On what planet does Kimmich suck as a fullback? I rate a fit Carvahal above him, but that may be it.
Group F (Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea)
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Kimmich is a liability defensively, prone to awful mistakes and Hector is flat garbage. He should not be anywhere near a top tier national squad, but ... Germany as a nation forgot the LB position exists or something.
Werner has 7 goals and 2 assists in 823 minutes for Germany, that is 1 scorer every 90 minutes.
This season, he had huge dips in form like the whole RB team and still produced 21 goals and 10 assists in all competitions. Last season 21 goals 7 assists. That is very productive for any Bundesliga striker not at Bayern, let alone for a 21/22 year old. Marco Reus' career high is 23 goals in a season and Werner is nearly there in terms of goals in all competitions. What is not to like?
The problem is Germany always seem to mess up their second game for some weird reason. They just can't seem to win their second game! I've been following their national team since 2002 and I don't recall them winning their second game at all, the only time I think it happened was in the 2006 World Cup where they they host it and have a perfect record of 9 pts. So they always go into their last game making the fans all nervous, and requiring a win.
I'm not even talking about qualifying as second (which sometimes can act in your favor depending on results in other groups) but just the fact about being unhappy despite winning the group. Of course not qualifying from the group would be devastating for Germany. It's bad for small teams even.
I don't think we care much about when we meet the big names. If you want to win the whole thing, you'll have to beat the big names. Knockout stages are knockout stages. The trick is to play every game as if it is your last, because it very well might be.
Why would we be unhappy despite winning the group? That doesn't even make sense.
Come on lads, stop setting yourselves up for demise. Germany will finish top of their group, most likely with 7 points after sweden and Lindelof park the bus to a 0-0 draw.
Fair point and I really like your mentality but personally, I disagree. As a contender for the World Cup, you always would want to get as far as possible without facing the big names Liverpool is a good example, they made it to the final of the Champions League by just facing one big team which they match up well against, and I know they probably never stand much chance against Real Madrid, but up until Salah's injury, they were playing very well and were causing a lot of problems to Real and we don't know how the final result could have turned out if Salah was on the pitch. Germany finishing second would really "screw" up the whole draw and I really hope you guys can win the group but your form is very worrying. Winless in the past 5 friendlies and defending World Cup champions historically don't do well in the next World Cup (I've been researching a lot on this and the signs are very ominous for Germany, I'll post some stats on this later when my day dies down), not to mention the "curse" of the Confederations Cup.
By the way, I am a huge Die Mannschaft fan. 
Germany never does well before the tournament. It's almost traditional. I used to get worried when I was a kid. I've gotten used to it and never watch the friendlies just before a tournament. Especially Löw uses them as a gauge to experiment and figure out his starting 11. If Germany wasn't losing left and right, I'd be more concerned. They'd peak too early or our little tactical tricks would be there for everyone to analyse. Nah, keep a low profile, have everyone talk about Brazil the next generation of wonder teams and how Messi is going to lead Argentina to a WC title or.. *chuckles* how England will perform really, really well, because they have the best league...
I'd rather have a pundit go "Oh, look it's the semis and somehow Germany ended up here, again! Guess it's the old "22 chase the ball and in the end Germany wins" again..."
I'd rather have a pundit go "Oh, look it's the semis and somehow Germany ended up here, again! Guess it's the old "22 chase the ball and in the end Germany wins" again..."
Few people really care about friendlies days before Russia 2018, mate. Not even the qualifiers are a good indicative of who is favorite in the World Cup.Germany never does well before the tournament. It's almost traditional. I used to get worried when I was a kid. I've gotten used to it and never watch the friendlies just before a tournament. Especially Löw uses them as a gauge to experiment and figure out his starting 11. If Germany wasn't losing left and right, I'd be more concerned. They'd peak too early or our little tactical tricks would be there for everyone to analyse. Nah, keep a low profile, have everyone talk about Brazil the next generation of wonder teams and how Messi is going to lead Argentina to a WC title or.. *chuckles* how England will perform really, really well, because they have the best league...
I'd rather have a pundit go "Oh, look it's the semis and somehow Germany ended up here, again! Guess it's the old "22 chase the ball and in the end Germany wins" again..."
And is not only German who is underperforming in those friendlies. Almost any game is awful. Brazil x Croatia other day, the only guy in the pitch among Brazilians and Croatians trying something was Willian. Nobody will risk an injury at this point.
Not sure about Kimmich, personally I like him, but there is a better German LB (born and raised there and played for their youth teams), shame he wears the blue of Bosnia now.
Seems like Bosnian patriotism is strong (let's hope Anel Sabanadzovic (DM) thinks so too and doesn't switch to the USA, to which he has no connection other than birth there, far less than that of Kolasinac to either GER or BIH).
Of course there are Durm and Schmelzer too, but things haven't happened with them the way they were expected to (partly injuries, partly Low, partly other things I guess).
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Team photo from today:
South Korea and Sweden to go through
Mexico apparently has some great methods to build team spirit after winning the game against Scotland How are they going to celebrate if they win against us? 
How are they going to celebrate if they win against us? Locking yourself up in a mansion with 30 ladies of the night and not coming out till the next morning with a red plastic glass filled with rum and coke (Herrera) is going to take some serious topping.Mexico apparently has some great methods to build team spirit after winning the game against Scotland
I'd be worried if I was Germany now. The players have an extra incentive to stay in Russia as looong as possible and avoid the wrath of the WAG's on their return.
Is their a word like the German word "Lagerkoller" in English? Lagerkoller means the situation that people get in when they live a long time together in a camp.
I'm seriously worried about the Mexico squad this year. We havn't been playing that well and to top it all off the national team just had a (in my view, hilarious) scandal about the team inviting a bunch of prositutes over on their day off. Rumours are they invited about 5 prostitutes for each player, so, a lot of women.. but the Mexican media is taking it out of control and will surely affect the players mentally. They already announced Hector Herrera isn't making it to practice due to personal family issues after this. Lol.
let's see what happens..
let's see what happens..
Did anyone saw the interview with Kroos yesterday?
He says he agrees with Low about the squad and that group of players being the best choice.
Additonally, he refers back to his interview after the Brazil game, where he criticized some players who got opportunities to show themselves and failed.
Kroos is also very openly critical about the play of Die Mannschaft in the last few months.
I think he's not a fan of Sane. And Kroos probably thinks "Why do I have to put up with some of those chumps in the Germany team, fannying around constantly I'm used to Sergio doing whatever it takes to win"
The highest decorated German player ever in terms of club titles with 4 Champions Leagues, 4 league titles and 3 cups, by the way
He says he agrees with Low about the squad and that group of players being the best choice.
Additonally, he refers back to his interview after the Brazil game, where he criticized some players who got opportunities to show themselves and failed.
Kroos is also very openly critical about the play of Die Mannschaft in the last few months.
I think he's not a fan of Sane. And Kroos probably thinks "Why do I have to put up with some of those chumps in the Germany team, fannying around constantly
I'm used to Sergio doing whatever it takes to win"The highest decorated German player ever in terms of club titles with 4 Champions Leagues, 4 league titles and 3 cups, by the way
Exactly.
Can be a blow if its true
BREAKING: Mesut Özil could miss the World Cup due to injury [Bild]
BREAKING: Mesut Özil could miss the World Cup due to injury [Bild]
Feck. What's the status on this? I can't seem to find any article on this. Please god no.
I think the phrase "Cabin Fever" is something similar in meaning, roughly. Not exactly the same as Lagerkoller though ^^
Isn’t this about him missing the last friendly against Saudi Arabia? And no, I‘m not clicking a Bild.de link.
He is missing that Saudi Arabia match. Bruised his knee in training yesterday - but nothing serious. Already took part on parts of the team training today.
When did this "Die Mannschaft" bollocks start? It just means "The Team" in German. Nobody uses that but somehow I keep seeing it on English-language websites.
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It started in english speaking articles which needed a fancy nickname for the Germans like La Squadra Azzura or La Roja. They didn‘t understand that Germans call all national teams „Nationalmannschaften“ and not just their own and fecked that up.
Somewhere along the line, Bierhoff saw how the foreign press referred to the team and adopted it as a new nickname and hashtag for marketing purposes.
Last test match starts in 8 minutes
Özil is injured for today.
Özil is injured for today.
Time Werner is awesome - been a long time since we had a striker of his caliber.
Please Reus dont get injured. My fav non united player...
Low take him off at 20th mins thanks
Low take him off at 20th mins thanks
I know it's just 20 minutes into the game, but Reus is doing so well! He and Werner work really well together. Really looking forward for Reus at this WC. But as you say: PLEASE no injuries.
So with Reus playing centrally and Draxler on the wing, does that mean that the former is going to make way for Özil when he's fit?
Werner
Reus - Özil - Müller - will be starting probably (Löw kind of already confirmed it)
Reus - Özil - Müller - will be starting probably (Löw kind of already confirmed it)
That's not certain. Reus is as good as Ozil if not better. Tough decision for Low
Özil has a head start due to being a veteran player under Löw. I'd be very suprised if he doesn't start the first matches as long as he's fit. He would have to "earn" his getting dropped via bad performances.
I have the feeling that Germany's 4-2-3-1 could be overrun in midfield against another big team, especially if Özil is the number 10.
Think it leaves too much for Khedira and Kroos to do, both of whom have been at their best playing as CMs in midfield threes for their clubs.
Think it leaves too much for Khedira and Kroos to do, both of whom have been at their best playing as CMs in midfield threes for their clubs.
Yes, that's probably the biggest question mark regarding Germany, there is still no real replacement for Schweinsteiger. It's a pity Weigl couldn't built on his first season at Dortmund, he's no Schweinsteiger, but someone like should also be able to shore up our midfield a bit.
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Chance after chance right now. Attack is looking productive, but finishing needs to improve. No conclusions about the defense from this game.
Reus taken off without injury, WC win secured.