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Introducing Germany:
Germany introduced a large number of fresh, young players to their team of the last couple of years - with great success. Their most recent tournament finishes were 3rd place in the WC 2006, 2nd place in the EC 2008, and another 3rd place in the WC 2010. Both 2008 and 2010 they lost to the later champions: Spain. Germany now has a still young, but at the same time experienced squad - and they are eager to finally bring home a title.
Once again, there are some very talented newcomers playing their first tournament as well. Players like Mario Götze, 20 years (30m € market value) or Marco Reus, 23 years (20m € market value), as well as Matts Hummels, André Schürrle or Ilkay Gündogan are players you should definitely keep an eye on this tournament.
Overall Germany has one of the most complete squads, with strong players on almost every position and very little weak spots. However, the defense has been a little been a little shaky in the last couple test games prior to the tournament, which is worrying alot of fans. Germany is considered one of the favorites to win the title, but being in a tough group, with the defense not being in form, could also lead to a quick exit out of the tournament. Whatever happens in this tournament, the team has a very bright future ahead.
Team Info:
World ranking: 3rd
Total value: 459.000.000 €
Most valuable player: Mario Gomez, 42.000.000 €
Average age: 25.0 Years
Youngest player: Mario Götze, 20 Years
Oldest player: Miroslav Klose, 33 Years
Caps of the squad: 779 Matches
Most experienced player: Miroslav Klose, 116 Matches
Roster:
Goalkeepers
1 Manuel Neuer, 26 years, Bayern München
12 Tim Wiese, 30 years, Werder Bremen (TSG Hoffenheim next season)
22 Ron-Robert Zieler, 23 years, Hannover 96
Defense
14 Holger Badstuber, 23 years, Bayern München
20 Jérôme Boateng, 23 years, Bayern München
4 Benedikt Höwedes, 24 years, FC Schalke 04
5 Mats Hummels, 23 years, Borussia Dortmund
16 Philipp Lahm C , 28 years, Bayern München
17 Per Mertesacker, 27 years, Arsenal FC
3 Marcel Schmelzer, 24 years, Borussia Dortmund
Midfield
15 Lars Bender, 23 years, Bayer Leverkusen
19 Mario Götze, 20 years, Borussia Dortmund
2 İlkay Gündoğan, 21 years, Borussia Dortmund
6 Sami Khedira, 25 years, Real Madrid
18 Toni Kroos, 22 years, Bayern München
8 Mesut Özil, 23 years, Real Madrid
21 Marco Reus, 23 years, Borussia Mönchengladbach (Borussia Dortmund next season)
7 Bastian Schweinsteiger, 27 years, Bayern München
Offense
23 Mario Gómez, 26 years, Bayern München
11 Miroslav Klose, 33 years, Lazio Roma
13 Thomas Müller, 22 years, Bayern München
10 Lukas Podolski, 27 years, 1. FC Köln (Arsenal FC next season)
9 André Schürrle, 21 years, Bayer Leverkusen
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Germany are gonna do pretty well, but I'm wondering if the fact that so many first team players are from Bayern Munich and have had a tough season affects their euro challenge
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We are only ranked #3 right now, tho...
Uruguay got us! :D
Nice summary, let's hope we can do well again. And for once beat Spain! QQ
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Got a question for you guys. I'm setting up a fantasy team. Schürrle is super cheap and seems to be the kind of player to get some play time later in matches. He seems to have been doing great in the friendlies.
1. Do you think Schürrle will be one of the standard picks for late game subs? To me it seems Reus, Schürrle and Klose/Gomez are the most likely subs.
2. Do you think Schürrle has a chance to later take Podolski's spot in the starting lineup? Or is his (lacking?) defensive qualities making too risky of a choice?
Will be rooting for Germany as long as they don't run into Sweden (highly unlikely because we're not planning on making it out of the group stages).
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Expected starting XI:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Neuer - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Boateng - Mertesacker - Badstuber - Lahm
- - - - - - - Khedira - - - -Schweinsteiger - - - -
- - - - Müller - - - - -Özil - - - - - Podolski - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - Klose - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Strengths:
- starting XI with high international experience (five Bayern CL finalists, whole starting XI except Badstuber played last WC)
- high individual quality throughout the whole roster, makes starting XI harder to predict and leaves room for changes both through substitutions and in the lineup for the next matches
- traditionally strong goalkeeper
- variable offensive play with a very strong bench (Reus, Schürrle, Kroos, Götze)
Weaknesses:
- Key players coming back from injury (Mertesacker, Klose) or bad form (Schweinsteiger)
- possible defensive weaknesses:
- right fullback not trained as such (Boateng, Höwedes are centrebacks, Bender is a defensive midfielder)
- Mertesacker known to lack speed, but to make up for it in positioning
- Podolski known to not work very hard defensively, at least on the national team
Edit: @ SonicDeathMonkey, Schürrle is probably going to be subbed in a lot, especially if Germany needs a late goal. He's been scoring reliably after coming on for Podolski, exploiting the exhaustion of his opponent through speed and technical skill. Probably better defensively than Podolski, too, but lacking experience. He's not likely to take Podolski's starting spot, unless Podolski plays really, really bad - there's just so much synergy with Lahm, and Schürrle needs every advantage in speed he can get, so coming late is good for him.
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love the video, gives me chills :D
On June 08 2012 00:13 DragoonTT wrote:
Weaknesses:
- Key players coming back from injury (Mertesacker, Klose) or bad form (Schweinsteiger)
- possible defensive weaknesses:
- right fullback not trained as such (Boateng, Höwedes are centrebacks, Bender is a defensive midfielder)
- Mertesacker known to lack speed, but to make up for it in positioning
- Podolski known to not work very hard defensively, at least on the national team
A week ago or so, Mehmet Scholl said the playey in front of Lahm just cannot play bad, because Lahm is just that good 
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I just hope we don't fail so close to the goal again. It really was too painful the last years. I remember getting into a lot of trouble 2002, not saying a single word for 3 days 2006 and yelling at a customer 2008. Just go out in groups or win it all pls!
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The chances for Schürrle getting substituted are really high. He replaced Podolski in almost every game and always played really well and his defensive qualities are not worse. It probably depends on which side of Germany plays weaker, so if the left side (Podolski) does not play its best he will come in 100%.
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@DragonTT
Badstuber played last WC, he started as left back during the group stage game we lost for example.
Boateng has played a lot more games as right back than as centreback in his professional career, even tho he is a trained centreback he barely played that position @ HSV/Man City, and he even played right back at Bayern already :p
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Germany is gonna do great! I'm part German and I've always supported them so I'm really hoping to do well this year. I think if we can make it out of our exceptionally tough group we have a strong chance of winning it all.
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On June 08 2012 00:13 DragoonTT wrote:
Edit: @ SonicDeathMonkey, Schürrle is probably going to be subbed in a lot, especially if Germany needs a late goal. He's been scoring reliably after coming on for Podolski, exploiting the exhaustion of his opponent through speed and technical skill. Probably better defensively than Podolski, too, but lacking experience. He's not likely to take Podolski's starting spot, unless Podolski plays really, really bad - there's just so much synergy with Lahm, and Schürrle needs every advantage in speed he can get, so coming late is good for him.
On June 08 2012 00:17 MapleLeafSirup wrote:
The chances for Schürrle getting substituted are really high. He replaced Podolski in almost every game and always played really well and his defensive qualities are not worse. It probably depends on which side of Germany plays weaker, so if the left side (Podolski) does not play its best he will come in 100%.
Thanks guys, I appreciate it!
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On June 08 2012 00:28 clusen wrote:
@DragonTT
Badstuber played last WC, he started as left back during the group stage game we lost for example.
Boateng has played a lot more games as right back than as centreback in his professional career, even tho he is a trained centreback he barely played that position @ HSV/Man City, and he even played right back at Bayern already :p
Badstuber played against Australia and Serbia, was mediocre against Australia and totally failed against Serbia, if I remember correctly. Missed all those deciding to-or-die matches, though.
Boateng played a lot of right fullback, but has recently looked very, very shaky everytime he played that position. It's not really a question of experience for him - he's just not suited to the role, in my opinion.
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Imo:
edit:
Neuer
Lol forgot Neuer. No discussion here.
Boateng - Mertesacker - Badstuber - Lahm
As mentioned above: Boateng is too shaky. Imo Bender should play. Merte will play if he'll gets the nod over Hummels. Experience wise it is the most likely option, although as a BVB-Fan im hoping for Hummels. Should be very close. Badstuber and Lahm are set in stone.
Khedira - Schweinsteiger
Khedira will play 100%. Option for Schweinsteiger will be Kroos if Schweini isn't healthy.
Müller - Özil - Podolski
Nothing to say here. As a BVB-Fan i hope for Götze and Reus sub-ins. Schürle also could act as a Joker.
Klose
Imo he's better defensive. But Gomez is more the Goalgetter.
Sorry for my bad english.
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It seems like most of you believe in Klose as a starter. I got the feeling the lineup against Israel was the one Löw intends to play against Portugal (except for Schweinsteiger because of his injury). Gomez started and scored. I assume this is not the common perception in Germany?
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On June 08 2012 01:40 Sonic Death Monkey wrote:
It seems like most of you believe in Klose as a starter. I got the feeling the lineup against Israel was the one Löw intends to play against Portugal (except for Schweinsteiger because of his injury). Gomez started and scored. I assume this is not the common perception in Germany?
In one of his last interviews Löw stated that he appreciates the ability of a forward to defend, especially to narrow down the space in the opponents half to intercept passes. It makes the work of defense a lot easier and the game faster.
Imo Klose has this talent and Gomez doesn't. Simple as that.
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On June 08 2012 02:00 seenster wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2012 01:40 Sonic Death Monkey wrote:
It seems like most of you believe in Klose as a starter. I got the feeling the lineup against Israel was the one Löw intends to play against Portugal (except for Schweinsteiger because of his injury). Gomez started and scored. I assume this is not the common perception in Germany? In one of his last interviews Löw stated that he appreciates the ability of a forward to defend, especially to narrow down the space in the opponents half to intercept passes. It makes the work of defense a lot easier and the game faster. Imo Klose has this talent and Gomez doesn't. Simple as that.
Also, Klose is a experienced tournament player that has always played well at euro and world cups. He is reliable, while Gomez has a tendency to choke in important matches.
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On June 08 2012 02:03 Redox wrote:Show nested quote +On June 08 2012 02:00 seenster wrote:On June 08 2012 01:40 Sonic Death Monkey wrote:
It seems like most of you believe in Klose as a starter. I got the feeling the lineup against Israel was the one Löw intends to play against Portugal (except for Schweinsteiger because of his injury). Gomez started and scored. I assume this is not the common perception in Germany? In one of his last interviews Löw stated that he appreciates the ability of a forward to defend, especially to narrow down the space in the opponents half to intercept passes. It makes the work of defense a lot easier and the game faster. Imo Klose has this talent and Gomez doesn't. Simple as that. Also, Klose is a experienced tournament player that has always played well at euro and world cups. He is reliable, while Gomez has a tendency to choke in important matches.
Oh i forgot Gomez chokes a lot. In the Bundesliga i liked it. (not a Bayern-Fan).
So yeah both of these facts are pro-Klose. Imo he should reach the 68 goals of Gerd "Der Bomber der Nation" Müller. He deserves it!
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Big Goldi Poldi fan here!
btw, Löw announced some loose conditions for the players during the cup. Smoking and drinking beer and wine will be permitted during some periods; family will be able to visit as well, they can leave the concentration hotel for an hour too. Lets see how this turns out, specially if Germany chokes, or doesnt.
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I am so excited! 39 hours until the first game.
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EPT
