Group D: Friendlies prior to the WC

First half:

...........................Klose..........................
Podolski..................Özil...........Trochowski
.............Khedira........Schweinsteiger.........
Badstuber....Friedrich....Mertesacker....Lahm
...........................Neuer..........................


Second half:

...........................Cacau.........................
Podolski.................Özil...................Müller
.............Khedira........Schweinsteiger.........
Badstuber....Friedrich....Mertesacker....Lahm
...........................Neuer..........................

Later Marin came in for Podolski. Towards the end of the game, Löw brought all kinds of players, making it practically impossible to draw any conclusions.

Anyway, the second half was really good. Bringing Müller and Cacau made all the difference. Klose was invisible, Trochowski incapable.
Marin also brought life back to the left wing, although Poldi hasn't been bad exactly, but as always, he lost steam after halftime.

I have to say, Müller really surprised me. He was much better than I'd have expected. Cacau also made a very good case for himself, being very active, setting up the equalizer as well as initiating several good attacks. Going by today, I'd be surprised if the starting line-up against Australia wouldn't be the one from todays second half.

 

Thanks guys. It appears that Mueller CLEARLY must have at least done his duty on that side helping to turn around the match.

 

Just a quick note from Maruti who wants you to know that based on the mediocre German performance in this match the current predictions for group D are: (1) Ghana, (2-4) the rest.

 

I'm not that enamoured with Müller. He was definitely a huge improvement over Trochowski, but I don't think he stood out... Özil, Marin and Cacau did the magic. In the first half, Podolski.

In a 4-2-3-1, I would start Marin as RM with Özil and Podolski. Though it does make sense to save him for the second half when the opponent is already tired, but there's still Kroos who might start as RM. And against Australia, I believe there's a relatively high chance that we'll start with a 4-4-2 instead, Podolski left, Özil right and Cacau and Klose as strikers. Partly to give Klose another chance in a different tactical system and partly because as far as I know, Australia plays rather defensively, 2 strikers might be better to get through.

 

lol

 

LOL, you are so dumb, you see what you want to see. Poland dominated first 20-25 minutes, after that Serbia controlled the game. Polish players where going at it and giving 100% , while you could see Serbians where backing out from tackles, and they where saving them selfs. It was a bad pitch, very easy to get injured. Like I told you 100 times before you are a WUM, you are arguing with every body on all topics, I even saw a comment from you on goal.com once, it had 5+ and like 300-, you signed it Maruti, Poland, thats you right? LOL, nobody ever agrees with you!

 

Nice review of the game, I don't have to do it now. Maruti's review, when you read it, you should think Poland won 5-0,

 

Maruti are don't think you are being serious here, anyone that watched the game saw Poland cross into Serbia's half twice in the 2nd half.

 

They definitely should have won the game...

Here is a review that isn't absurdly proSerbian biased:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/468/int...-serbia-white-eagles-fail-to-conquer-poles-in

SUMMARY:
Poland dominated totally in the first half - Serbia had one chance in the whole half, while Poland had many.
The second half was more equal with chances both side of the pitch (but mainly because of Poland's makeshift defence - my input).

And here is a Polish summary (and every Polish summary of the match is similar, so I guess every Polish football expert agrees with me):
http://www.sport.pl/pilka/1,65037,7..._Serbia_znow_nie_stracili_i_nie_strzelili.htm

And yet Goal.com agrees with me! It's not my fault I'm the most sane person on this board Besides you're delusional with no-one agreeing with me. People who know anything about football normally agree with me

p.s. I don't EVER sign myself as Maruti on goal.com. So you're lying or are impersonating me.

 

Hmmm... SO I guess Poland almost scored in both chances, because Błaszczykowski and Mierzejewski both had golden opportunities to win the game in the second half.

You sir have proved who is subjective and who is objective in this discussion. Claiming that Poland crossed into the Serbian half twice is just so ridiculous that I don't know how to comment.

I have a minute by minute lowdown in Polish if you want... just to prove how absurd you are. And once again: The only reason Serbia had any penetration in the second half was because of the makeshift defence with players forced to play out of position.

 

A very confident game by the Germans and they probably justified their positions as favourites to win the group. Given that Bosnia has a much better midfield and attack than Serbia it seems like Germany shouldn't have much problems with winning that game at the World Cup. Especially since Vidic is really poor after his injury and Zigic looks a bit clueless up front.

I must however say I have no idea whatsoever what the first penalty was given for... The commentator in Poland had no idea why it was awarded and replays didn't make it any more clear. The second penalty I have no qualms about, but if someone could 'justify' the first penalty I would be much obliged.

 

It was a crazy game in that respect as Germany deserved 4 penalties...

 

I agree Germany deserved a lot of penalties, but I think that one was a mistake.

 

ROFL...and repped...am still laughing. Thanks dude.

I stayed up last night and to my surprise the reply was on TV. I have to say that as soon as Cacau was put upfront on his own the game changed and opened up for Germany. When Marin come on, that looked like the turning point.

Well said. I was very, very surprised (in a good way) at how many attacking, quick passing and probing they did once Cacau and Marin were added in with Oezil. The three attacking midfielders with Cacau up front moved together well and, more importantly, moved BACK well to defend, then moved forward again to attack. Very well orchestrated.

Agreed. However, *IF* he coud start and get us into a lead then adding Poldi later (assuming HE shows up as well) would be a nice combination. However, I feel Loew will be conservative, start Poldi and use Marin as a super sub to keep the pressure on if Poldi ends up sucking.

What bothers me is I think this formation [from yesterday] would open up ANY team though....and it clearly works. The 4-4-2 is too easy to defend against and Australia could just build a wall and hope for a counter. With the German defense being what it is, we are open to swift counters when they come.

I would not hold up goal.com as the Oracle of reason and intelligence in football. They are widely regarded as a step above (a small step above) rumor rags that report anything without proper analysis or facts.

Probably justified?

Uh, it was given for a challenge, in the area, that took down the player and not the ball. The TV replays last night (again) showed the referee about 3m away with a perfect angle to see everything. The English announcers, who question every damn call in every game they watch, said that it was clearly a PK and properly called. In fact, it was the SECOND spot kick that they took issue with because the challenge was more fair and for the ball.

You might want to brush up on these before the cup. It will help you understand why things like the first PK were called.

 

As far as I remember, Germany should have gotten 3 penalties that night: one for Cacau, 2 for Marin.
The one they got for Müller, however, was undeserved in my opinion, but I haven't found one compilation in the internet so far which shows all penalty situations to judge them again.

 

I agree with you on Mueller. It could be give but I thought the defender had position and made a challenge for the ball. Plus am not 100% sure it was inside the box as much as it might have been on the line.

Here are the replays I have found online so far...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t-Ao7HdVRc"]YouTube- Deutschland - Bosnien 3:1 | Germany - Bosnia 3:1 Friendly Match | Freundschaftsspiel[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWz9JiL9yXQ"]YouTube- Germany vs Bosnia-Herzegovina [3-1] All Goals 2010[/ame]

 

pass on this thread. cheers.

 

My god Australia is so boring to watch, I quit on this friendly match.

 

Ghana-Latvia 0-0 halftime. Ghana actually scored but referee made a mistake. Anyway, Ghana is much better, they had several good chances, most of them created after good play on right flank, plus they had something like 90% possession. Latvia doesn't exist on this match.

PS: There was a great Ghanaian three touches counter attack.

 

Australia won't upset anyone this tournament. I never understood why a group with Serbia, Australia and Ghana was called a "Group of Death", I don't understand it today, and I'm pretty confident the German tournament starts in the quarterfinals.

 

What was the mistake? Offside? Striker foul?

The shot was a thing of beauty...the goal keeping = not so much.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ZtZlds46o"]YouTube- Ghana 1-0 Latvia : Goals & Highlights 2010 ???? -??????[/ame]

I have not seen many calling it that. Which news outlets are calling this group that? Just curious because I agree with you....clearly this is not a group of death.

 

It isn´t a group of death but if Ghana was at full strength then it would be a very tough and even group. The way Ghana plays now without Essien and some other important players they seem to be set for a an early exit after the group stage. Most other groups also have one team that is pretty much marked as "victim", and while I too think that Australia is likely to miss the group stage I really wouldn´t call them a victim. They are an ok´ish team but also quite boring to watch.

 

ball hit the bar after a great shot and went behind the line but referee said that didn't passed it.

tonight: Serbia: Cameroon,