Voss-Tecklenburg: I still consider Germany to be among the world’s best https://www.fifa.com/womens-football/news/mvt-interview-3068787 Martina Voss-Tecklenburg satisfied with Germany’s Algarve Cup performance Germany coach speaks about her team and changing face of women's football "The US will have to prove themselves over the next few years" Where is Germany’s women’s national team heading? This is a question that many fans will certainly have asked themselves after the side’s quarter-final exit from the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™. While Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side were notable by their absence from last spring’s international tournaments, they knew how to impress as they took part in this year’s Algarve Cup for the first time in five years. Their head coach spoke to FIFA.com about the upheaval within the team, changes in women’s football and how the top of the game is becoming increasingly competitive. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg: Are you satisfied with your team’s performance at the Algarve Cup? FIFA.com: Although we only ended up playing two matches, we are very satisfied with the Algarve Cup for various reasons. We had perfect conditions, a wonderful hotel and fantastic training facilities. The matches against Sweden and Norway were against opponents who aren’t exactly a long way down the world rankings. The fact that we were able to use all of our players except one goalkeeper helped to keep both the team and the coaching staff happy. After not seeing each other for five months, we found our game relatively quickly and are keen to reinforce and refine it for the future. Although Germany are still second in the world rankings, the gaps between teams are getting smaller. Critics claim that Germany have lost touch. Is that really the case? That’s a legitimate question and it’s important to answer it objectively. If you’re second in the world rankings, you can’t say that Germany has fallen off the pace. We deliberately shook up the personnel before the World Cup, and we also had a new coaching team that only had five months to coordinate with each other before the World Cup. Although that wasn’t easy, we reached the quarter-finals and achieved very satisfactory results before that. We played very good football at times, introduced some talented youngsters and ultimately lost one very tight match 2-1. We just have to admit that our opponents were also really, really good that day. Where do Germany stand within women’s football? I still consider us to be among the world’s best, which means I also think we’re among the best in Europe. However, I can also see – and I feel pretty proud about this – that international women’s football has come so far. It will become much harder for Germany and other countries to win trophies. USA might still be one exception to this rule, but even they will have to prove whether they can handle radical change in the next few years. Before long they will lose many outstanding players as a truly remarkable generation call time on their careers. It will be exciting to see how USA will move forward. I see the world’s top teams moving closer together. We always wanted that to happen in international women’s football. The standard of play at the World Cup completely reflected this. You mentioned the upheaval within the team. Would you say that Germany has so much talent that as soon as one player hangs up their boots, another moves up to replace them? It would be fantastic if a talented youngster could replace a player at the end of their career like-for-like, but that isn’t realistic. The experience of established players is particularly obvious at tournaments. We simply didn’t have that experience at the last World Cup; in fact, we had 15 players making their debut in the competition, and that showed in the team’s processes. I think we have great prospects for the next EUROs and World Cup – if we can keep the team together the way it has now crystallised. We also need experienced players like Alex Popp, Dzsenifer Marozsan, Melanie Leupolz and Sara Dabritz, who are now stepping up and taking on responsibilities they didn’t have to worry about before. We have truly talented players, but they have to grow into their responsibilities carefully. That can only happen if we can play as many tournaments as possible. Being very well placed in terms of youth development helps us. It will be a little more difficult this year, but no matter what happens, we will accept the situation and use it to help our development. Hear that? Germany believes they are one of the world's best. Also claiming we will lose our best as players retired. Have she factored in that she will lose some of her best players as well? Like for example Dzsenifer Marozsan. And we haven't even mentioned the younger players in the USWNT that will be around or future players that are coming in to keep our number 1 spot.
Maro is 27 years old. The other experienced players mentioned: Popp (28),Leupolz (25) and Däbritz (25). How old are the experienced US players? Tokyo 2020/2021/2022 might be their last big tournament.
Factoring the oldest players Carli Lloyd-37 Ali Krieger-35 Becky Sauerbrunn-34 Meghan Rapinoe-34 Ashlynn Harris-34 Alex Long-32 Jessica McDonald-32 Alyssa Naeher-31 Tobin Heath-31 Kelley O'Hara-31 Christen Press-31 Alex Morgan-30 Casey Short-29 Adrianna Franch-29 Julie Ertz-27 Crystal Dunn-27 Sam Mewis-27 Morgan Brian-27 Abby Dahlkemper-26 Lynn Williams-26 Emily Sonnet-26 Lindsay Horan-25 Rose Lavelle-24 Andi Sullivan-24 Mallory Pugh-21 Tierna Davidson-21 Sophia Smith-19 I would say Meghan Rapinoe and those above her would probably stop playing for the USWNT,either retired or may still play for NWSL. We have some former players of USWNT that still plays for NWSL. But won't be in their prime. But as you can see, short of serious injuries, we still retain some very top players.
I don't see the top 6-7 making the 2023 WWC. I do see some young and exciting talent from the U-20 group joining the senior squad. Not to mention some really good players from the NWSL who could/should make a few rosters.
well their ranked #2 in the world & for good reason; they've only lost 1 game in two years/they've beaten #3 Holland, #4 France & #5 Sweden in the last game that they've met those teams. Their deep; their B squad demolished Norway's A's a few weeks back/last year their youth B squad lost a close game in the u19 Euro finals to France's A listers. but whats holding them back; low crowds at both club & NT games to go along with low pay in the fraulein Bundesliga/their FED's odd behavior to hire a coach with ZERO experience in Stefi Jones. Then after the 2017 Euro & 2018 SBC debacles, switched to an able coach named Horst H, who led them unbeaten for an year but decided a woso WC wasn't worth his time or effort & so in a rush they hired MVT, but who somwhow mistakenly thought the WC was some kinda experientmental tournament with the way she continuously switched players & tactics/ MVT has improved since, but got the feeling she's more than happy that the Euros got posponed another year. This will give her more time to cultivate a host of promising teens into potential superstars. That doesn't always plan out(aka Jill Ellis with Mallory Pugh). But might not have a choice as the experts of the Guardian top 100 only chose 6 Germans vs 19 American players in last year's poll
Some question marks about long term future in that group, but that's a fair number of elite outfield players 27 and younger. (I haven't given up on Brian, but I left her out of the list. Franch is 29, but 29 is arguably still a prime age for keepers. For that matter, Naeher's not that old either.)
The problem for the USA is not about the age of the players is about their lack of football culture. Now that big european clubs begin to take woso seriously, the formation quality in Europe will increase a lot, based on philosophies, knowledge, staff etc. experienced from decades with men and unknown to Americans.
I disagree. Football/soccer may not be our number 1 sport in our culture but its very popular and have very high attendance by girls playing soccer for their club or school. The USWNT didn't become number 1 by fluke for many years. And considering that USWNT staff and players have experiences playing overseas learning from the Europeans, they can pass on that knowledge to the younger players to keep them on top. USWNT takes it very seriously.
I completely agree, plus might add; we got finally a very steady league with the NWSL that’s still low pay but an minimum guaranteed, $20K for 7 month season(plus somewhat room & board). So at least all the league teams are pro compare that to the French league, where they got two super rich clubs(Lyon & PSG) two somewhat pro(Montpelier & Bordeaux) & 8 primarily amateur clubs, who’s only way to survive is to bunker when playing the stronger teams, thus depriving the league of much competitive games. Even if the amateur clubs were able to produce a promising player through their youth system, they’ll eventually will get scooped up by the richer ones. And then the ironic thing is that player’s talents will get waisted or complacent on a squad like Lyon which has almost no competition for most of the season. Now if only their woso league(we’re NOT talking about broso here)2 would pay pro salaries from top to bottom, then the one French poster’s vision might come true
USWNT became number 1 thanks to its physical superiority. The Americans benefited of sport facilities that others women players in the world couldn't even have in dreams. But, like almost every woso teams, it's still a very poor side technically and tactically speaking. It's just impossible for the Americans to rise their formation level to those of institutions like Barcelona or Madrid. You really underestimate the amount of knowledge needed to produce great players and style of play. It's a very long and expansive investment.
The French League/NT is a very poor example. It's managed by people who absolutely don't care about woso, their only goal it's to find job for their incompetent friends. But Spain and England have serious ambitions.
I wonder if the US's strength is that they have so many girls/women to choose from. At a high level every player has great skills - but the US is able to be more selective and select or not select players based on other qualities than skill - such as leadership skills, mental strength, intelligence, team player, problem solver, etc. ` I am always amazed how confident, poised and articulate the US WNT players are when they speak in interviews.
This may be right. But ... I have been seeing comments like this for well on 10 years now, a lot from USA fans. In the meantime, the US women have won 2 World Cups, the most recent one more decisively than the previous one. If the comment is right, however, it seems like it may be a long time before what the comment describes is enough to turn the tables to what we see on the men's side. And, perhaps the comment misses something ... to paraphrase: The problem for Europe is not about football philosophies, knowledge, staff, and experience from decades with men and unknown to Americans. It is about what's lacking in their cultural attitudes towards women. I do not mean this in jest or as an insult, but as an observation. The question may become, Which is going to get remedied faster? USA's deficiencies in soccer human infrastructure and sophistication or Europe's deficiencies in cultural attitudes towards women in sports like football (which is not to excuse the USA's deficiencies in that area, but only to note that Europe's are orders of magnitudes greater).
Its not just about physical superiority, otherwise it would be something the US mens team had depend on and is not winning. The women has combine both physical, technical and tactical. Are they the best at it with technical and tactical, not really, but its enough to stay up there. And you have the new coach who understands the European side of tactical decisions. And women do have access to sport facilities or even a gym. Its no excuse to not be in top shape considering many of the world players play for their clubs like in NWSL that have such facilities.
I think we have about 2 million girls playing, either for clubs or for their school. In Europe they don't have college soccer. Or a high school version. However, I read increased in girls participating in soccer for clubs in England but there are lack of coaches.
https://www.sportschau.de/fussball/...-frauen-kroenen-sich-gegen-norwegen--100.html When Germany were a great side
I think Germany have a solid base in term of playing women, I believe about 1M players if not more. Their youth NT pathway is very solid from the U15 to the seniors. The conveyor belt is there for sure. The only question mark for me is are they developing enough players who have the mental strength and strong personality to be a top international player.
remember watching this, but more of an mixed bag, Norway beat Germany earlier in group play, could of won this game as well if they didn't flop the two PKs given to them/Norway's two queen's, Ada & Caro, all ready stood out(above most of the rest of Euro players). The semi vs Sweden was more memorable, but only cuz Swedish attackers breached their defense several times, but shockingly couldnt score 1v1 vs Angerer(same thing in group play vs Manon Melis & NED) So even though the excitement was there, the quality wasn't up to par, and we've seen since the rise of stronger Euro teams in Holland, England & France. there's now more way potential in Germany as they showed just a few weeks ago, MVT played two completely different lineups when they beat Sweden & Norway in the Algarve Cup. Wasn't too impressed with Sweden/1-0 with, but then MVT's so called B players, squashed Norway in the next game. Amazingly more so cuz the weakish mids of Hegering, Rauch & Lohmann(MTV seemingly going now with an 4-3-3) but Dallmann, Schuller & JoJo really step up. Re watching the 1st half, Lea burns a half dozens times the what should be a strong defence of Mjelde, Thorisdottir & Engen(so at least MVT implated some long ball, countering in her tactics). lil Leo does well too(though not too inspring so far at her Arsenal career) but the other FB, another MVT 'mutant' teen creation named Kleineheme(she's way more athletic) is where I think Germany's heading, and yet with such a deep NT squad, MVT has yet to tap into the potential of the Hoffenheim club players , who's currently battling in Bayern Munich for 2nd place in the Bundi(one point seperated them) since it wasn't on German TV, it;s hard to watch a replay of the Norway/Algarve game, but here is what you got to do; first got the Hola Hola Free VPN - Unblock Any Website go to youtube, click on the Hola pin to the German flag, then come back here, switch again to German flag & click YouTube then of course, after viewing switch back to you own national flag
Well, the Euro 2013 team had the legendary midfield duo Kessler/Gössling... such a pity that Kessler's injuries forced her to retire. And she was deeply missed in Canada two years later And Germany had a proper 9 then in Celia Sasic and a GOAT in Angerer. Say what you want about Krahn/Bartusiak but it's the last proper CB pairing Germany had ... amplified by the mess which was Peter/Henning lol No wonder that Germany's struggled given the players that have retired over the years. MVT's decision to force Oberdorf into a CB role is still baffling with me considering that she's got potential to absolutely dominate the German midfield in the future
Players retiring does not equal teams getting worse. In fact, sometimes, it means teams get better. I used to believe that a team could not be in the elite of world soccer without a top goalkeeper but the US' success recently has disproved that. The US has been without a top goalkeeper ever since Solo's bad behavior forced her out and the US has performed fairly well. I have now decided that "greatness" in any one position, or even two, three or more is not what really matters. It seems that there are three main pieces that make a team great: 1. Leadership - There must be respected leaders on the team and they must have full respect from virtually all of the other team members. 2. Great interaction - The team must have mutual respect for each other and they must want all the other players to succeed. 3. At least a few truly great players - As I have quoted before - “A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing.” – Bill Shankly Given those criteria there is no reason that Germany could not win any given future WWC or any other major competition. All that has to happen is that someone puts the pieces together since all the pieces are available in German Women's football. Of course the same can be said for most of the current top 10-15 women's teams in the world. It is not about having the pieces but it is about putting the machine together so the machine functions at its top potential. BTW: To see how to really screw up the assembly of the pieces just look at the US' men's team. There are plenty of parts to make a top 10 team but they are assembled to keep them in the third level or worse.
10 years ago Manchester United didn't have a women team, Real Madrid probably didn't even know that women could play football. In France, where I live, girls playing football was considered an eccentricity of the over-progressives northern countries (Germany and Sweden mainly) and Aulas, the president of OL, was mocked because he believed in. What I mean is that in 10 years Europe has come a long way, even if it's not clearly visible from the US. The basic difference between then and now, is the implication of the big clubs. For Barcelona, Madrid, Chelsea, City, Arsenal etc. who are always looking for more money, woso is now an entire new market just waiting to be exploited. Ballon d'Or has been expanded to women, some women players begin to be known worldwide and to fill stadiums (no exaggeration but 60 000 fans for a club woso match in Spain, I never thought I’d see that in my lifetime ). When the big guys of european football invest in something it's not for joking, no doubt about that.
Totally agree, Oberdorf is too young to handle CB, but MVT is determined to go with the 4-3-3 instead of the traditional 2 DM’s. Based on the lineups vs the higher ranked English & Swedes, this would be her starters(though Dabritz is currently out with an ACL). GK....... .............Frohms Hendrich....Doursoon...Oberdorf...Gwinn .....Marozsan.....Magull.......Dabritz .....Huth..............Popp........Buhl with just 3 subs allowed, this crowds out Leupolz, Dallmann, Simon, Schuller, Elsig, Maier along with her personal faves; Hegering, Knaak, Starke or the resurrected careers of Bremer & Petermann who are actually having great seasons at Man City & Montpellier. Plus still hasn’t tapped into the Hoffenheim club(who got one player who reminds me of all things, Alex Morgan!). So MVT in one hand, taking the team in the right direction with better, faster tactics, but not choosing the right choices to start or play, could kill her in the end(which is what exactly happened in that fateful encounter at WC quarter finals)