Pre-match: (EURO 2012 - Quarter Final) Germany vs. Greece 06.22.2012 [R]

I have to agree, his inbox link up was great at times with his surrounding players..

It's great that we have such a talented and deep bench that we can argue about these things...
Every country in the world would give their left nut to have the problem we have

 

I was skeptical of so many changes to a winning team. But I have to say Loew had it all figured out. Reus showed excellent movement and energy, although he did miss 3 glorious chances. Klose linked up well and Schurrle had a few good cracks on goal. All in all it was a good performance. Khedira was undoubtedly the Man of the Match. He's been the unsung hero in the last 4 games.

But with such an offensive line up, Germany got caught on the break, something that they can't afford against more attacking opposition. Boateng needs some a winger who tracks back and helps him out, whereas Lahm can totally hold his own. For the next match I'd like to see

Neur
Boateng-Hummels-Badstuber-Lahm
Khedira-Schweinsteiger/ Kroos
Muller-Ozil-Reus
Klose/Gomez

Schweinsteiger had a rare poor game, most of his passes were misplaced and he was off the pace almost the entire match. Maybe Kroos should start.

 

Shweini was very bad today, not sure if its the ankle injury he picked up against Denmark or another thing, but I hope returns to form before the semi final. Sloppy passes like that can hurt us against Italy/England.

Didn't Like Shurrle today, too many shots and lost the ball quite easily, the first Greek goal was off a lost ball from him.

Also Klose didn't have a great game either I prefer Mario he is linking up just as good but his scoring touch is better at the moment.

Hoping to see Mueller, Rues, Ozil and Mario in the semi

 

No one would put bender in replace of boetang??

I thought bender looked better going forward then boetang, with less brain farts..

 

The way Reus created Oezil's chance in the 22nd minute was Messi-esque stuff. For me, he is the real German Messi(not Goetze or Marin). His style(speed,dribbling,movement,vision,combination play and finishing) is the closest to Messi from all the top players these days. He looks dangerous every time he touches the ball. He is so direct. No tippy tappy stuff..... just gets down to business. Football is about goals not possession.
As I said a few days ago, I expected him to become one of the players of tournament like Oezil and Mueller two years ago and was very disappointed that Loew didnt give him a chance in the first 3 games. Now he showed what he is all about. Hopefully he starts against Italy and scores the winner and then the same against Portugal in the final.

 

I don't think he is better going forward, simply because he has far less experience in that regard. I do think Boateng gave a world class performance against both holland and portugal, so I would start with him.

 

I am fairly surprised Reus started at all, I wonder how Podolski is feeling atm. We played much better today than any other game in my opinion, and not just because of Oezil but our wingers were just all over the place. Reus definitely needs to start the next game, what a crazy ass finish for the fourth goal.

I am just surprised that Podolski didn't start, I thought after his 44th goal Loew would have made the case for him again. Hope he doesn't though.

 

No, its just that he had a near perfect display against those two teams, and was tested on numerous occasions - its almost impossible to replicate that performance against a mediocre team like greece. Hummels is still my defender of the tournament, along with the indomitable Gerard Pique.

 

Good Game from the boys last night. They wasted lots of chances again and the combinations didn´t click for a long time, since they haven´t played in this formation before. BUT, we were the far better team and I had no doubt in the whole game that we´re gonna bring it home. It was just a matter of time and how much goals we get to score. The 1-1 was a bad mistake forward (misplaced passes were a huge problem last night IMO) and a huge mistake by Jerome, who didn´t do shit to cover up Samaras. Nevertheless, great display of what is possible. Still lots of work to do for opponents like Italy or England though.

Negative points:
- the way we played seems arrogant for lots of parts of the game and ended with loads of totally dump misplaced passes. Unacceptable.
- Schürrle wasn´t all that good last night. Plenty of mistakes and plenty of lost balls...not that much better then Poldi, but certainly faster and more dangerous
- very few to see from Mario Götze, I´d like to see him with more playing minutes

Positves:
- Özil, Özil, Özil
- Reus looked great for most part
- Hummels still the best CB of the EURO till now

 

I wish there was. Those are good games to watch and allow reserves to play. You get a medal and can end a tournament on a positive note.

 

Congrats for advancing We fought hard but were simply outclassed

 

I would bring Bender back in for Boateng 100%
Reus should definitely start in place of Podolski 110%
Never liked Schuerrle, Mueller should return - but Goetze could start because Mueller is a great sub to bring on, doubt it will happen though
If things keep improving i think it barely matters who plays between Klose and Gomez - both have benefits
Of the players that havent been on yet i want to see Guendogan the most

Neuer
Bender Hummels Badstuber Lahm
Khedira Schweini (Guendogan)
Mueller (Goetze) Oezil Reus
Gomez (Klose)

 

Park the bus they said. Everything will be fine they said


On a serious note, I'm not worried about two conceded goals (PK was rather harsh - kinda charity penalty - 'cause Boa usually does a safe job blocking shots with his back or stomach or ass in both NT and Bayern. For the first one Samaras did tug Boa's shirt to make it past him into the box i.e. fouled him though linesman didn't see that). You could see our approach was total attack with both fullbacks going full forward so we only had 2 CBs at the back. Sometimes even CBs went all attacking... The only thing I would improve rn is our finishing. Fooking hell, it was frustrating before El Capitan's goal. I have to say all our goals were totally amazing.

P.S. And Jogi, take a bow.

 

I would be Mad if Marco Reus doesnt start against Italy/England.

Just watched the Replay all over again and the Kid was Stellar.

His Off the Ball Movement was Top Class and his link up play with Ozil was Telepathic.

Cant wait to see Dortmund(with Reus,Gotze and Lewa) tear it up in the CL next season.

In Hindsight,Madrid's moves for Ozil and Khedira has worked out really well for the Mannschaft.They look hungry and have the Cutting edge they lacked in the WC and look like Champion players.Winning La Liga was definitely a huge upside for them and it shows in the Swagger they bring to the middle of the Park.Respect.

My Team for the Next Match:

...................Neuer.....................
Boa.....Hum.......Bads.....Lahm
...........Khedira.....Kroos............
Muller..........Ozil................Reus
...................Klose........................

 

Yeah, we aren't really technical nor quick thats why we play like that. We play to our strengths, namely tough defence, dead ball situations, clever counters, deadly finishing

 

Santos really blew it with the goalkeepers. He didn't call up Kapinos, Karnezis both young and talented, nor Chiotis(old but in-form). Sifakis is good but he lacks match practice. He went instead with both old and average Chalkias and when it was evident he was simply not up to the job he had to throw Sifakis into the deep.

 

They are technical and quick but nothing really beyond that. They lack character

 

I think someone was asking about Ozil's pass stats on here, so here is a pic (from another forum BTW):



FourFourTwo have an app (powered by Opta) where you can see all the stats for each player in the Euros: http://fourfourtwo.com/statszone/

Unfortunately i don' t have an iphone but if one of you guys download it please can post up Khedira's stats?

Also Schweini's please. I want to see his failed pass stats

 

Well to be fair Schweini is quite aggressive and defends as well. Ok this tournament he hasn't been as much but with Bayern he is, I feel injuries are holding him back at this moment unfortunately.

I do think people who call Khedira the best may be overrating him quite a bit, but he's been playing well. I was thinking maybe Kroos would be good but the way he is playing at times is impressive. His passing at times is really silly, but he is making it up in other areas. Anyways curious to see how he does vs Italy/Eng, anyone can look great vs a crap Greece team. But nonetheless, Khedira looks a better player than 2010. Ozil has been worse than 2010 atm, not sure if he is going to turn it into the big matches but shining vs Greece and playing a petulant little whiny bitch vs the other big teams isn't impressive to me. Pig also seems poor other than vs Netherlands. Imo both Ozil and Schweini need to raise their level.

Also Reus for Podolski please.

 

Absolutely. It's not a coincidence that our two best performers are from Madrid. The quality they gained is irreplaceable.

Also for those with the FourFourTwo app, look at Oezil's passes to Klose and Gomez when they are on the pitch. It's not a surprise but just re-enforces what has been said here before.

 

Lahm has easily been Germany's player. I don't see how Ozil could be one of the best tbh he's been way off form other than Greece while on Khedira surprisingly I concur.

 

1:0 - all Lahm's work.
2:1 - cross Boateng, goal Khedira.

Our offense still lacks effectivity except Gomez. Klose wasted quite a few good chances and wasn't really sharp.
He only ran 8,2km, that's just bad and a lot less than Gomez against Portugal for which he was criticised.
Klose had also the fewest touches on the ball (just 35, even Gomez got 8 in his 10 minutes) and the worst passing accuracy of all players. He also had a lot of unusual technical problems and missplaced some easy passes.
That was at best an average performance by Klose and he is obviously not in the shape we would need him to be for opponents like Italy, Spain etc.
What the game really showed is that Özil needs support from the midfield and Reus provided this. Those two had a good understanding, switched positions often and had some good combinations between them.
That was for me the main difference to the other games besides the obviously lower quality of the opponent.