Scouting Report: Germany

[herman]

germany are considered to be among the "outside" favourites for the world cup this year - many people believe their big tournament experience will make up for their lack of individual star quality and see them through to the semi finals. here in germany, hope is higher than expectation and the majority of opinions suggest spain will be champions. while brazil are always strong, the astonishing fact this year is they may struggle for goals with only one striker going into the tournament in form in a top european league.

germany released their provisional squad today and here is my brief analysis for fans who may not know much about potential england opponents. maybe other posters who live abroad could add their own takes or experts on national teams (ole for portugal, for instance) in other threads.

Goalkeepers: Hans-Jorg Butt, Manuel Neuer, Tim Wiese

the last minute injury to adler and the suicide of enke have robbed germany of their 2 top goalkeepers from 12 months ago. wiese cuts a very unpopular figure with his arrogance, while neuer is inexperienced in a position where experience counts for so much. butt has played a solid season for bayern but reached an advanced age without racking up may caps and lacks international experience. good players hampered by limited experience could make this a surprising weak area.

Defenders: Per Mertesacker, Heiko Westermann, Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Andreas Beck, Arne Friedrich, Serdar Tasci, Marcell Jansen, Holger Badstuber, Dennis Aogo.

the lack of metzelder allows germany to use some more mobile defenders and add a bit of pace to the back line, although the quality of player beyond lahm and mertesacker is questionable. if lahm plays RB it may allow jansen (often played as a winger for HSV) to attack down the left to counter for a lack of wingers. boateng is a big target for manchester city but lacks experience, while badstuber, aogo and tasci are very inexperienced at this level.

Midfielders: Michael Ballack, Sami Khedira, Piotr Trochowski, Marko Marin, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Christian Trasch, Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos.

for me, marin and ozil are the key players in the squad as the only players in the team who could create "something from nothing". schweinsteiger has matured into a fabulous holding midfield player who could flourish alongside ballack, while kroos lacks experience but has the creativity and goalscoring touch. trasch is the only player who could genuinely be considered a wide player - this is a narrow midfield. ozil and marin can play left and right respectively but prefer life behind a striker.

Forwards: Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Stefan Kiessling, Cacau, Thomas Muller, Mario Gomez.

podolski has had an average year playing with poor players at cologne which will have done nothing for his game - he may be relied upon to provide width on the left. the ever reliable klose is struggling to get games at bayern but is a goal guarantee with his experience and aerial prowess. kiessling has been in form all year and could offer a better alternative than the much maligned (and much offside) gomez, while cacau the brazilian is a mystifying inclusion in the light of the omision of kuranyi (leading bundesliga goalscorer) and hints again at personality issues with coach low and certain players including torsten frings. muller is more of an attacking midfielder and could join ozil and marin as being the creative spark although all 3 lack experience internationally.

hope my "scouting report" provides interesting reading for england fans regarding a potential 2nd round (or later) opponent. looking forward to it!

[City1984]

Thanks for the report. Dosent matter wat squad germany take to a major competition they always seem strong and prove difficult to beat

come on England

[mxjunky137]

good work there i think they will win the world cup and it pains me to say that.

[internetjef]

Great report thanks for that mate.

It strikes me there are a fair few young players in the german squad this time round

Do you think that by using ballack and schweinsteiger in the middle to form a solid experienced pairing they could get away with the younger marin and ozil out wide?

is tony kroos anywhere half near the player he is on fottie manager ha ha (ie the best young player int he world )

[herman]