Yeah, we didn't play a perfect match. Yeah, the defense is still an issue. Yeah, the individual mistakes almost cost us the World Cup. But **** me, being down one man and having the mental strengh to win this... I'm exhausted.
Escaped with a last minute win against a technically limited Swedish side but we again saw in this match the problems that plagues this German team.... 1) Striker. Having Mario Gomez in here as a big target man opens things up for the team but unfortunately Gomez is just not that good at conversion. Werner was at his best today on the wings where he used his speed. It's too much to ask Werner to be the target guy and carry them to championship. It was a little sad to watch Klose walk onto the pitch after the match today in his blazer. 4 years and still looking for a striker of his capability. 2) Just not the same Muller we are used to watching in World Cups. He has just not been effective the first two matches and as of right now is looking more like the Euro Muller than the WC Muller. This is especially concerning given the striker issue. Germany's scoring, given the striker situation, is based on scoring by committee and Muller cant afford to not score. 3) Defense. OMG the German defense, and this one has always concerned me for years. They get caught off position so many times. You will see the German defenders spend a lot of time in the opposition's half and further up the pitch. And if the team loses the ball, they are basically exposed on the counter. Watch what Hummels did and where he was on that mexico goal. And then Boateng with his idiotic moments. Last Euro with the stupid handball on the edge of the penalty box and then this match with the stupid second foul. He was lucky to stay on the pitch in the first half after the ref missed the penalty foul. Anyways, with the German defense as vulnerable as it is on the counter attack, I dont see how they cope with the technical ability and speed of teams like Spain, France, and Belgium on the counter. They will be carved apart. 4) Speed and athleticism.. #3 is made even worse by the lack of speed and athleticism on this German squad. The team looks slow. Most of the time they mask it with their technical ability on the ball but when they dont have the ball and on counter it shows. I know Low likes to go with Draxler on the wings as he had in Euros but he needs to give it up. I have watched Draxler for a long time and though he has ability on the ball and can take on players, he lacks the decision making and the final product. I would much rather play Brandt in his place even though he might be more mistake prone.. Draxler is just not a difference maker. Also, as limited as Mario Gomez is, sadly he needs to start. It opens things up for other players with the attention he commands in the box because of his presence especially in the air.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Football is a simple game, 22 men chase the ball for 82 minutes and the Germans get a player sent off so 21 men chase the ball for 13 minutes and at the end the Germans somehow ****ing win.</p>— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) <a href="">June 23, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hey.. cmon now. He was probably the most dangerous German player on the pitch in that 2nd half and he helped create both goals. Good adjustment by Low to move him out wide and let him use his pace.
SIGH. You Germans just refuse to leave the party early and let Holland rejoice while Brazil and England feel some relief. Nope. "Unpossible"!
Ok, one good half does not make him a superstar, his coming out party was already at the Confederations Cup a year ago. If you are talking about young players, Golovin, Gimenez, Lozano and Harry Kane are more impressive. My two cents but Korea should pose a worse Defense.
FIFA knew of Russian soccer doping, did nothing, new investigation finds https://www.yahoo.com/sports/fifa-k...othing-new-investigation-finds-025558754.html "Fans and experts alike, however, have grown suspicious of Russia’s 2018 World Cup squad after it romped to two victories to open its campaign. Not only did the hosts score eight goals and concede just one; their players collectively covered more ground per 90 minutes than any other team in each of their two games." ....while fielding a 38 year old I might add.
I was half kidding. I know he's not a superstar but he did have a good half that was crucial to Germany winning that match.
No harm done, I said it before he got them the Free kick, had some very good moments indeed. And that Kroos set piece overshadowed everything, Kroos had a mediocre overall game.
Back sober. Some random thoughts on last night's game. * Kroos saved our skins. Pretty sure without that goal Mexico and Sweden would've called a Gijón straight from the German playbook. This free kick shows why you leave your best players on the field, even if they have a bad game. Of course all the German fans hope now that Kroos goal marks the turning point and leads to a convincing win over Korea on Wednesday to finally get a foot into this tournament. * Löw made all the right calls: Benching Özil and Khedira helped our offensive line from the first second on. Way more dynamic and flexible. If there was any question, now we know Reus has to start every game in this tournament. Also Hector is a way better option than Plattenhardt on the left wing, too bad he missed the game against Mexico. * Bringing Gomez at half time was also the right move and payed off right away. If Mario was a basketball player, he'd be the textbook example of a streaky shooter. Just needs than one shot that goes into the net, then all of a sudden all deflected balls go in or land on his foot so he just needs to tap in. Always been like that, even when he returned to Stuttgart earliert this year. Gomez needs than one goal, hope he starts against Korea and scores early. Would help a lot. * Werner was more productive on the wing, so I think playing both Werner and Gomez is the best solution for now. Draxler - not impressive. Müller - the most disappointing so far, really somehow needs to figure out how to turn into his World Cup self. * Rudy broke his nose, so I'm afraid he's not good to go on Wednesday. That's too bad because he played a lot better than Gündogan. Gündogan is still insecure, only plays safety passes, trying too hard to avoid mistakes. That doesn't help. Maybe time to give Goretzka some minutes. To make yesterday's game even more absurd, Rudy got injured trying to save a bad pass from Kroos. * Oh my, Boateng. If this was his first or second tournament you could've let his mistake pass. But he's one of the veterans and there is no excuse for the tackle that lead to his red card. That can't happen to such a well-respected defender. We had the Swedish on the ropes, after the red card they got a lot of momentum back. Really have to hope that Hummels is good to go against Korea. Even though the Koreans are the weakest opponent in this group, I'd be worried a lot with a defensive line around Rüdiger and Süle. Hummels is our best defender and the first playmaker. So obvious how much we missed him yesterday on both ends.
