentioned is Georgios Spanoudakis - huge potential. The DFB coaches certainly have a massive talent pool to draw from. At this point in time, it feels like Krol, Benko and Spanoudakis are the most likely to emerge from those who didn't make the U17 world cup squad. Justin Petermann looks like a very interesting prospect. Small, very skillful, born at the end of the year and an important player for Mainz U19s. I talked about the '94s(( Arnold, Gerhardt, Toljan, Calhanoglu, Ginter) and '95s(Kimmich, Weigl,Wellenreuther, Selke) who emerged later so I think it's worth pointing out that from the 1996 age group Sane, Dahoud and Baumgartl weren't part of the German U17 team and are starters for Bundesliga teams now (2 years later). From the 1997 age group, Suat Serdar and Enis Bunjaki weren't that highly rated at U17 level and seem to be big prospects at the moment.
Yeah, the U17 tournaments are certainly interesting but they don't mean too much for the future, it still hurts a bit thinking about Manuel Fischer...