I think Brazil will start with Paulinho, Gustavo and Fernandinho as midfield 3 tomorrow - Oscar, Fred and Hulk as front 3. Will be hard to break down.
Boa & Hummels were the best CB pairing so far. Plus, Merte + High-line against Brazil = goalfest for Brazil.
Maybe Löw wants to blitz Brazil. Poldi might not have the best technique, but he's certainly energetic and has a strong left foot. Cesar has been somewhat flimsy on distance shots and Müller and Özil could try to capitalize from a deflection. Of course this is assuming that Kicker got it right, wherein I wouldn't put too much confidence.
He also bears an uncanny resemblance to Dracula too. Maybe that's why he let Suarez get away with a nibble
I wouldn't be shocked to see Schurrle start as the false 9 and Mueller/Poldi on the wings. They have the pace to get in behind Maicon/Alves and Marcelo and cause damage. Maybe that is his game plan. Win the ball back and immediately transition into a break down either flank. Goetze and Oezil are two slow and methodical for the type of direct vertical running needed for this type of counter attacking.
I think we played a 4-1-4-1 that day. Midfield had Schweini as the holder and Kroos/Goetze as the central midfielders.
Exactly. Imagine Brazilians shoving around a hapless, frail, intimidated Özil or pushing the last tid bit of motivation out of bieber boy. I would field him too.
About the Brazil friendly; I wouldn't consider it a indication of too much. That was three years ago, and the Brazil team is totally different now. Personnel, guiding philosophy, the manager's not even the same.
I don't like to post here much because it gets so personal with a lot of posters, but I feel the need to comment on this. Without Neymar, Brazil lacks the speed to cause our high line fits. Fred is as slow as it gets. His job is to hold up play and since they won't be possessing as much of the ball against our midfield, they will be trying to counter and Fred does not factor into that style of play. They can start Jo, but that's not really an upgrade, even if he is a bit faster than Fred. Hulk and Oscar are both average in the speed department. Willian and Bernard could cause some issues if both were to start, but I doubt that will be the case. Brazil is the squad I am least concerned with beating our high line, even with Merte in there. Without Neymar, they lack the personnel to beat the high line.
Personally Brazil will go with 3 holding midfielders to combact Germany midfield and to protect there back line, Germany need good width to cause damage
Ya, I'm guessing the same - Fernandinho, Gustavo, Paulinho to combat Germany's midfield. Germany will still have the majority of the possession and if they just push Oscar to the left wing, they will have no speed up top to beat the high line.
Really? I'm guessing we'll be outpossessioned against Brazil. They have the most offensive, build-up quality defence in the world with Alves, Dante, Luiz and Marcelo. You shouldn't forget that most of the possession time you play the ball from the back, that's why defenders have the most passings usually.
Reality is this match is Germany s to lose if they don't play well, if they perform somewhere near their best then brazil r no match
We shouldn't be out-possessed by anyone in the WC. Spain is the only team in world football with a better possession game than Germany. If we play a 4-3-3 with Lahm in midfield, we dominate possession. If we line-up with the 4-2-3-1, it will be much closer to 50-50. It depends on how Loew wants to play this tactically. Do we want to control the possession and tempo of the match, or do we want to execute quick direct attacks and cede a lot of possession to Brazil?
Come on. Really, can we have any discussion without beeing biased? Sometimes I feel this forum is a circus act.
Against Portugal and France our possession was always close to 50, tho. Now I'm sure Brazil is one level higher than France. But I think they have better attacking quality from the back, while you are right with Germany has the more dominating midfield. So not sure.
Marcelo and Alves are both sieves on defence, and Luiz, despite his good performance for Brazil, can still be exploited IMO, particularly after one of his "Lucio" runs out of defence.
They looked pretty disjointed to me. Did not look fluid and seemed to slam the ball upfield as often as they did anything else. Certainly didn't see anything that would scream the best build up quality defense in the world in this tournament. Indidviually and for their clubs, maybe. But nothing as a team in the Brazil shirt this tourney.
I am not sure Dante would start because he and Luiz have the same attributes coupled with the hairstyle. Maybe Henrique would play then
A few gems from the German news... A comparison of Germany and Brazil man for man. A video on the five reasons why Germany will beat Brazil.
If I may have a word here .. first off.. Forza Miro Klose !! /\ that preview above shows Klose in his 11v11 comparison . Is that a realistic formation? Anyone have a pretty confident idea what it can be now that the game is a bit closer? Interested in knowing the XI. I seriously hope Miro gets 1... atleast if it will be possible. Also, I will be one that will be cheering on Germany over Brazil. What worries me here is that it seems that we have overlooked the potential threat of the same Mexican referee that had the game decided in his head that Uruguay was going to beat Italy. Give me a listen here, Marchisio tackle was a harsh red, yellow if that. Seen these sort of tackles game in game out but that day the ref walked on the pitch with a clear idea of who was going to win it. First harsh tackle was penalized heavily. Then Chiellini showed bite marks right in front of the refs eyes and dismissed any off ball accusations.. as he had it decided who was going to win the game. Relation to this match is..... this referee is back and of course he is going to continue his south american friends and bribes will be a dozen from 3rd parties no doubt. Also what a coincidence a referee coming off such a contriversal game is now in to officiate a Brazil match. I think the biggest threat on the field could be him now that Brazil is missing their focal point up top and will have to readjust and fast versus a very strong opponent. Ironically, I think there should be someone covering the referee. Anyways guys, Good luck. I hope for a Deutsch vs. Dutch final.
ESPNfc guy made a good point with Mueller starting out wide or flank. His out to in movement will cause Brazil issues: 2 CBs that haven't played together & 2 FBs that lag getting back on defense Either way our options upfront are a whole better than Fred or Jo!