Re: Ze German Thread

[VivaStPauli]

Schweini is finished, has no business being in the NT.

See, this sounds like it might be a valid opinion, but then, he was in shit form before the WC as well, and bossed the tournament regardless.

----------Weigl
--Gundogan---Kroos
-----------Ozil
--Muller------------Reus

No width though. Unless Reus and Müller go wide, which would leave Özil as a false 9, which is... Meh.

[dostoevsky]

Germany's greatest strength in my eyes is that there isn't a reliance on a set XI. Like others have mentioned about team RG posted, you could easily slot in Kramer, Khedira or Weigl to strengthen the side against the danger of counter-attacks or play without a traditional centre-forward to render pointless an aggressive man marking central defender or throw on Gomez to focus on nothing else but being a nuisance in the box.

Germany's not a danger at the Euros because of a great eleven but a great sixteen or seventeen players who can rotated through without a great drop in quality. The main issue for me is to always ensure you're taking greatest advantage of the width your side has to offer. There's no side in the world against which you shouldn't be seeking to keep them on the back foot from the first minute.

Spoiler:

[urbaNRoots]

Ilkay Gundogan out for months with knee injury, misses Euro 2016 with Germany. https://t.co/EngOn9TFhN

ffs

[Hapless_Hans]

Gümdogan out, Schweini doubtful, Khedira injured and injury prone.

Löw needs to take Weigl.

[VivaStPauli]

Why, why, why are all our players made of glass? And you can be sure that two out of Götze, Reus, and Hummels will probably be injured by the time the Euros start as well.

We shouldn't just be talking Weigl, by now we probably should look at Goretzka, Kimmich, and some others as well. Hell, get on the phone with Holtby, Leitner, and Geis, just to be sure. Or are those injured too?

[rwo power]

Jogi Löw should take Mo Dahoud along. He's pretty good as DM/CM/AM ^^

[VivaStPauli]

Malli, also.

[rwo power]

If Jogi Löw still needs a dangerous winger, he really should consider calling up André Hahn. Guy got 5 goals in the last 6 matches after getting back from a lengthy injury due to a nasty foul.

BTW, André Hahn is another of those fairytale footballers - the HSV considered him not talented enough for their second team and kicked him out in 2010 when he was 20.

Then he had to beg to get into a 4th division amateur club (FC Oberneuland) and had to live off 200 Euros per month. After that he played for two 3rd Liga clubs (TuS Koblenz and Kickers Offenbach) that both got relegated due to lack of money.

Surprisingly, he got a call by FC Augsburg in January 2013 until Gladbach contracted him in Summer 2014.

Source: The unlikely story of André Hahn in pictures (and German): http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/600480/2/slideshow_hahnsinn-der-ungewoehnliche-aufstieg-des-andrc3a9-h-.html

[rwo power]

The preliminary German squad for the Euro 2016 will be announced come Tuesday 17 May 2016.

They will start into their training camp in Lugano on 24 May 2016 (which will end on 3 June 2016). The German U20 NT will accompany them and stand in as their training partner that will emulate the tactics of the upcoming opponents, just as they did before the World Cup 2014.

There will be two friendly matches, the first against Slovakia in Augsburg on 29 May 2016, and the second against Hungary in Gelsenkirchen on 4 June 2016.

[rwo power]

Preliminary Line-Up of the German NT for the Euro 2016:

GKs: Manuel Neuer (Bayern München), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona)

Defenders: Jérôme Boateng (Bayern München), Emre Can (Liverpool FC), Jonas Hector (1.FC Köln) Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia CF), Sebastian Rudy (TSG Hoffenheim), Antonio Rüdiger (AS Roma)

Midfielders/Forwards: Karim Bellarabi (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (VfL Wolfsburg), Mario Götze (Bayern München), Mario Gomez (Besiktas Istanbul), Sami Khedira (Juventus Turin), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern München), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Müller (Bayern München), Mesut Özil (Arsenal FC), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray Istanbul), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Leroy Sané (Schalke 04), Andre Schürrle (VfL Wolfsburg), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund)

No Kevin Trapp, no André Hahn, no Mo Dahoud...
I wonder if Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira will get fit enough.

[Lucifer]

MY ELEVEN;

CAN----------BOATENG-------HUMMELS-------HECTOR
----------SCHWEINI--------WEIGL/KHEDIRA---------
MULLER-------OZIL------REUS
-----------------GOMEZ--------------

[windkick]

Why, why, why are all our players made of glass? And you can be sure that two out of Götze, Reus, and Hummels will probably be injured by the time the Euros start as well.

We shouldn't just be talking Weigl, by now we probably should look at Goretzka, Kimmich, and some others as well. Hell, get on the phone with Holtby, Leitner, and Geis, just to be sure. Or are those injured too?

Those are some cool sounding names; sound like something out out of King of Fighters or something, lol.

Are those typical German names? I'm not trolling I'm honestly curious

[Hapless_Hans]

Can at right back is a terrible, terrible idea.

Why the hell doesn't Ginter make the cut?
Sebastian *bleep* Rudy

And of course, Poldi

[urbaNRoots]

Both Schmelzer and Ginter should be in but Löw has a fetish for CB's playing as fullbacks. 5 natural CB's and only 1 natural fullback in the team seems absurd.

[rwo power]

Those are some cool sounding names; sound like something out out of King of Fighters or something, lol.

Are those typical German names? I'm not trolling I'm honestly curious

"Leitner" and "Geis" are definitely German rooted. Leitner is probably originally derived from the verb "leiten" (to lead), while "Geis" could have been an old alternative spelling of "Geiß/Geiss" (goat). "Goretzka" sounds more as if it had Polish roots.

[VivaStPauli]

I don't see why Durm was omitted either, but that's Löw for ya.

Still, the squad looks pretty good, I would actually be hard-pressed to cut 4 players from that. Bellarabi and Rudy obviously, but after that? Who knows...

[Hapless_Hans]

I don't see why Durm was omitted either, but that's Löw for ya.

Still, the squad looks pretty good, I would actually be hard-pressed to cut 4 players from that. Bellarabi and Rudy obviously, but after that? Who knows...

Rudy, Rüdiger, Bellarabi, Podolski. Noone needs them.

[VivaStPauli]

I actually think Rüdiger is rather decent.

[Hapless_Hans]

I actually think Rüdiger is rather decent.

You've got three very good CBs in Hummels, Boateng, Mustafi. Why you need more? If you're intent on using a CB as RB, both Boateng and Mustafi can do it, or you could go with the guy who actually played RB at a good level last season and bring Ginter.

If for some reason a lot of those CB options are missing, you can also use Kimmich lol. If it worked against Juve it will probably work against Ireland.

[VivaStPauli]

Yeah I agree with all of those points, I just wanted to make the point I wouldn't necessarily cut Rüdiger because he's terrible, bad, and sucks.

He's decent. Just surplus to requirements. Still, I'd probably cut as it stands Bellarabi, Podolski, Rüdiger, and Rudy. I'd keep all the youngsters.
Brandt and Sané, because they're obvious backups for the left and right wing respectably, admittedly, with Reus and Draxler fit, it might not hurt all that much to cut Brandt.
Sané is IMHO the next best thing after Müller we got for the right wing. Unless I'm totally delusional I at least think Sané played RM/RW for most of the season.

Weigl because with Schweinsteiger and Khedira set for the deep midfield pivot, just Kroos isn't going to be enough of a backup, they'll probably both be injured during the tournament.
Same reason goes for Kimmich. Who has the added benefit of having played as a CB a lot.
Kroos might also end up being used as a #10, meaning even more of a chance that we'd need Kimmich and/or Weigl.

The press seems to think that one of Kimmich/Weigl is going home though, and taking Brandt with them. I don't really love the idea. Though in the end, with that group of players, the only one I really wouldn't start is Bellarabi due to his tendency to be the starting point of all your opponents counters.

[urbaNRoots]

If it's between Kimmich and Weigl I would select Kimmich because he has a greater experience at the top level and can provide cover for all kinds of positions.

[VivaStPauli]

Does he though? Weigl played more games, and was more involved at Dortmund.

[Hapless_Hans]

If it's between Kimmich and Weigl, and it's midfield we're talking about, it should be Weigl.
The kid started every game and was a pillar in that fantastic Dortmund season.

I agree though, better leave Brandt home, take Sané and both of Kimmich and Weigl.

[Lucifer]

If it's between Kimmich and Weigl I would select Kimmich because he has a greater experience at the top level and can provide cover for all kinds of positions.

Cannot disagree more. Kimmich has absolutely nothing on Weigl. The latter should be automatic inclusion to the squad.

[VivaStPauli]

I personally think we can take both. Brandt, Bellarabi, Rudy and Podolski are the obvious candidates to be stricken, and I say this with utter love for Poldi.

That being said, Löw will most likely keep both Bellarabi and Podolski, probably even Rudy, meaning he'll probably just keep Sané and one of Weigl or Kimmich.

I just keep being nervous about our options. I've accepted that we don't have fullbacks, but I'm also not convinced that Reus won't injure his glass-boned ass, and I want options on that wing.

[Lucifer]

Why hasn't Germany to yet developed the sustainable Lahm replacement?

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