I think this is good analysis from Kroos. Pundit morality plays about mentality etc are much too generic and entry level for high performance. Guys who have been successful for big clubs clearly don't have basic mentality issues. As he says, a concept like resilience isn't just something the player 'decides to have' - it comes from the stability of the entire framework.
Why does everyone go on about Fullkrug all the time? He was very successful in his impact role. Was this a mistake from Flick to use him that way? Maybe. But hardly the reason why Germany is out.
Reason being the Tons of chances we created and MISSED could be the key. Had a natural goal scorer been on the receiving end who knows we could be preparing for the knockouts.
giroud was a borderline elite striker though germany does not have a striker at giroud 18 level - Ozil used to tee him up for fun at Arsenal until he got to slow and old for club football But for internationals - even now he is still decent
No one said not playing Fullkrug is the main reason we're out. Lots of complain with the false 9 itself, not with the Fullkrug not in starting XI per se. Moreover Fullkrug could score twice or a hattrick but it doesn't matter if the opponent could outscore us. I prefer we won every game 1-0 courtesy of penalty to win the whole thing as opposed to leaking goal left and right.
I am not that convinced that false 9 vs Fullkrug is the main problem. The way Fullkrug was used worked out OK. We will never know how the Japan game would have gone had he started, but we do know Germany fell apart when Flick took Gundogan off to appease Goretzka (this now appears to be confirmed from reporting). The failure to close out the game 1-0 is pretty alarming as we know Japan are a very decent side. Indeed if they'd just held on to draw, everything would have been fine.
Then why did Flick disregard the midfield so badly in selection. He talks about lack of balance, but end of the day Flick made some bad mistakes on which hopefully he learns from.
But Fullkrug is a quality 9. We created more chances than any other team in the tournament and yet our out and out goal scorer is sat on the bench for majority of the game.
I hope the story about pleasing Goretzka isn't true. I have nothing against him, he's a starter for me in most situations and I think he is needed for the future but a coach should base his decisions purely on what's best to get the result when he makes subs. "The team is the star" Maybe back to the roots? Klinsmann: "I think the European Championship in 1996 in England was a great experience for us as there was a great camaraderie in the team and we knew that through this team spirit we could compete with the other teams. We fought all through the tournament and played really good football, even if we were not the best team. Italy were a bit better, England had a great team, but we had the best will."
I do not believe the Goretzka story…in the contrary, Flick should have started with Kimmich-Goretzka combo in all matches and we would have been into knockout rounds… Gundogan has done nothing for the NT and I hope he has played his last match
Füllkrug makes a huge difference, his presence creates space for others. What we need is a focal point to attacks, neither Havertz or Muller provide that. From now on we should always start with a proper CF, whether that be Füllkrug, Moukoko, Berisha, Nmecha or whoever. Bin false 9 for good. Werner I would quite like to see playing with Füllkrug but not as a lone CF.
I'm team Sule for CF!!! he's fast, big, physical has technique etc. joking aside it makes a difference make, false 9 doesn't open up anything and they don't know how to move. Huge difference how a CF and false 9 moves around. entire AM/W functions better playing off a CF then not. There is too much evidence for it. Havertz goes from being useless at False 9 to him excelling when playing off any CF. Its same for Gnabry, Sane, Musiala too used to playing with CF. if you want to maximize A than you need a CF. More False 9 gonna be neverending loop too easy to handle for most teams. We'll continue creating a million chances just to score once.
I remember when we had a group of CF’s that weren’t elite as such, but knew how to play the position and were always available to the NT as they were regularly involved in the set up. That’s what we need now. Call up the likes of Berisha, Nmecha, Dietz, Tigges etc and then decide which 2 or 3 along with Füllkrug and Moukoko are gonna be our regular group of CF’s. That way we always have options that aren’t false 9 that know the NT set up and can be used if needed. That position can then be totally to shut off to anyone other than natural CF’s. If that means leaving 1 or 2 higher profile AM/W’s out of the squad altogether so be it.