Yep. We need to start winning trophies. And agree, best way to start is take the Nations league seriously, and win it!
Agree with Voller. We didn't have the small details go our way in the Spain game. Had we come through that, we would have lost likely won it.
100% If you look at the xG map of the game, the 2 goals Spain scored were quite low xG chances. They were pinpoint crosses and sometimes that happens. No one is really to blame.
we need to be Pot A.... This is how the 2026 World Cup pots would look like using July FIFA rankings, assuming the highest ranked teams qualified from each confederation.UEFA = 16 teamsCAF = 9+1 teamsAFC = 8 teamsCONMEBOL = 6+1 teamsCONCACAF = 6 teamsOFC = 1 team pic.twitter.com/G521URNYfk— Football Meets Data (@fmeetsdata) July 16, 2024
This will be a hard task considering three host teams and coming of two years without any competitive games except for the Euros where we went out relatively early.
I feel like a lot depends on the development of club players in the next 18 months or so Wirtz will likely be the most experienced midfielder!
Somehow winning the Nations League wouldn't evoke the same level of emotion as winning the Euro/WC. IMHO, the NL should be used as a dress rehearsal, if you will for important games like Euros/WCs and the crunch qualifier games.
Would be better, although we could end up with Canada, Mexico or Belgium which would be manageable. In any case pots 3+4 don't look great, every team in those are beatable.
We need to get the winning mentality back in winning trophies. We've had no success for almost a decade! Remember, the Spanish were dross at last world cup, but a reset and winning the Nations league the following year seriously boosted their confidence and winning mentality.
Pretty much agree, the entire MF will have to be retooled with Kroos gone and some of our players may age out before WC26. I'm thinking of Gundogan 33),Rudiger (31), Fullkrug (31), and possibly Andrich (29). These players may be too old for WC 26.
Possibly it might be the case for Neuer, Gundogan or Gross but I doubt Andrich, Fullkrug or Rudiger will be too old, there were actually a number of players in the Euro that were mid 30's, I mean Pepe was still a key player for Portugal at 41! Hummels should have been there too and even at 35 would still have been a top performer imo. For me age doesn't matter, as long as players are still performing they should get selected. Obviously the hope is younger players emerge who outperform the older players and you get a natural evolution/refresh, not a forced one. The best squads have a balance of youth and experience.
I agree with Alex C. Remember, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci dragged Italy to their second Euro title with both of them being in their mid-thirties.
I agree that performance is the criteria, but only exceptional players can keep that up post 30s at the international level. Rudiger, maybe, but I have my doubts about Fullkrug and Aldrich.
eh, Fullkrug is same age as Morata+Kane, that's not old. Klose was 36 y/o at WC14. why do I always see people questioning Fullkrug's longevity but none do so for Morata+Kane???
I know nothing about morata, Klose was exceptional, although he was showing his age at 2014 wc. I know you hate Kane, but I would consider him a better striker than Füllkrug. However I think you could be right that he could play his current role as a joker for the NT for WC 26. As someone else pointed out its about performance.
Nagelsmann being dead set on playing Havertz is what makes me doubt Germany will win a trophy. Sure, keep Füllkrug as a joker, but why not start blooding Beier and Undav? They are proper strikers.
sure but none of the 3 mentioned are even 36 range. All 3 will be 33 y/o by WC26. You have to realize that Kane retiring for Pengland is a MUCH MUCH BIGGER DEAL for Pengland than Fullkrug for us. Especially since Pengland has no replacement as of now for Kane. hate is a strong word, I have nothing against him as a person since I've never met him but as a footy player never rated him, LOL. better than Fullkrug in what way? Club footy? not really important but even you go there though Fullkrug played major role in BVB making rare final aka once in blue moon while Kane flopped badly. Fullkrug hit post vs Real Madrid while Kane was disasterclass vs Real and was taken out of the match with ease and was nowhere near scoring. For Bayern vs Real, best players were Musiala+Pavlovic. and in NT, not sure how Kane is better, was terrible all tourney. Even his WC Golden boot is 50% of his goals=PKs. He's a PK-tap in machine, LOL. Fullkrug at WC22=2 goals Kane at WC22=2 goals-1 PK=1 goal, LOL Fullkrug at EC24=2 goals Kane at EC24=3 goals-1 PK=2 goals important to note that Kane with Pengland went further than us in both tourneys and he's XI in every game. So he's played a shit ton more than Fullkrug but shows same productivity, LOL. nevermind that Fullkrug=late bloomer who wasted years with injury issues+dumb loyalty to relegated clubs. While Kane very early on played for Spurs a club that usually played in Europe. So Kane just had more luck in his career and rarely injured so his dev wasn't as affected. While Fullkrug CL final=1st ever European season for him in his career. feel like issue with whole Kane>>>>>>>>>>Fullkrug is too many fixate on Club career and achievements and not on the only thing that matters aka NT showings. X can be better club CF doesn't mean they are better or more effective NT player than Y.
Best centre-backs in the second half of last season according to @kicker rankings pic.twitter.com/7m2RiLD07o— Bayern & Die Mannschaft (@iMiaSanMia_en) July 17, 2024 4 German CBs in top 5 Kicker rating second half of the season.
Just to be clear, I didn't mean hate in a personal sense, more in a footy sense. Perhaps dislike would have been better.
@BVBFNM @saj7866 Re: NL win as a trophy I am 80s born and from the generation that heard Beckenbauer( Waheguru bless his soul) say German football will rule the world post the re-unification. Have seen two major slumps since then. 2000s era and 2018-2022. If anything it reconfirms my belief that for a team that considers itself a football superpower, winning major tournaments is the only acceptable outcome. Case in point, in 92 losing the final to Denmark was met with harsh criticism in the press. A decade later losing the WC final to Brazil was treated as a success. Rudi Voeller played a game in 1992 and was sent home and was coach in 2002. When asked which final loss hurt more, he said something that always stuck to me. You either win a tournament or you don't. And how both hurt as much. Consider the NL. A new tournament which has low to no legacy and where a whole host of sides experiment. Its always the tier 2 teams who brag about winning Home Nations Cup, Confederations Cup etc. ! Use the NL to sharpen the knives. Not to hunt.
You just brought up something poorvi, in relation to Beckenbauer's statement in 1990 after winning the World Cup. Since reunification, Germany have 1 Euro (1996), 1 World Cup (2014) and the last ever Confederations Cup (2017), meaning that Beckenbauer's prediction was VERY wrong.