öw Learn From His Bad Habits?

I am glad we lost. There I said it.

Fabio Capello showed up with an energetic and compact English team. Jogi Löw on the other hand came down with a first-half Germany display reminiscent of the 1-2 loss to Croatia. We were often unmotivated and at times outplayed. Some may say that this was the German B-Team, but without Michael Ballack and Phillip Lahm what are we left with besides the 1-2 scoreline? On the bright side, the loss gives Jogi some things to consider before he experiments with bad habits again.

Rene Adler had an unlucky night, but was squarely at fault for the opener. Tim Wiese could do no worse and it was reassuring to see that he was ready when called upon. In the end though, neither keeper looked extremely comfortable, giving credence to those who want to see Manuel Neuer in goal sooner rather than later. The upshot is that we have plenty of talent in the goalkeeping department to sort through… unlike England.

If Adler was culpable for the first goal then Heiko Westermann was sure to blame for the second. Once again he was beaten in central defense; once again this directly resulted in a goal. Maybe shifting him to the wing is a better idea, where his mistakes would be less costly. After all, his danger to the German team is proportional to how far he is from the German goal. Speaking of right-back, Arne Friedrich showed once again how slow yet lucky he is. More than once he was saved by a well-positioned Per Mertesacker. One wonders if a swap of Friedrich and Westermann would do the trick?

On the opposite flank Marvin Compper had a relatively quiet debut. He was faultless, but then again he was no Phillip Lahm. Compper might just make a fine center-back, but as for the backup left-back position it should now belong to Marcel Schäfer. In the few minutes he was on, Schäfer’s pace and play could have been easily mistaken for Lahm’s. Perhaps Jogi will be wise enough to start him next time instead of waiting till the end.

The same can be said for Marko Marin. His introduction provided an attacking midfielder other than Piotr Trochowski for the English defense to worry about. Marin almost dribbled through once, but his share of the ball was affected by Bastian Schweinsteiger’s insistence to stay around the flanks. Although this tactic might work with Ballack in central midfield, it sure did not work with the black-hole pairing of Simon Rolfes and Jermaine Jones. Ballack and his buddy Torsten Frings must be sharing a good laugh now as neither Rolfes nor Jones managed to redeem their starting positions. To be fair the two headless wonders were intended as defensive midfielders and for the most part acted as such, but even Thomas Hitzlsperger would have been a better playmaker than either of them. (A conclusion that one has to give Jogi some credit for.) Thus, it was no surprise that Germany’s strikers were devoid of service for most of the game.

Indeed, we had a classically muted Miroslav Klose and a Mario Gomez who still looks unsure of himself for whatever reason. Luckily Scott Carson and John Terry combined to give half-time substitute Patrick Helmes his first international goal. Credit must be given to Helmes, as one can’t help but imagine what Gomez would have done in Helmes’ stead. Most likely Gomez (with the self-doubt evident on his perplexed face) would not have bothered to trouble Carson. Even if he had, Gomez probably would have missed a completely open goal and then just stare at the rebound off the post. To be fair, Lukas Podolski came on and did not do much either. Thus, the only thing that is certain besides Gomez’s sad international form is that Helmes has just moved up the striker pecking order.

All of this is speculation of course because we really do not know what on earth Jogi Löw is thinking (or doing). What could possibly have motivated him to start with such a conservative lineup? Arguably, it’s the same thing that makes him nominate Clemens Fritz time and defensive failure again. It’s needless to say that the result would have been different if Jogi started anything resembling the lineup he ended up with. (For one thing your girlfriend who supports England would not be rubbing the result in your face.)

If Jogi has learned anything tonight, it is that being half awake half the time will not win you a World Cup. It can’t even win you a friendly at home to a England C-Team.

Squad Lists for the Friendlies against Italy and England

The last match of the year is approaching and the squad lists for U21 and senior level have just been released:

U21 (vs Italy, 18.11.2008 in Osnabrück)
Goalkeepers: Florian Fromlowitz (Hannover 96), Manuel Neuer (Schalke), Tobias Sippel (1. FC Kaiserslautern)

Defenders: Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim), Jerome Boateng (Hamburger SV), Sebastian Boenisch (Werder Bremen), Niko Bungert (FSV Mainz 05), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke), Daniel Schwaab (SC Freiburg)

Midfielders: Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Marc Andre Kruska (Borussia Dortmund), Mesut Özil (Werder Bremen), Eugen Polanski (FC Getafe)

Forwards: Ashkan Dejagah (VfL Wolfsburg), Daniel Halfar (Arminia Bielefeld), Rouwen Hennings (FC St. Pauli), Aaron Hunt (Werder Bremen), Kevin Schindler (Hansa Rostock)

Senior (vs England, 19.11.2008 in Berlin)
Goalkeepers: Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)

Defenders: Marvin Compper (Hoffenheim), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Andreas Hinkel (Celtic), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Marcel Schaefer (Wolfsburg), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart), Heiko Westermann (Schalke)

Midfielders: Thomas Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Marko Marin (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV), Tobias Weis (Hoffenheim)

Forwards: Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Patrick Helmes (Bayer Leverkusen), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich)

Conclusions
You just can’t escape the all singing, dancing and scoring space monkeys from Hoffenheim at the moment. Jogi Löw decided to invite two Hoffenheim players to the senior squad and former Stuttgart player Andreas Beck now represents Hoffenheim on U21 level as well. I personally find the nomination of Weis and Compper quite premature though. Hoffenheim certainly have some interesting young players, but does that justify rushing them into the senior squad after they’ve just played one third of a Bundesliga season? Especially if you compare them with some established players from the U21 line up. Well, Löw definitely didn’t rush any Karlsruhe players into the team last winter, when Karlsruhe were the big surprise package… Though, maybe there is some kind of coordinated effort between the U21 and senior team going on. The U21 team will compete in the European Championships next year, so maybe they want to keep the team together. Both Weis and Compper are too old to play on U21 level.

Oh yes, and no Ballack (injured) and Frings (messy relationship with Löw) means more football and less gossip ahead of, during and after the game.

It won’t be the most glamorous glamour friendly between England and Germany I guess.

Wonder Goal Completes Good Foundations

Piotr Trochowski scored his first international goal to give Germany a deserved 1-0 win over Wales in this past week’s important WC 2010 qualifier. The goal broke through an otherwise compact Welsh defensive back-line consisting often at times of the entire Welsh team. Germany was frustrated to a number of long and ultimately wide attempts (and even more wasted and deflected chances) before the tournament-worthy winning goal brought a collective sigh of relief to the sold-out crowd at Möchengladbach. In fact the goal might just have given Germany the lead of UEFA Group 4 for good.

Indeed Germany ends the year with a good foundation for 2009 and the rest of the qualification campaign.

With the strong international debut of Rene Adler, Germany has a worthy No. 1 keeper for 2010. (Oliver Kahn thinks so.) In midfield Trochowski has finally lived up to his potential with a string of solid performances and has undoubtedly solidified his standing as a permanent fixture in the Nationalelf. Bastian Schweinsteiger is also continuing his motivated contributions demonstrated by his overall world-class interplay, an excellent assist against Russia, and his constant danger against Wales. Not to be outdone, Michael Ballack has returned from injury (and is injured again) to demonstrate his continued importance to the team. With the blood-letting in attack, Germany has come closer to resolving its striker problems. A strong showing from both Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose against Russia was complemented with promising signs from Mario Gomez and Patrick Helmes. In defense Per Mertesacker, who provided a crucial block against Wales, is closer to regaining his full form and Phillip Lahm is continuing to show his attacking prowess and defensive awareness down the flanks.

Of course some problems persist and must be corrected before Germany is ready for 2010, and realistically automatic qualification.

First, the headaches in defense continue. Lahm is prone to the odd and costly mistake, but in reality he is being overworked in defense. Without Marcell Jansen, Lahm must play every crucial Germany (and Bayern) match and this can not help his overall fitness. Lahm looked tired near the end against Wales and was beaten on the right-side of the pitch for a critical moment. Of course Lahm made a last-ditch effort whereas the actual right-back Clemens Fritz (out of position and also to blame) had done little to hinder the Welsh counter. Arne Friedrich did better than Fritz before being substituted but was at times also unable to close the defensive gap. Similarly Heiko Westermann (despite his improvement) needs more experience as his defensive positioning and decision making (notably against Russia) has been sub-standard.

With Keivn Kurányi’s shameful departure it seems the solution has been found to Germany’s attack rotation. The question remains though how consistent Klose and even Podolski can be. Helmes does look promising but wasted some clear opportunities against Wales. Gomez (now more of a threat) is on the other hand still missing the form he has at club level.

Finally, in midfield Germany needs a defensive midfielder who can control difficult situations when the attack is lethargic or the defense is vulnerable. So far this has been Lahm’s job. Simon Rolfes has not been given enough time to play and Torsten Frings due to injury (and perhaps now through sulking) has also been sitting on the bench. Thomas Hitzlsperger has not been criticized for his performances (limited to the occasional wide-non-goal and passing ball) but he is clearly not comfortable in his position. Whenever the tide turns against Germany, Hitzlsperger looks a tad helpless. Indeed when the odds are against Germany and open to a decisive counter-attack (remember that only loss in Dortmund), we need more than just another passer. We need a Dietmar Hamann of 2005 AC-Milan beating vintage. Indeed we are missing someone who can consistently marshal and anchor the inexperienced defense. For the moment Frings (like Ballack) can only come up older and more injury prone.

Luckily on all fronts there is hope primarily from the youth setup. We have contenders, alternatives, and replacements. Not to mention yet another world-class goalie in Manuel Neuer.

Fabio Capello has decided to field promising youngsters for the friendly in Berlin. Let’s hope Jogi Löw does the same.

5 Conclusions: Germany 2-1 Russia

Jogi Löw 1. It was the proverbial game of two halves.
Germany played a great game in the first half, strung together some neat attacking moves, scored two great team goals and could have made things worse for Russia with a couple of other chances. It was a reminder of what the team is capable of. The second half was then a mirror image of the first half, just that it served as a reminder of what Russia is capable of. In the end, Rene Adler and the goal post kept all three points in Dortmund. The game could have just as well ended 3-1 or 2-2.

2. Löw’s substitutions fail to impress (again).
During the second half Russia did well to take Germany’s midfield out of the game, which effectively also took Klose and Podolski out of the game. So Löw reacted to this problem, by substituting Klose for Gomez. Mario Gomez ended up being just as detached from Germany’s game as Klose before him. Ten minutes later, he substituted Trochowski for Frings, drying up the supply to the strikers even more. But, with ten minutes left it’s OK to try and defend the slim lead, even though Russia hit the post only four minutes later. Simon Rolfes was only brought on to waste some time. The Swedish ref wouldn’t let that happen though, and simply added those 30 seconds to the 3 minutes of extra time he had announced.

At the end of the day Germany won and David Odonkor didn’t have to play as a right back, so it wasn’t that bad. The substitutions had no positive impact on the game either though.

3. Löw’s half time speeches fail to impress (presumably).
I’ve never seen Löw giving a half-time speech, so this is only speculation. I’ve never seen Hiddink giving a half-time speech either. But I was impressed to see how a first half nervous and insecure Russian side, would come out with slightly adjusted tactics and be able to turn the tables on Germany in the second half, the way they did. I haven’t seen Germany do that under Löw. Germany played bad against Finland in the first half and things weren’t much better in the second half. The same happened during the Euros. It’s more likely to see the opposite. Germany playing a good game and then losing the plot as the match unfolds.

4. Our offside trap works (intentionally?).
Combined with a good linesman it helped to defuse a lot of Russian attacks. This was the best aspect of Germany’s defense though. Philipp Lahm has made it a habit to combine great tackles and dangerous forays into the other half, with the odd blunder which automatically leads to a goal. Per Mertesacker has yet to regain his old best form. The defense as a whole is still shaky.

5. It’s time to give some youngsters a dream debut against England.
While I criticized Löw’s substitutions, I also have to admit, that he didn’t have a lot of options to begin with. His options are currently playing for the U21 and would still be eligible start for the U19. Players like Marin, Kroos and Özil should be considered as potential candidates for Trochowski’s and Schweinsteiger’s position. Whether they are all World Cup 2010 material is another question, but there definitely aren’t a lot of opportunities to test it out and answer that question. Judging by Russia’s performance, they won’t drop a lot of points, so Germany can’t afford any slip ups either. Which leaves the few friendlies between now and 2010 as the only games where you can safely give those players a lot of playing time. So, despite being a high profile friendly, I still hope we’ll see some fresh faces against England in November.

Photo of the Day: FIFA 09 (PS3/PAL/GER)

FIFA 09

If you are always on the hunt for rare German national team collectibles, I strongly recommend you try and get a copy of the German edition of FIFA 09 with Kevin Kuranyi as cover boy. I already ordered my copy, which will receive a place of honor right beside my copy of last year’s German edition of Pro Evolution Soccer with Jan Schlaudraff in a Bayern Munich jersey on the cover. Marketing video games in Germany ain’t easy…

Squad Lists for the Games against France, Russia and Wales

Germany’s U21 will play France’s U21 in a two-legged knockout tie to decide which of the two teams qualifies for the U21 European Championships. Germany’s senior team will face Russia and Wales in their World Cup qualifying campaign. In other words: some big matches coming up during the international break.

U21 Germany vs France (October 10th in Magdeburg/Germany, October 15th in Metz/France)

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04), Florian Fromlowitz (Hannover 96), Tobias Sippel (1. FC Kaiserslautern)
Defenders: Andreas Beck (1899 Hoffenheim), Sebastian Boenisch (Werder Bremen), Jerome Boateng (Hamburger SV), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Daniel Schwaab (SC Freiburg), Niko Bungert (FSV Mainz 05)
Midfielders: Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen), Sami Khedira (VfB Stuttgart), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Marko Marin (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Marc-Andre Kruska (Borussia Dortmund), Mesut Özil (Werder Bremen), Eugen Polanski (FC Getafe)
Forwards: Ashkan Dejagah (VfL Wolfsburg), Rouwen Hennings (FC St. Pauli), Aaron Hunt (Werder Bremen), Daniel Halfar (Arminia Bielefeld), Kevin Schindler (Hansa Rostock)

Marko Marin is back in U21 action for this important tie. I would pick Manuel Neuer as goalkeeper, Jerome Boateng and Andreas Beck as right/leftbacks and Benedikt Höwedes and Mats Hummels as central defenders. I have no clue how I would design my midfield and attack though. Could a midfield featuring Kroos, Marin and Özil at the same time work?

Germany vs Russia / Wales (October 11th in Dortmund, October 15th in Mönchengladbach)

Goalkeepers: Robert Enke (Hannover 96), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)
Defenders: Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Arne Friedrich (Hertha BSC Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Hamburger SV), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Serdar Tasci (VfB Stuttgart), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04)
Midfielders: Michael Ballack (FC Chelsea), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)
Forwards: Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Patrick Helmes (Bayer
Leverkusen), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich)

It’ll be interesting to see, whether Mertesacker, Ballack and Frings can help restore some defensive stability. I would also like to see Patrick Helmes in the starting XI.

Your thoughts?

Klose Draws Finland 3-3

Germany started qualification for the 2010 World Cup last week against Liechtenstein and Finland. Despite the generally positive results, Joachim Löw needs to quickly find the solutions to the problems that have been plaguing the German team since the Euro 2008 Final in Vienna.

1. There is a large hole in Germany’s defense. The defensive line looked suspect against Liechtenstein and was exposed against Finland. With Mertesacker injured, Metzelder slow, and Westermann visibly shaky, Löw must find or develop central defenders who can make their presence felt. He also needs more responsive efforts from his fullbacks who despite linking well offensively must do a better job defending.

2. The team needs reliable strikers. With a hat-trick against Finland, Miroslav Klose has finally rediscovered his form. Mario Gomez evidently has not. A simple tap-in against Finland hilariously resulted in Gomez dazed inside the net and the ball cleared off the line. Lukas Podolski was on the other hand doing his best to mimic Klose, brilliant one day and completely absent the next. With Kuryani his usual self, it is time to give Helmes or someone else a start.

3. Germany remains dependent on Ballack and Frings. Although there is an abundance of talent in midfield (with convincing attacking displays from Schweni, Trochowski, Podolski and Marin) the general black hole in defensive midfield remains. With both Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings injured the absence of central midfielders who can distribute the ball and shield the defense was obvious against Finland.

4. Löw needs to give proven prospects a chance. He needs to blood consistent players from the Bundesliga or youth level. He has to stop relying on his favored ineffective substitutions. With Klose and Podolski prone to disappearing and Ballack and Frings prone to injury, Löw needs new players to step into place. If certain players can simply not improve then it is high time to drop them.

5. Finally and most importantly the team must stop the habitual sleep-walking through games. They start the first quarter-hour brilliantly and then mysteriously sit back for the rest until it is too late. This was evident against Spain and it was again the case against Finland. Löw desperately needs to find a way to motivate the team from the sidelines or tactically adjust. The only thing Löw has done in times of crisis was to throw on more inconsistent strikers without fresh midfielders to feed them. (Something Berti Vogts use to do…) Löw needs to seriously consider what is going on before Germany end up competing for a playoff spot and losing another final.

Germany has three more games before 2008 is over. Two home World Cup qualification matches and a friendly against England in Berlin. It’s time for the whole team to step up on the road to putting another star on that jersey.