4-0 FT Klose instead of Gomez Beck instead of Schäfer Trochowski instead of Schweini That should be the changes for the Russia match. Considerably better match in the second half. Azerbaijan losing a man and getting tired helped, of course, but still.
He is a good LB, but sadly its not about him. Its about wether Lahm can play his best football on the right or not. Lahm is a much better LB than he is a RB, thats why he should stay on the left, and Beck on the right.
2nd half = dignity restored. How many chances does Gomez have left? Big start against a weak team and nothing from him. Klose looked as good as ever. Oezil & Beck impressed me.
So, should I watch it? I taped it becuase I didn't feel like watching. I just read that in 2007 against Cyprus the expensive tickets were 65€, today they were 80€. Why? The DFB is ********ing greedy. Disgusting.
Russia won their match today, so we will have the big showdown in Moscow! I actually prefer it that way. Now it's clear that we need a result there, can't afford to lose. So the team has to be fully concentrated and can't afford being sloppy. We'll see what this team is really made of.
Loew should get shot if he starts an average player like him vs Russia. It's because of his clownish and child-like performance vs Finland the match vs Russia is so important. All that mattered was the win, more goals is a bonus.
We need a Russia - Germany thread. I can't stop thinking about that game. Doesn'T help that I know so many Russian people here in Hannover. All they want to do is talk about the game.
Pretty disappointing to win 4:0 at home against a ten men Azerbaidjan. I thought Podolski and Schweinsteiger were VERY weak and didn't suport Oezil enough who had two markers near him almost all the time. I think either Lahm-Beck or Lahm-Schaefer will suffice, our problem is who will support Klose/Gomez in the new system because Schweinsteiger clearly can't do it and Podolski isn't effective enough. Very happy with Klose though.
I agree. But well, nobody gets forced to pay such amounts for games against minnows... About the game: Mission accomplished (thankfully I managed to watch only the 2nd half). Let's talk about Russia, hence. )
I don't think the Schaefer-Lahm debate is final. Schaefer is relatively new and Lahm still needs to go a full season playing right-back to find his footing. I firmly believe Lahm can become a great RB with time and that Schaefer can take the LB spot - it's all a matter of time and matches. Of course that comes with great risks but it's not as finalized as you lot are making it out to be. The same goes for the Klose-Gomez debate. The latter is an infinitely better player for the #9 role and if Germany want to play a 4-3-3, Gomez is the first name I'd put down for the starting eleven. He just needs proper support to his left and right. Neither Podolski or Schweinsteiger were good enough in the roles tonight. The idea of the two supporting wing forwards are that they will do running and cutting but are also huge goal threats. Podolski has the potential but he is simply not nurtured for the role because at Koeln, he plays a different one. And it's nto smart to put Klose to Gomez's right because you will not get the best out of him. So at this moment, Germany don't have the frontline for a 4-3-3 (until Podolski is groomed for it and Marin matures enough) so the best outlet will always be Podolski-Klose duo upfront. This is by far Loew's biggest discrepency - how to manage and accomodate the frontline to the middle and the other way around.
Clearly prefer Lahm on the left, as I wrote repeatedly in the past. And I do prefer Beck to Lahm on the right even. Schäfer had a good season for Wolfsburg, is a good player, but so far, he has yet to convince me in the national team. Beck however looked good usually whenever he played for Deutschland. So for me, this is a no brainer. Poldi started well actually, no coincidence that he won the penalty. But then, just like the whole team, he totally lost the plot. But unlike Schweinsteiger, he actually improved in the second half, not just because of the goal he scored. Schweini was probably the only player who continued to play crap in the second half. Only the first 10-15 minutes were good by him today. That's why he should lose his starting place IMHO. Trochowski should start for him instead. Westermann was surprisingly solid and sharp tonight. Yes, it was only Azerbaijan, but Merte and him looked good together for the first time I can remember. Let them gel for the Russia match, it's too late for more experiments now. And 4-0 is a good result, if you consider the other results by Azerbaijan in the qualification so far. Still, those 20-25 minutes after we took the lead in the first half need to be analysed and discussed with the team. We were simply awful. At least the players themselves agree. Löw seems to have been very angry in the half-time break. He made the right changes in the second half and apparently found the right words.
I don't see any reason why Klose should not work in a 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1. He can not only be a target man and score headers, his passing is very good, too. And he is very mobile. Gomez can play that position well also, but he should earn his starting place. Klose looked better than him in both matches we played this week, playing a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 in both.
Well both teams did their part. Now we're lucky enough to watch the biggest game in the qualifies by far. How is Germany's set piece play ? That's one of our major weaknesses.
That's the whole point, Klose is and cannot be a target man. What a 3( requires is special, that's why when you see a great one, he's one of a kind, and right now there are so few of them in world football who are world class. Klose, becuase of his character and personality, is always shy, selfless and will always want to look for people to set up. A #9 or target man's focus should be on goal at all times. His mind should be on how he will get the ball when he recieves it and get it into the back of the net by himself. Gomez of course offers off the ball movement as well and capable of scoring from outside the box which makes him so good. His hold up play is also superior to Klose's and that's huge because it will always bring players into the game. Look at how the penalty was drawn for instance. Ultimately, I wish there was a way to play both as they are both clearly Germany's best attacking players but because of what each of them requires, I don't see as imple way for Loew to make it happen.
That's a lot of speculation though, isn't it? Klose has hardly been tested properly as the only forward in a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 so far. But in those few matches he has played on that position so far, he has looked good. Klose may be a 'selfless' striker, but even that 'selfless' striker is one of Germany's all time top scorers, a golden boot winner and CL top scorer last season before Bayern were knocked out. So despite being 'selfless', he scores a bagful of goals, that's a fact. And I think you don't do him justice by saying that he can't hold up the ball well, he is more than just decent in that area, too. If there is one striker in our squad who can bring other players into the game, it's Klose. With Klose up front, it's often as if we have another 'playmaker' at the receiving end of Özil's, Ballack's, whoever's passes. That makes our game less predictable and more difficult to defend against. A good example for that was Klose's assist for Özil's goal on Saturday. Gomez is a good striker, he can play that lone striker role well indeed. But like I said, it should not be a given that he starts just because tends to do well for his clubs. He has to earn the starting place in the national team with good performances. Wanting him to start just because you're convinced that he can fill that role better in theory doesn't cut it I'm afraid. Performance is what counts.
Goals: 1-0 Ballack (pen): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQTZ9NP50I0"]YouTube - 1:0 Deutschland Vs. Aserbaidschan Elfmeter von Michael Ballack[/ame] 2-0 Klose: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUc5g3hNO3I"]YouTube - 2:0 Deutschland gegen Aserbaidschan Miroslav Klose WM Quali[/ame] 3-0 Klose: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OczOYBBgoDo"]YouTube - 3:0 Deutschland gegen Aserbaidschan Miroslav Klose WM-Quali[/ame] 4-0 Podolski: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpzbm22eTUo"]YouTube - 4:0 Deutschland gegen Aserbaidschan Podolski[/ame]
I don't see how. It's simply based on player evaluation and ability. Both have been around enough to make known what kind of players they are. How is this relevant to the context of the conversation? What he has achieved in the past is not exclusive to what he has to achieve now, with a different team to boot. First of all, I didn't say he can't hold up the ball well. Go back and reread my post. I said that Gomez's hold up play is better - that's a fact. You can certainly make arguments for the strength of both players. That's obvious, but tactically for me it doesn't make sense to play Klose as the target man, and in past circumstances when he's been under similar pressure, he's not been able to perform, except in his peak years but he's past those now. 2005/2006 are different stories than 2009/2010. Gomez is the focal point of a team, and he's not a static player who will just wait for the ball, he can play on the ball fairly well, but I feel his inclusion, given the right tactical changes around him can make the team more unpredictable than with Klose, by virtue of giving the creative players a target. Again, I've spoken about the two wing forwards along Gomez. That's a very important factor. Klose would not prefer leading the line Gomez does and in a 4-3-3, he would always be more prone to drfting into the wing forward role than the target man role. I don't know what you're reading, but you've been consistently miscontruing my posts. I am in agreeance that one has to earn it, but I am speaking in the context of the overall tactical change Loew is moving towards the 4-3-3. And it's not theory for your information. It's pure observational assessment. Gomez is a target man that brings the characteristics of one, Klose doesn't. I don't know what you can possibly see different.
Klose not being able to fill the target man role is speculation on your side, because you simply lack 'evidence' to back it up. Evaluating a player's abilities is fine, but speculating what a player supposedly can't do isn't, if there is simply not enough hard evidence, means matches of him playing in that role, to back that up. Especially when he actually just had a few good matches on that position, in 2009 and not 2005 I might add, it's kinda bizarre to argue that he can't do something when you can see with your very own eyes that he can. What was Klose lacking today or on Saturday as a target man that Gomez could have (or did) provide(d)? Like I said, Mario Gomez can be effective in the target man role, I never said otherwise. He has to earn his starting place with performances. But just because Gomez can play that role well, it doesn't mean that others can't, and he somehow is the only option we have for that position. You have to evaluate things objectively, look at the hard facts, not theoretical advantages a player might have over the other.
I hope Podolski starts as a LW vs Russia, either Gomez or Klose will do as both are quality as the main striker. Benching Schweini is something I'll let Loew decide, though I think it's best to put him in midfield and start Marin or even Trochowski. I prefer Marin though.