Jetzt Neu: Germany National Team - Road to Rio 2016 [R]

If it wasn't for Kemme's lackadaisical positioning on the left, or the teams generally sloppy mid-field play, Bartusiak could have been part of an otherwise near faultless defensive performance in the final lol.

You could tell in the post game celebrations that a few of these girls don't expect to be back with this side again either; but like you say, as expected it was hardly a surprise to see Bartusiak be the first to announce her retirement.

Pretty sure Krahn - Peter - Henning won't be in the Euro's squad as CB's, so just thinking about the next best defense options... Schumann (GK) - Klink (GK) - Wesely - Faißt - Hendrich - Wensig - Gerhardt - Wedemeyer - Prießen - Störzel - Simon - Schöne - Gidion - Blässe - Cramer - Schmidt - Demann etc...

These are all defensive options I can think of for Jones and her coaching staff to pick from, and there's more names I haven't even mentioned here who could come in and get first team spots too.

 

Hmmmm... Honestly, seeing Neid constantly choosing not start Wensing for so many years, I'm not so sure she'd been ahead of Bartusiak and Krahn prior to Germany starting the last tournament cycle Neid would have with the senior team.

Wensig's been around a lot longer than we think, and similar to the likes of Popp, has only seen mostly garbage time as a starter for the national team.

Funny, but after you stated how poor Kemme had been in the group stage, I saw how damaging she was to her own team vs Canada and Sweden, constantly being out of position on every defensive play just like she was on Sweden's goal in the final...

With better options to play LB on the horizon, it's clear Kemme's wayyyy to good to leave out of the side moving, so maybe playing her in the same position she does for her club (box to box CM) would solve everybody's issues...?

Not really a defender, but dynamic and technically skilled enough to play CM for a national team screaming out for more energy in it's central areas, I'd much rather see the likes of Kemme and Leupolz move back into the roles they've executed so well for their clubs.

Peter as a fullback is fine. But Germany should only use her at CB if injury to other names becomes a serious problem.

Remember Wedemeyer's replaced her at club level, forcing Peter back into a LB role; but even if Peter's picked to play a full back role for a post Neid Germany, she'll still be up against a few names who've looked way more promising in those same roles headed towards the next Euro's.

Experience may keep Peter around, but you saw at club level how coaches expect more from their defenders now, and beyond a utility role, I'm not sure she'll be able to keep up.

 

I do think Maier and Kemme are good full backs, however Kemme is sometimes out of position but part of that is because of Neid's playstyle by sending the full backs up in attack. She was good in the olympics (well most part of it) but she progressed from last year world cup.

Interesting that Bartusiak, Krahn and Behringer retire from the national team, if Steffi can find a center back pairing with pace and technique I believe that the Germans may be quite hard to beat..

 

And i would like to see Leupolz as a DM in the euros next year together with Gössling with Marozsan in front of them playing behind the strikers please

 

Btw how is it going with Wensing

 

Germany has had very good CB options for a while now, but everybody for the past 6 years has had the benefit of facing a German senior side using a self imposed handicap of not wanting to change a core group of players so the team could evolve on to better things.

As a natural fullback Maier gradually improved as the tournament went on, but if you saw the U-23 guys playing you saw the system of allowing their fullbacks to get forward and assist the attacks, is entirely predicated on having excellent DM's and a quality #10 combining as a 3 player unit in the central areas of mid-field.

Without this mid-field protection/consistency in front of her, Kemme constantly running forward became the clear weak link in a back 5 not comfortable in many scenarios of effective 1v1 defending.

When Wedemeyer came into WOB's team, she was a significantly better positional and technical CB than Peter. Not a physically big player, I can see why questions would arise about her potential, but when your on a team who likes to play out from the back, Peter always struggles with doing the basics like covering space and carrying the ball into mid-field.

Plus just like we've discussed around here prior to the Olympics, it's funny to see the girls who we couldn't really understand reasons for why they were always being picked in the starting line up, finally show their hand with a new coaching staff around the corner, and begin to throw in their retirement cards knowing their time was up years ago...

6 years this team has been limping around with players we all knew would never been in the squad let alone a starting line up, and now 5 years late we'll get to see what Germany would have looked like with a new spine built on it's impressive youth level success.

 

This has been discussed to death around here lol, because various youth teams and domestic league play has shown us plenty girls with these exact qualities being constantly overlooked by the new legend we call Silvia Neid.

Leupolz has had her most impressive performances as a CM, playing for a national coach who didn't want to pick Keßler or Goeßling until mass injury forced her hand prior to the last Euro's. So yeah, in a nation who's most impressive players are all CM or AM's, I think it's the next coaches duty to finally develop a team to once again maximize it's most gifted players potential.

Yes, Neid did lose both Kulig and Keßler around WC's in a very unfortunate sequences of injury related events, but resorting to building future sides around Sasic at the WC, and now Behringer at the Olympic's...ughhhh. Too many good players for a new coaching staff to allow this to happen any more.

 

I maintain at least 6 players will be missing from the next major finals Germany qualifies for. So the first three are already down, and now we'll see if it's the coach or retirement that does the rest.

Kerschowski - Islacker - Henning/Peter. These are my obvious picks for the next coaching staff to omit from the next Euro's squad, but with players like Mittag looking over their shoulders, will anybody else decide to walk away...

 

yep it's going to be interesting who Steffi pairs up... i want Wensing but i just read that she's still out with an injury :s

i would love to see more of Bremer at the national team because she's class (i do like her as a player) so i'm quite pissed that Neid didn't take her with her to the olympics...

Mittag said that she wants to continue with the national team altought she has won it all with the national team

looking forward to the euros next year, i guess that they can win it with an average age lower than the German men average age was in 2014,

 

I'm still not 100% sure, but I believe Bremer was left out of the Olympic squad due to her various commitments with Lyon and the U-20's WC in the coming season.

And yes I know she's already been to one U-20 WC, but doing the same as Marozsan, Kulig, Leupolz etc... I expect to see Bremer to go back to a second U-20 tournament in a bigger leadership capacity.

 

2013 Euro's squad
GK
Angerer - Schult - Benkarth
DF
Schmidt..? - Bartusiak - Maier - Krahn - Cramer...? - Henning...? - Wensing
MF
Laudehr - Behringer - Keßler - Lotzen - Marozsán - Leupolz - Goeßling
FW
Mittag - Sasic - Linden...? - Huth - Bajramaj - Däbritz

NEW potential names to come in to the 2017 Euro's squad..?
GK
Klink
DF
Störzel - Schöne - Elsig
MF
Doorsoun - Kemme
FW
Popp - Bremer - Magull - (with names like Petermann - Schüller making Mittag look over her shoulder)

With all the old names that are gone, and the others still likely to be making way for new blood/ideas too, I think there's at least a whopping 11-12 spots now open to those hoping to make the next Euro squad lol.

It's crazy, but when Neid took over Germany, she was left with the spine of a WC wining side, and now Jones and her coaching staff come in, and they've got to work with a patch work squad which needs immediate rebuilding..

 

Anyone else impressed with Steffi Jones ? I thought she just got the job because she used to be a national team player. The match vs. Russia was tactically the best in years though and the players seem to absolutely adore her, unlike a certain immediate predecessor.

Looks like I was completely wrong about her. Props to the DFB if these first impressions turn out to be true.