cgf wrote:I'm with Foye on the backline, there's nothing I want more than for Friedrich not to play in this tournament. I don't care if it's Boateng, my choice, or Badstuber playing with Merte just so long as it's not Friedrich. On the Left I actually don't mind Badstuber taking the spot. He's not very offensive, but that just means Lahm will have more freedom to press forward as our backline turns into a back 3 when we're in possession, if we had a more traditional holding midfielder I'd be championing Aogo for the spot, but with Khedira and Schweini both liking to charge forward I think we'll be fine with a more defensive option at the position.
I don't like Friedrich that much, either, but he was quite superb against Bosnia. Showed great tactical awareness, had good positioning and, with his experience, made better decisions than Mertesacker. Was just one game, but based on that, I'd start him in the center. He's a disaster on the wing and I'm sure Jogi did realize that too, finally, but he can be CD. Hasn't the individual class to defend world class strikers, but no German defender has that (except Lahm, and he doesn't count
)
Boateng biggest weakness is his positioning in the zone. He had some bad moments against Hungary in which he let the opposing wing get behind the defense by bad positioning and gambling for interceptions. He's at his best when he can man-mark a strong opposing wing without having to worry too much about where he has to be at a certain moment. The best games of his career came against Robben and Ribery, both of whom he took out of the game in the direct matchups. So, as long we aren't facing strong wingers, we should stay with Badstuber/Aogo at LB. All three are inexperienced, but I expect less mistakes from Aogo (because of his good positioning) and Badstuber (because he stays back all the time) than Boateng. If we get far enough to encounter a really worldclass winger, Boateg can give the black Berti Vogts of 2010. Messi in the quarterfinals would be the first candidate, perhaps Rooney if Germany or England fail to finish first in their groups.
Then we'd sacrifice an OM (or perhaps even the striker if Klose hasn't found his game and nobody else stepped up) and play a 5-4-1 or 5-5-0,
------------Neuer------------
----Friedrich-Mertesacker----
Lahm-------Boateng-------Janogo
-----Schweini----Khedira-----
where Boateng would be following Messi or Rooney over the whole pitch and not be a classical 6. On defense, this becomes a normal 4-man line with Lahm, Merte, Friedich, Jansen/Aogo with Boateng roaming free to put Messi on a leash. On offense. Janaogo and Lahm go forward and leave a 3-man line behind, where Boateng secures the left side, Friedrich the right side and Mertesacker is just being Mertesacker...
That's overkill against Australia, Serbia or Ghana, but if we have to stop one of the best offensive players of the world (C.Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney, Ribery, Robben, not really sure about Spain, Italy or Brazil), Boateng becomes a key player.
As for the striker I actually think Keissling could do pretty well, opposing defenders will have to drop back just because of the cannon he has attached to his hip, plus he'll be very helpful for set pieces and corners. He's not really your traditional false nine, but I think he can manage to draw the defense out of shape and create space for Ozil, Poldi and Marin/Mueller. Plus Keissling I think has the best finishing touch on this squad, and that's been my biggest concern for our offense as we do very well creating chances, we just struggle to convert them.
Kießling is difficult to assess. He had a good year in the Bundesliga, but has never really impressed with the national squad. Just as Gomes and Klose, he works better in an two striker system than being alone upfront. He's also too limited technically to not be a liability in our quick attacking games.
There's just no ideal solution for the lone striker spot in this squad, but basing on what I've seen and read in the last weeks, I'd say that Kießling is the most unlikely candidate for the spot. Current order is imho: Klose, Cacau, Gomez, Kießling.
We could bench Müller and play a 4-4-2 with two attacking wings and deep holding player (similar to what Holland uses).
-------Schweini--Khedira-------
--Özil------------------Marin--
-------Klose-----Podolski------
That would be the best solution for our striker problem. but that's not the game Jogi Löw wants to play. It creates a pretty big hole in the center and encourages long, high balls, two things Löw hates to see. We'll be playing a quick short-passing game, and that's just not possible with two pure strikers.
out of the way when Özil and Khedira start their one-two game or Podolski starts from deep to get a through pass from Schweinsteiger. 