World Cup: Group G discussion

Germany Never wins the 2nd match of WC . It is a curse for them

Ghana were very good and quite frankly were unlucky not to win.

As for Germany, their issues i spoke about before with that lineup was on full show today.

4 Cbs in their back 4 is usually never a good idea, but then surely you have some width in your midfield but again nah they play all attacking midfielders and then if you don't do it surely you actually use a proper CF but again nah.

Low's choices will end up being their downfall again IMO, they have the talent there but until Low uses them properly they won't reach their potential.

Looking forward to Portugal v USA tomorrow, Portugal win and the last day will be extremely interesting between all 4 teams and USA win Ronaldo is knocked out in the group stage

Black stars we did ourselves proud

My Guys

Hapless_Hans wrote:I'm pretty sure Germany won't encounter tough times against Ghana or USA, they're both crap.

wtf man what are you doing.

singlehandedly destroying Germany's karma and German posters' credibility

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Ghana were very good and quite frankly were unlucky not to win.

As for Germany, their issues i spoke about before with that lineup was on full show today.

4 Cbs in their back 4 is usually never a good idea, but then surely you have some width in your midfield but again nah they play all attacking midfielders and then if you don't do it surely you actually use a proper CF but again nah.

Low's choices will end up being their downfall again IMO, they have the talent there but until Low uses them properly they won't reach their potential.

Ghana were great, what was really stunning that every one of their clearances in the last 20 minutes found their counter attacking guy and had a dangerous counter as a result.
All of a sudden they had precision and organization of which they had none in their first game

As for the full back thing.
Boateng I think can play the position no problem. In fact in the first 45 minutes EVERY Ghana attack, and there were quite a few, came over Höwedes side, and practically none over their left side.
Götze-Höwedes was a *bleep* catastrophy.

Löw really had a shocker.
So Boateng out at halftime, he could shift Lahm back to RB and bring on Schweinsteiger.
Lahm had a TERRIBLE game in DM anyway, he wasn't that great against Portugal either.
OR, there's Grosskreutz on the bench who actually played the position for half a season for Dortmund.
Why Löw prefers to bring on Mustafi, who's joined the squad a few weeks ago, is really his secret.
Boateng is the only of the 4 CBs with pace, Merte and Hummels are slow, Hummels wasn't fit either.
So with Boateng out,immediately BOTH are flanks are being destroyed.

Götze managed to score the opener, by heading at his own knee lol, but else he was terrible.

great game.

aand who the f changed my country affiliation to Nigeria?!?!?

what#s going on here?!

elm_baraja_shaman wrote:i hate when people act like Ghana is a new bunny out of the bushes, we've been doing this since 2006.....

Agree completely. Africa's pride of this century so far. Every time you guys get a tough group but twice you came out of it and this time you are at least not out of it yet. Also you play so beautifully. Unlike other African and so called small teams your players don't shoot repeatedly from 30 yards out with less then 1% chance of scoring. There is wonderful combination play at the end and some great chances created and scored. My only complaint is that this team should be winning many more African Cups of Nations.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Ghana were very good and quite frankly were unlucky not to win.

As for Germany, their issues i spoke about before with that lineup was on full show today.

4 Cbs in their back 4 is usually never a good idea, but then surely you have some width in your midfield but again nah they play all attacking midfielders and then if you don't do it surely you actually use a proper CF but again nah.

Low's choices will end up being their downfall again IMO, they have the talent there but until Low uses them properly they won't reach their potential.

Looking forward to Portugal v USA tomorrow, Portugal win and the last day will be extremely interesting between all 4 teams and USA win Ronaldo is knocked out in the group stage

I agree with your thoughts. What would be your starting XI for Germany?

Hapless_Hans wrote:OR, there's Grosskreutz on the bench who actually played the position for half a season for Dortmund.
Why Löw prefers to bring on Mustafi, who's joined the squad a few weeks ago, is really his secret.

Seriously a strange decision and unless what happens after that in the game justifies such a decision the coach is bound to be vilified. This one wasn't proved justified in any way.

Robespierre wrote:Germany Never wins the 2nd match of WC . It is a curse for them

Very good point. Need to check some more stats on this but off hand whatever I can remember Serbia in 2010 and Yugoslavia in 1998. There should be more.

Hapless_Hans wrote:aand who the f changed my country affiliation to Nigeria?!?!?

what#s going on here?!

   so you are actually from Bosnia??

So it seems if Portugal wins today, that means anyone from this group will have chance to go through depending on the result of final match day.... Is it going to be the most interesting group in the end....

Portugal... go go go

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:I'm pretty sure Germany won't encounter tough times against Ghana or USA, they're both crap.

wtf man what are you doing.

singlehandedly destroying Germany's karma and German posters' credibility

Hans you better not post something during next rounds games
Mustafi offers absolutely nothing in the attack and I thought at least he will be defensively alert but he disappointed me, not even trying to beat your player is pathetic. I hope Löw makes better decisions.
But taking off Boeteng was a good decision, we will need him. He helps to our healthy and sound backline

Mustafi after the match

"Ich habe den Ball nicht richtig gesehen, weil Per (Mertesacker, d.Red.) vor mir stand, und dann war ich zu spät"

I could not see the ball because Mert was in front of me and it was too late

seriously,

Also, Müller has a slight cut on his forehead but he is alright. That is a good news

anyway Mustafi is a central defender, always played in that role with Sampdoria , not a fullback, so probably there is a reason for his poor performance ( I didn't watch the match, but I am reading comments about it )

Hans i agree with you, i just hate CBs at fullback in general. Boateng alone is ok as long as the other fullback is Lahm, but Boateng and Howedes is ridiculous.

JD as far as my team goes, i would personally pick....


I personally don't like it still but its the most balanced line up i can see from the players picked.... its the main reason i said before the tournament started i don't think they will get to the semi's.

Reus is a massive miss. Aside from Klose no real quality striker being developed is also a massive weakness. They have a lot of midfield talent but its mostly all the same there is nothing there to compliment those around them.

Ghana's performance yesterday really throws a spanner in the gears, doesn't it?

All of a sudden, everyone is alive in the group. Especially if Portugal wins today, the group will be wide open. No team is as solid or as flawed as first thought. Germany has weaknesses that Ghana exploited; Portugal looked mentally broken in the first match and are facing serious injury/suspension concerns; Ghana have shown their quality over the last few tournaments and have carried that desire through to 2014; and the United States are looking like a side capable of performing above the sum of its parts.

At this point, no one is safe and only the US still has an opportunity to go through before the last match of the group. If this isn't what the World Cup is about, then I don't know what is...

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Hans i agree with you, i just hate CBs at fullback in general. Boateng alone is ok as long as the other fullback is Lahm, but Boateng and Howedes is ridiculous.

JD as far as my team goes, i would personally pick....

Neuer
Boateng Mertesacker Hummels Lahm
Khedira Schweignsteiger
Muller Ozil Schurrle
Klose

I personally don't like it still but its the most balanced line up i can see from the players picked.... its the main reason i said before the tournament started i don't think they will get to the semi's.

Reus is a massive miss. Aside from Klose no real quality striker being developed is also a massive weakness. They have a lot of midfield talent but its mostly all the same there is nothing there to compliment those around them.

I would have picked the same team expect maybe switch Lahm and Boateng.
Lahm is simply better on the right, and Boateng is versatile enough to play on the left, in fact he played there great in 2010.
Or I would take out Merte, let Boateng and Hummels be the CB pairing which imo is the best, and let play Durm left back.
He played there with Hummels next to him for Dortmund, Höwees just doesn't make sense.
And Mustafi, I don't really get it. I have to admit I had never heard of him till a couple of months ago, and he seems a good player, but he is also a CB so why Löw brought him on is not really comprehensible, with Grosskreutz on the bench, and Schweinsteiger on the bench while Lahm is having a shocker in midfield.
The fact that Boateng got injured was the deciding event in the match I think, because it limited the sub options, else maybe Löw would have been senisble enought to replace Höwedes.
Because it was painfully obvious Ghana targeted his side very intentionally and successfully while they stayed away from Boatengs side.
Müller's strongest prerformances often come from the right wing, Schürrle is a powerful player who might have been good in such an open game.
Reus is a huge loss obviously, and Götze sadly just isn't in good shape since quite a while.
Kroos had a good first game, though he was bad yesterday, but Schweinsteigeer+Khedira is a pairing that works well.
Problem is of course both are not fully fit.
So it's really tricky.

donttreadonred wrote:Ghana's performance yesterday really throws a spanner in the gears, doesn't it?

All of a sudden, everyone is alive in the group. Especially if Portugal wins today, the group will be wide open. No team is as solid or as flawed as first thought. Germany has weaknesses that Ghana exploited; Portugal looked mentally broken in the first match and are facing serious injury/suspension concerns; Ghana have shown their quality over the last few tournaments and have carried that desire through to 2014; and the United States are looking like a side capable of performing above the sum of its parts.

At this point, no one is safe and only the US still has an opportunity to go through before the last match of the group. If this isn't what the World Cup is about, then I don't know what is...

exactly! i think USA vs Portugal game will be another very entertaining game because thats last chance for Portugal. On the other hand USA would want to confirm their next round ticket before facing Germany. i think they will also give their best.

Wasn't aware he could play on the left ok i'm fine with that....

I don't disagree with you Boateng and Hummels tbf although i don't have a problem with Mertesacker and Hummels as long they are protected well.

I like Kroos a lot and think he's played well but it comes back to the "balance" and "team" and he's not a better AM than Ozil and not a better in the deep role than Schweignsteiger.

Gotze just hasn't played well enough.

If Reus is fit, I think he would have definitely started instead of Götze. I would also go with Schürrle instead of Götze in the next game, Schürrle has a natural instinct of getting into those goal scoring positions and making those runs. Having Müller and Schürrle as both runners will be havoc for any backline imo.

Hans you know the reason why Löw is insisting on using CB in FB position. It is a diff thing how much sense it makes in long term to play like that.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Wasn't aware he could play on the left ok i'm fine with that....

I don't disagree with you Boateng and Hummels tbf although i don't have a problem with Mertesacker and Hummels as long they are protected well.

I like Kroos a lot and think he's played well but it comes back to the "balance" and "team" and he's not a better AM than Ozil and not a better in the deep role than Schweignsteiger.

Gotze just hasn't played well enough.

this 100%.

I also like Merte of course and he has been performing great, but Boateng just has that pace. Also it's no secret I'm a HUGE Boateng fan lol so I always want him in there.
But so in the CB positions we don't have a problem, we have one in the fullback positions. So the only top fullback we have in the squad is Lahm but Löw insists on playing him in midfield.

Now it makes sense why Guardiola put him there for us and it worked out well but Germany do not play like we do under Pep.
Germany don't crowd the opponents half as relentlessly and make the spaces tight, don't stand as high, don't press as high etc

Boateng is a workable band aid, but Höwedes and Mustafi are not.
Which is not Mustafis fault of course, he's just starting to be a part of the team.
Schmelzer was never liked by Löw so Schmelzers injury problem gave him cover to not take him.
Similarly with Gomez.
But then he takes Durm and plays him in the test games and for the tournament he pulls Höwedes as LB out of the bag.
Oh well.

El Sharaawy, I did go overboard with the Ghana thing and put my foot in my mouth as usual, but that also was because I felt Ghana's performacne against the US was so surprisingly bad,not because I'm not aware how good they were in previous years.
They really should'Ve won against the US, as I want Klinsmann to crash and burn.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

JD as far as my team goes, i would personally pick....

Neuer
Boateng Mertesacker Hummels Lahm
Khedira Schweignsteiger
Muller Ozil Schurrle
Klose

I personally don't like it still but its the most balanced line up i can see from the players picked.... its the main reason i said before the tournament started i don't think they will get to the semi's.

I think Jogi will not go with that line up. He will use both Khedira and Schweini very carefully, specially in the case both are not fit enough as of now. With Gündogan missing, it limits the option in CM for Löw. Ginter is only 20 yrs old and played most of the season as a defender. Kramer boy is another option but dosnt have much exp at top level. I think Löw will always try to use 3 proper midfielders.

Also Özil in the center means more work to be done for both other CMs

neuro11 wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:aand who the f changed my country affiliation to Nigeria?!?!?

what#s going on here?!

   so you are actually from Bosnia??

Nah that's just to spite whatever it was that made it Nigeria, also I'm a bit sad to see Bosnia go as I somehow liked them a lot vs Argentine.