Monday, June 30th, Germany vs. Algeria at Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre (9pm BST, 4pm ET)
Day 18: Germany vs. Algeria
- Thread starter gooDevil
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Ramadan or not Ramadan; this is the question...
Germany to take it with a non-convincing 2-0 to set up a quarter final against France.
Germany to take it with a non-convincing 2-0 to set up a quarter final against France.
Ramadan has just started. I expect a lot of Algeria players to fast so I wonder if this will affect Algeria's game negatively. I know Mesut Ozil is a Muslim but he is known to break Ramadan. Sami Khedira is also a Muslim but he doesn't strike me as the kind who fasts. Apart from Ozil and Khedira, does anyone know who else from Germany who are Muslims?
shkodran mustafi is muslim as well. özil and khedira have both publicly ruled out fasting during the WC, while mustafi has not commented on it so far.
Cheers. In that case, I don't see any problems for Germany whereas Algerians are known to take Ramadan very seriously so I expect them to fast.
Lets do this again, Germany never beaten us, as they say "Things always happen in threes."
I'm scared of the Algerian counter but I feel we will still win this. It won't be comfortable I don't think.
Algeria is very good.
Algeria is very good.
I know this world cup has shown numerous times now that you can't count on anything but I am already drooling about the prospect of seeing a Germany-France clash.
Everyone saying France-Germany like its a foregone conclusion. Lets see what happens
Yeah, I'm surprised by this. The Algerians will sit back and let Germany have the ball, but I could see them causing havoc on the counter.
Feghouli vs Howedes out left should be enough to scare the Germans.
Could turn out to be similar to their game vs Ghana if Germany are not careful. That said, Algeria isn't that good defensively so Germany should see this one through.
Would love the Germans to stuff this up. Would be comedy gold.
A Germany win is not in doubt.
No one is taking anything for granted and France and Germany have already said they will not underestimate their opponents. I think people would love to see a Germany vs France quarter-final.
Germany could use a comfortable win if they want to build momentum. They regressed somehow from the Portugal Game.
They nearly lost against Ghana and didnt look impressive against a shitty USA Team (on that day). They went back from their 2010 like game against Portugal to the Tiki Taka possession ball against USA.
This team should still be enough to get past Algeria. The only weak link again will be Höwedes but we probably will deal with it until the bitter end.
They nearly lost against Ghana and didnt look impressive against a shitty USA Team (on that day). They went back from their 2010 like game against Portugal to the Tiki Taka possession ball against USA.
This team should still be enough to get past Algeria. The only weak link again will be Höwedes but we probably will deal with it until the bitter end.
I was pshing at this comment, looked up the statistics to refute this and now I'm actually nervous... The heck? Someone has a 100% win record against us? Egypt, too! At least we assimilated East Germany, so there's one less... I suppose tomorrow Egypt can call themselves the only country with a 100% win record against us.
I think we will see our first blow out of the 2nd round here. Germans by 3.
The only team who has beaten Germany twice at a World Cup is Italy.
We made the USA shitty that day but I guess people don't realise that when they talk about possession football. One of its main advantages is the fact that it robs the opponent of pretty much any action if done properly and thus it was simply a mature performance against the USA under difficult climatic conditions.
We also didn't play "2010 like" (I don't know why people keep forgetting the below average group games in 2010) against Portugal, we dominated them also in possession, just not as well due to the fact that Khedira was still part of the midfield (Khedira is imo a bigger weakness than Höwedes).
Why can't just Löw place Lahm on the LB:/
Can't go past the Germans. I had them as the world cup winners but changed my mind just before it started and put down Spain as the favourites, lol.
He just should play Kevin Großkreutz at one of the Fullback positions. I'm aware he has a rather negative image, because he may not be the brightest person on the planet, but he's a rock solid player in my opinion who is very capable defensively, can go forward, cross and pass decently and is insanely hard working. Really don't understand why for example Mustavi gets picked ahead of him...
that's just wrong.
2010 they played with quick counter-attacks against England(and won with a bit of luck), Argentina and a weak australia. In all three games they scored early and could sit back themself and wait for chances on the break.
In the group stage the team played good but nothing special, similar to this world cup. They even lost against Serbia and won the last game against a Ghana after a tight match. In these games they coundn't counterattack either, because the opponent sat back and didn't allow any space for that, exactly like the US and Ghana (at least in the first half) this year.
Both tournaments are pretty similar so far performance-wise.
Additionally we are not the underdog of 2010 anymore. Every opponent knows about our strengh, mainly trys to defend and doesn't try to dictate the game. They just wait and let germany have the ball, until there is a chance for a quick transistion.
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Lahm himself said he doesn't want to play LB ever again in 2012 I think.
Großkreutz committing a stupid foul for a penalty in the last friendly prior to the WC probably didn't help his claim. Boateng is a better RB than him and at LB we're really screwed at the moment. Löw wants/neds Lahm in midfield, doesn't trust Großkreutz and Durm - though promising - is just too inexperienced for the grant stage.
He is with Albanian inheritance and the majority of Albanian muslims don't fast. Especially those that doesn't live there. So, I doubt that he would be fasting anyway.
He is more experiences at LB than Höwedes.
Durm played LB in the CL against the likes of Real Madrid and proved himself.
I seriously doubt any of the Algerian playing staff to be fasting. I just dont see how it can be done, while being able to play.
Anyhow, should be routine win for Germany but I'd certainly love the Algerians to avenge the "Disgrace of Gijon".
Anyhow, should be routine win for Germany but I'd certainly love the Algerians to avenge the "Disgrace of Gijon".
Algerians won't fast, even during training.
Assuming they're serious about Ramadan they'll just make up for it by fasting extra days after Ramadan's official conclusion. I'm certain of that.
Assuming they're serious about Ramadan they'll just make up for it by fasting extra days after Ramadan's official conclusion. I'm certain of that.
Algeria wants revenge for 1982
The first bold is at least arguable in general, but Boateng played a decent tournament so far and is more experienced in Löw´s system so I have absolutely no problem with his start. He has actually the necessary skill set to play good as RB as well as CB.
The second bold is simply untrue, at least in the context of this years national team. Erik Durm is right now the only player in the squad, who played LB consistently in the last season. This included five full games in the CL, where his performances ranged from solid to great. Durm was in fact overall better against top competition (both Bayern games and Derbys in the league, Marseille and Real away in the CL, Wolfsburg in the German cup) than normal league games.
Now lets look at his competition for the spot: You can count Höwedes´ games as LB in his whole career on one hand and it clearly showed in the WC so far. Boateng has not played this position since 2010, Großkreutz is also even at Dortmund, where he is greatly rated by Klopp only played there as last resort. The safest option would be Lahm, but he is needed elsewhere.
People look at Durm´s age and his so far short career as professional and view him as the risky choice, while playing him would actually be far less risky as counting on Höwedes.
word!
100% agree. Löw even tested him there and he managed to look good in that position despite a very ordinary overall performance of the team against Cameroon. It's a shocking decision to play Höwedes over him.
it's kind of redundant to second sphaero's posts. can't i just upvote him by default?
I get the Dormund fans backing Durm and I'm no fan of Höwedes at LB either, but Löw and the coaching staff will have a better reasoning for playing Höwedes than us sofa-coaches. They actually work with these guys.
Hell, if it was up to me I'd play Lahm at LB!
Neuer
Boateng - Merte - Hummels - Lahm
Kroos - Schweini - Khedira
Özil - Müller - Götze/Schürrle/not Podolski
Hell, if it was up to me I'd play Lahm at LB!
Neuer
Boateng - Merte - Hummels - Lahm
Kroos - Schweini - Khedira
Özil - Müller - Götze/Schürrle/not Podolski
the thing is that a lot of people doesnt get the reasons for löw decisions..
You shouldnt be a professional player if your religion keeps you off your best form.
I get it.
Höwedes is the cautious defensive approach and Durm would be the offensive and slightly more risky approach. Both aren't ideal, but in the end I think both wouldn't do a bad job.
Today I would give Durm his chance though, just to see if he is up for it. And I have the feeling Löw will do that.