This. I think Germany's hardest opponent was always going to be Italy.
Semi Final 2: Germany vs France
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
Fantastic.
This will be a close game but I'm pretty confident. Not overly impressed by Germany so far and they will be missing a few key players.
With Khedira and Schbweini out I wonder if Low will give Weigl a start.
It should be a good game as both sides like to attack, Germany could have done with Gomez height against that French back line.
It should be a good game as both sides like to attack, Germany could have done with Gomez height against that French back line.
Dream on. This is Germany's world, we just live in it (though slightly less than a couple of weeks ago).
Hopefully NOT. Please leave Weigl on the bench. Dortmund players and the sniffing guy, that just doesnt fit.
France 2-1.
So much trash talk from France. I hope Germany teach them a lesson just like what they did to Brazil 2 years ago.
Want France to win but can't see Germany losing
trash talk?
I heard you want to win, very naughty.
Oh! I confirm. I have heard that Germans were confident in their capacity to win a decisive game at the Euro.
We are cautiously optimistic but do not preclude the possible occurrence of failure; this we state proudly and fearlessly.Oh! I confirm. I have heard that Germans were confident in their capacity to win a decisive game at the Euro.
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Sure, everyone has his chances and respect the opposing team
Can't wait for this, haven't excited for a national team match like this in a long long time. At the WC, I never really thought France would beat Germany but now there is a better chance.
I'm rooting for France, if, if, if Wales get passed Portugal I feel we have a chance of beating France, no chance beating Germany.
If Wales lose to Portugal then I'd prefer Germany as I think they have more chance of beating Portugal in the final.
My logic
If Wales lose to Portugal then I'd prefer Germany as I think they have more chance of beating Portugal in the final.
My logic
How comes Griezmann is French? The first time I heard his name I thought he must be German\ Swiss\ Austrian
His father is of Alsatian descent and his place of birth is pretty close to the German and Swiss border. In the border regions having a "foreign" name is not that uncommon for obvious reasons.
I would really consider us (Germany) the underdog for this game. Not so much because of the last two games but simply because we lost three players that I feel are quite important to the team working at it's best and even Schweinsteiger is in doubt.
So we will likely have to play with either Götze or Schürrle as the striker, which will suck balls. Kroos will miss Khedira as a workhorse by his side and if Schweinsteiger is really out for the game as well Weigl will probably get his first game during these Euros and that in such an important game surely isn't an ideal situation, although I trust the kid to do a good job actually.
Hummels at the back will also be missed, I felt him and Boateng were really forming a great partnership so far, which means now Mustafi is going to have to perform, which I know he actually can but still I think disrupting the Boateng/Hummels CB partnership will be noticeable.
All in all we aren't without chances but I feel the players we have lost will significantly weaken us. So unless Müller finally steps up and/or Draxler has one of his world class games again I can't really see us getting past France in this game.
So we will likely have to play with either Götze or Schürrle as the striker, which will suck balls. Kroos will miss Khedira as a workhorse by his side and if Schweinsteiger is really out for the game as well Weigl will probably get his first game during these Euros and that in such an important game surely isn't an ideal situation, although I trust the kid to do a good job actually.
Hummels at the back will also be missed, I felt him and Boateng were really forming a great partnership so far, which means now Mustafi is going to have to perform, which I know he actually can but still I think disrupting the Boateng/Hummels CB partnership will be noticeable.
All in all we aren't without chances but I feel the players we have lost will significantly weaken us. So unless Müller finally steps up and/or Draxler has one of his world class games again I can't really see us getting past France in this game.
I actually had 250 quid down on Germany to win the Euros prior to the Italy game. Really hoping they go all the way, the returns is £1k.
Pissed they have so many injuries - with a full squad they'd easily be favourites.
Pissed they have so many injuries - with a full squad they'd easily be favourites.
I think if anyone replaces Khedira it should naturally be Can, not Weigl. Can can play as a box to box whereas Weigl is like the second coming of Kroos/Busquets but misses Busquets' defensive attributes a bit more I'd say. Can would make sense as that french midfield has so much strength and power. He's more of an athlete than Weigl. I do like Weigl though and I don't mean to talk him down. He's pretty great. But if Löw is looking for a replacement for Khedira I'd imagine it'd be Can.
If only we had Gündogan and Reus available.
If only we had Gündogan and Reus available.
It's tricky. Weigl is the overall much better & composed player, both in passing and defensive positioning. So he's better on and off the ball than Can, whose movements and decisions are a bit suspect in my opinion. Can will lose the ball more often and is more likely to make mistakes in inconvinient situations, while Weigl is a more defensive strategist similar to Kroos, who would have to play higher up, which isn't his very best position but still okay.I think if anyone replaces Khedira it should naturally be Can, not Weigl. Can can play as a box to box whereas Weigl is like the second coming of Kroos/Busquets but misses Busquets' defensive attributes a bit more I'd say. Can would make sense as that french midfield has so much strength and power. He's more of an athlete than Weigl. I do like Weigl though and I don't mean to talk him down. He's pretty great. But if Löw is looking for a replacement for Khedira I'd imagine it'd be Can.
If only we had Gündogan and Reus available.
On the other hand Can is indeed the player that is the 1:1 replacement for Khedira and offers more dynamic quality and penetration. It's really a matter of the composition of the whole team to balance out either Can's rashness or the lack of penetration offered by Weigl/Kroos.
Against the very strong midfield and counter attacking potential of France, I would opt for control and play Weigl/Kroos with Özil helping out in build up play. But it's a really difficult decision, neither solution is really convincing.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see a back three again with Mustafi coming in for Hummels and then Can in midfield. It would give us Can's energy and mobility to replace Khedira/Schweinsteiger without making us defensively suspect because Can + Kroos aren't a strong enough CM pair to cope with the French midfield.
Something like:
Something like:
Draxler -- Müller -- Özil
Hector ---- Kroos --- Can ----- Kimmmich
Mustafi - Boateng - Höwedes
Neuer
Hector ---- Kroos --- Can ----- Kimmmich
Mustafi - Boateng - Höwedes
Neuer
That looks well balanced. With this setup I'd expect most attacks to run through the middle or the right wing. With Can and Kimmich there a few failed passes in the build up should be planned with, which will eventually lead to counters. If they are able to avoid 1on1s for Höwedes it might just work out. The left looks defensivly solid with decent control but apart from the occasional cross by Hector or a few dribblings by Draxler I wouldn't hope for too much offensive contribution from that side. Defensively it should be enough to contain the French and limit them to 2 or 3 chances, as long as all players pull their own weight.
I'm sure France is extremely motivated to beat Germany. Being at home and taking "revenge" for their WC loss 2 years ago. Hummels who scored the winning goal against them is also out so they really fancy their chances. Let this get to their heads so the cool and ruthlessly efficient Germany blow them away.
Not just the two best teams of the Tournament so far but also they also have two best national anthems.
It has to be: "With a good squad selection they would be favorites", there would have been a lot of options for cases like it is now, but the sniffing guy decided to go into a tournament with a senseless squad. He lost his only striker, hmm maybe it would have been an idea to take not only one with them. He is missing a decent CB, hmm maybe it would have been an idea..and so on.
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Hope France smash them
Actually I do not really know a relevant player in form and not injured he has not taken with him...
CB or FB - Ginter , think that is something where Löw tested every strange idea coming out of him, but not taking Ginter as a FB and een not in the squad, who was great at Dortumund playing this postion, ending by taking Kimmich he never tested there despite having 2 years time, or taking Höwedes just like 2 years ago. Durm is something you could mention here, too.
Striker: Its difficult but there were some options. I understand that a f.e. Kießling might be not good enough, but for what is a Podolski in the squad? Even if it is like it is now, there was the opportunity to let Sane play in this game where we got 3:0 and time to get him some playtime to get used to the tournament,but Löw decided that is a good idea to throw in Podolski. Now it would be possible to play Müller as a striker and play Sane on the side, but the first time for him in a semifinal?
6 / Central Midfield: Can there? laughable. Thanks to Löw it was always a unfit old Schweinsteiger who played there without reasons instead of proofing Weigl f.e. Now he got questionmarks over his head, a self made mess. Ginter would ne also an option here. If there would a Castro in the squad, there would have been also some decent options for this.
Castro wouldn't be bad but he doesn't want to play under Löw and Löw doesn't like him. Aside of that maybe you should've mentioned Weidenfeller, Schmelzer, Passlack, Leitner, etc. as well just so you have all of Dortmund covered. I highly doubt Ginter would've done better than Kimmich so far. Also the only reason you don't mind throwing in Weigl vs Italy is that you're a Dortmund fan. Whereas Sané in his first game vs France is problematic. It obviously is, but so is Weigl against Italy. It wasn't a bad decision to go for experience in a game vs Italy. Not sure what Durm is supposed to add. Can is rightfully there. Remember the games he had against your beloved Dortmund? The only one I agree on is Podolski.
No please no Weigl! Every BVB player who plays under Löw is one to much. Just want to point out, that Löws squad is unbalanced and not transparent or comprehensible. Kimmich is doing a great job. But Can is a mediocre player for me who would look stupid against France especially as a central midfielder.
You clearly dislike Low, but his squad selection has not been an issue. Your argument is somewhat flawed, given that Gotze actually started the first 2 games of this tourney. We can only assume that Low saw Gotze as a starter ahead of Gomez, therefore Gomez was backup to him. He not only has a horribly out of form Gotze, but now an injured Gomez. It's pretty unlucky for your 2 first choice players in that position to be unable to play(I say unable, but Gotze obviously is able to play, however he is short of form). There literally is no one, aside from those 2, that is worth a spot in the German starting XI up front (unless he uses an existing player, like Ozil/Muller).
As for CB, Howedes and Mustafi deserve to be there. Again, pretty unlucky that Hummels misses a crucial match, but Low has adequate cover. I do not agree that it is a "senseless squad", and I don't agree that there are any players that are more deserving of a spot in the squad than those already there (for the most part, Podolski is useless but that goes without saying). Germany, unfortunately, don't have any world class strikers, yet Low has done the best he could with those available.
France is surely winning this. No Hummels, Gomez, Khedira and possibly Schweini makes it favourable to France. To make it worse, Gotze is likely to be playing.
Current rumour in german media is:
I personally don't think that this will be the formation Löw chooses, but interesting nontheless.
Pretty sick we are missing Reus, Gündogan, Hummels, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Gomez, god damn.
Müller
Draxler-- Özil
Hector ---- Kroos --- Weigl----- Kimmmich
Mustafi - Boateng - Höwedes
Neuer
Hector ---- Kroos --- Weigl----- Kimmmich
Mustafi - Boateng - Höwedes
Neuer
I personally don't think that this will be the formation Löw chooses, but interesting nontheless.
Pretty sick we are missing Reus, Gündogan, Hummels, Khedira, Schweinsteiger, Gomez, god damn.
Can looked extremely good during the back end of the season at Liverpool.
And I do agree with @Balu about the line-up, although Can could be replaced by Weigl. It would be the safety version. Another plan could be to just pass France to death with dominant possession football. In that case the line-up could look like this:
Neuer
Kimmich-Boateng-Howedes-Hector
Weigl(Can)-Kroos
Muller-Ozil-Draxler
Gotze
or the surpise package that would give Evra a very bad day at the office:
Neuer
Kimmich-Boateng-Howedes-Hector
Weigl(Can)-Kroos
Sané-Ozil-Draxler
Muller
That's something similar to what I had in mind.
Kroos' and Weigl's more restraint style can be balanced out by creative support from the three mobile & flexible attacking players. So the CMs provide stability and top notch ball circulation, while the three offensive players switch positions and try the more direct stuff. In addition, both Kroos and Weigl are perfectly capable of choosing the right moment to push up higher, while their partner provides cover.
Looks balanced to me, but Löw might opt for something different, of course.
Wtf man. You do realise there are literally no other options for the positions mentioned. Even Podolski did well this season.
I'd like to know what some of the Dortmund experts like @Sphaero have to say about Weigl.