klinsmann calls Nowotny to fitness test

I don't think there is a question about who is better between Woerns and Novotny, Woerns is still one of the best man markers around. And it very much is personal, being that he ousted Woerns and isn't willing to call him up when he is the better choice over Novotny.

 

Calling up Nowotny would be a mistake. He's freakin done. I don't care what "LebenslangGruenWeiss" had to say about Woerns. Check the stats. Right now the best German central defender is named Christian Woerns.

A$$hole or not, personal issues or not, you take the best. Lothar Mattheaus was an a$$hole too and no one complained about him.

That is, except for 2002 when an old a$$hole Mattheaus was forced on the rest of the team.

And that's another thing different with Woerns. Woerns' problems are not with the rest of the team. Woerns problems are with the coach.

Woerns is actually popular with the other players.

And before you say a player who doesn't get along with a coach would hurt the team, as I recall, Matthias Sammer was none too fond of Berti Vogts, but that didn't stop them from winning Euro 96, did it??

I can't help it that some fans of other teams choose not to like Christian Woerns. Yeah, he was wrong for what he did against, Kiessling, but let he who is without sin..........

Dude, you are usually so much more level headed. I rail against players I don't like too, but when I choose to condemn a player like you did, I don't need anyone else's opinion to do it. Especially one that was so blatantly laced with personal hatred.

Woerns is a dead issue anyhow. Klinsmann isn't taking him and I think he's justified in not doing so. I think he's wrong, but he's the boss.

My opinion on possibly taking Nowotny is this:

Take Nowotny and Germany will be sorry. And the central defense will be even sorrier than it is now.

 

Huth will be sent home. He doesn't play for his team and he's been crap in his Germany appearances too. Huth doesn't deserve to go to the World Cup.

 

A voice of reason!!

Some just can't get past the hate......

 

Because the almighty Bayern wants it to happen.......

 

Not in this case. Scholl still hasn't passed others who are already in the national team set up.

With this coach, you don't get special points because you play for Bayern Muenchen. That's how it was in the past, but there's a new sheriff in town.

Welcome to the new age of the German National team. Where you are judged fairly no matter what Bundesliga shirt you wear.

 

If that was the case, Malik Fathi and Sebastian Kehl and Frank Fahrenhorst would have been called up a long time ago and Christoph Metzelder, Robert Huth and Lukas Podolski would have been dropped a long time ago.

It is a new sheriff in town yes, but being judged fairly? I don't think so. IIRC, Christian Woerns was not judged too fairly, am I not correct?

 

As far as your first paragraph goes, no, Metzelder, Huth and Podolski had the luxury of already being in the National Team setup. I didn't agree with keeping Metzelder or Huth in the team in front of Woerns, but again, that was an intestinal fortitude issue on the part of the coach.

Kehl got his chance, didn't he? YES!

Dude, don't even come at me with Fathi. I don't play the "favorites" game and that's what you're doing there. Besides, doesn't he play U-21?? That would be like me calling for Odonkor to be called up, but I know he's not ready!

I know you love him, but neither is Fathi.......


As far as how Woerns was judged, I don't think Woerns was "judged", Woerns was treated dishonestly and when he erupted, everyone took that opportunity to throw even more dirt on him.

Everyone has their version of what happened. I know Woerns' side. Klinsi didn't totally deny any of it.

Enough said for me.

However, Klinsmann is the boss and if he doesn't want to take Woerns, nobody can make him.

Besides, if there wasn't a new sheriff in town and people weren't being judged fairly, wouldn't Oliver Kahn still be #1???

Like I said, I don't play favorites, I don't think Klinsi does either.......

 

Ok maybe I was playing favorites, but if I'd have a defense who sucks ass like ours does, I'd be more comfortable to have Fathi in the bench rather than Jansen, but thats my person opinion.

And what "luxury" are you talking about? Kuranyi has been axed for the last friendly, he's DEFINITELY part of the NT setup. And when Klinsi came to power, Hamann and Woerns had the "luxury" of being on the NT setup. What did that get them? The axe.

IMO, no one has a "Luxury" of being on the NT setup. The only thing that is certain is that Klinsi will favor the young guns over the experienced hands.

I guess I'll agree here. It was a bad situation that needed a heavy boot to stamp it out. Klinsi showed no mercy here, rather than let it sit and gather intensity (like the gk situation, but that is a different situation, this was a situation that could have really undermined the position of the coach and maybe some of the team).

 

Dude, the "luxury" doesn't mean they stay on the team no matter what. It means it's just a bit harder to get them off the team.

Kuranyi should have been off the team a LONG TIME AGO, don't you agree??

Yet, it took this long. That's the "luxury".

You mentioned Podolski before. He was in s#it form for most of the season, now, he's looking like "Prince Poldi" again. Klinsi is justified in sticking with him. That's the "luxury".....

And if his second half appearance in last Saturday's match is any indication, Klinsi might get rewarded for sticking with Metzelder too.

I didn't agree with it, but Klinsi may have been right......

A situation that could have been avoided if the coach had grabbed his nuts and told the player he wasn't going to use him from the start. My opinion is that Klinsmann was dishonest with Woerns even if only partially. Klinsmann's mistake was in not dealing with Woerns man-to-man. The two were ex-teammates, Klinsi could have shown that much respect to a veteran player.

And Woerns f'ed up by exploding the way he did. Woerns should have kept his cool and waited until he got Klinsi himself. He shouldn't have HAD to do that, but that's what he should have done. I can sympathize with him and understand why he exploded, but in the end, he was still wrong.

 

I actually, for one, DON'T AGREE! I think Kuranyi is still (unfortunately) one of our best strikers and capable of scoring for the NT! I agree on the rest, but only in the pretext that Podolski is young and has a lot of hype and that Metzelder is there because of a real lack of defensive options.

Well whats done is done. I'm not terribly thrilled about how it ended, but its over and we can move on.

 

Kuranyi can't hit an open f#cking net for his club these days, what makes you think he can score for the NT??

Exactly. You see how angry I was about it when it first happened, but I got over it and moved on. Klinsi and Woerns should do the same.

I will say that I think calling up Nowotny instead of Woerns is a tragedy.

But Woerns made his own bed. Now he has to lie in it.

 

And all our strikers below him can? He's still our only big threat as an out-and-out striker. Neuville and Asamoah? Supporting Strikers. Ditto for Thurk. Kiessling? Vittek is taking all his goals, which I think tells me something about Kiessling and Vittek's mentality.

Face it, Kuranyi is sucking now, but DO WE HAVE BETTER OPTIONS IN THE BACKUP STRIKER ROLE??

 

calling up nowotny is a big mistake... the guy has been a disaster when playing for germany in every international tournament...

as far as scholl goes, i dunno wanna post in the other thread cos im still getting used to the slower net connection, but does anybody know where trochowski stands in all this? is he in the 35 man squad? i would not at all feel aggrieved if klinsi would ignore scholls possible impact and go for trochowski to bring on some creativity and unpredictability to unsettle the opponents...

im quite a fan of piotr and feel he deserves a spot on this world cup roster as deislers replacement...

 

I'd like to see Piotr as well, Scholl too but I doubt Klinsman will make the right decision and go with them.

Doesn't Trochowski usually play in the center for HSV?

 

Leverkusen Without Nowotny:-

Match Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
22 6 7 9 35 37 -2 25

GF/Match GA/Match GD/Match Points/Match Position
1.59 1.68 -0.09 1.14 10

Leverkusen With Nowotny:-

Match Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points
9 7 1 1 20 7 13 22

GF/Match GA/Match GD/Match Points/Match Position
2.22 0.78 1.44 2.44 5

Team Improvement (+) since Nowotny returned from injuries:

GF/Match GA/Match GD/Match Points/Match Position
+0.63 +0.90 +1.54 +1.31 +5

BvB and Woerns:

Match Win Draw Loss GF GA GD Points

29 9 10 10 37 37 0 37

GF/Match GA/Match GD/Match Points/Match Position

1.28 1.28 0.00 1.28 7

Nowotny (Leverkusen) over Woerns (BvB):

GF/Match GA/Match GD/Match Points/Match Position
+0.95 +0.50 +1.44 +1.17 +2


Levekusen now ranks no. 5. For some reasons explanable or not explanable by the stat above, Levekusen is on the rise and has surpassed BvB since Nowotny returned from injuries.

Congrats Nowotny on passing the fitness test. Keep fit and maintain the good forms in the World Cup!

Sorry Woerns, do not give up. The door may not be closed yet!

 

i just watched the bundesliga highights show this morning and although leverkusen kept a clean sheet, only butt can take any credit for this from the leverkusen team...

i had my eyes on nowotny and lauth in particular in the match and the ball just doesnt seem to be falling for lauth this season - hes clearly short on confidence, while nowotny - gawd - the less said the better!!! he was taken to the cleaners repeatedly by trochowski, lauth, ailton and barbarez... i have no idea how anybody could hail his performance against hamburg on sunday... his positioning was shyte as well, which is something one would normally depend on from an experienced defender... he lost key aerial battles with barbarez and couldnt commit to covering the free man or zonal marking...

absolutely clueless... if this guy plays for germany at the world cup, i will be having palpitations for all three matches!!!

 

The best way to watch a game is to watch the full.

Anyone who has his/her opinion of Woern's performance in two matches:
Against Bremen where BvB lost 2:3 away and Woerns got a score of 4.5
Against Lautern where BvB drew 3:3 away and Woerns got a 5.

Kicker gave Woerns very low scores in the two matches while Nowotny got a 3.5 in the Hamburg match despite the HIGHLIGHTS (against Hamburg) which always emphasize the goal mouth chances and thus customarily make the defenders look bad.

If I could have a chance to watch Woern's above matches, I could see if the disastrous performance of Woerns in the matches were fairly rated by Kicker.

 

You talk about those other guys as if they aren't capable.

Neuville scored in his last appearance for the national team. Thurk might just need a chance.

You can't just put a player in because of his reputation. If he isn't scoring, he'll be a liability!

You mentioned Thurk and Neuville. At least they are doing some scoring. Schalke fans are ready to hang Kuranyi.

Yeah, there are other f#cking options!

 

And the best way to judge these players is by SEASON performance and not just manipulated numbers.

I can find numbers to tell you the f#cking sky is black, doesn't make it so.

Let's see here though. The most respected football publication in all of Germany says the best GERMAN defender in the Bundesliga is CHRISTIAN WOERNS.

Do I believe you or do I believe them??

Not a hard choice. You can stick it.

 

pfffffffffft

Neuville plays a different game than Kuranyi. Kuranyi's business is to be in the box and get "ugly" goals if you will...and for the most part, he gets it done. What were Schalke fans expecting? Him to get 20 goals? No...they got exactly the player he was in Stuttgart; a junk goal scorer. But every team needs a player who can do this. I think Kuranyi still can. Neuville is not that type of player. Thurk is more of like a Mintal type player, coming from a more attacking mf role.

Kuranyi is just in a bad patch of form. We all know what he can do, and he will do well IMO.

 

Yeap, Kuranyi can still do it.

 

He's in a "bad patch of form" at the wrong time of the year. And, as Stuttgart fans will remember, when they need him most, he's usually in a "bad patch of form".

You're right, he's a junk goal scorer. And he scores them when he's most relaxed or against inferior competition.

You don't take someone to the World Cup who's in a "bad patch of form". You don't know that they will come out of it, but you sure as hell know they are in it.

You aren't building a team for an entire season, you are builiding one for a tournament. You take the players in your setup who are in the best form.

Right now, right before the tourney, that just isn't Kevin Kuranyi........

 

Now I know I'm right.......

 

I didn't force down your throat to swallow my analysis, footy. You are entitled to what you believe and I am entitled to mine.