This post sets out to tell its’ story.

Season 1965/1966 to 1966/1967

Here’s the template from which to start. Notice the single curl over his right eye. Great things will eventually grow from it.

For the time being though, Netzer focused on perfecting his football skills. His Borussia Mönchengladbach side had just won promotion to the Bundesliga and would soon be synonymous with great attacking football. The team finished its’ first two Bundesliga seasons 13th and 8th respectively. Netzer also made his first steps in the German national team debuting in October 1965 in a friendly against Austria.

Season 1967/1968 to 1968/1969

Netzer started to add some depth and integrate the single rebelish curl into the system. At this point he can pass as the perfect son-in-law.

Netzer was in the process of testing the potential for commercial exploitation of his profession. Back in 1965 he had already started the publication of a stadium newspaper called “Fohlenecho” (still published today). His conservative hair style clearly indicates that he was overall still tapping in the dark though. His rise to prominence and the performances of his team would soon make him see the light. After finishing 3rd in 1968 and 1969, Borussia Mönchengladbach were ready to shape the Seventies and Netzer was ready for stardom.

Season 1969/1970 to 1970/1971

His trademark special side parting is starting to shine through, as does his marketing prowess. By 1970/1971 it’s becoming clear that he has intentions to go for length.

On the pitch things couldn’t go much better. Mönchengladbach won back to back Bundesliga titles – a first in the young league’s history and Netzer was starting to get more game time in the national team. A business plan also started to come together, which included complementing his work-in-progress hair with a ready-to-go Porsche and a night club called “Lovers Lane”. The Porsche ended up being an invaluable indicator for groupies hoping to catch a glimpse of Netzer at his night club.

Season 1971/1972 to 1972/1973

By 1971 every single hair had fallen into place, so all that was left to do was adding just that little bit of extra length to perfect his signature look. A task completed in time for the 1972/1973 season.

Netzer eventually connected all the remaining dots. Off the pitch he was dating a supermodel/abstract artist and did just about little enough to deny rumors of an affair with an actress to stay relevant in the boulevard. On the pitch his Borussia Mönchengladbach side had to temporarily make way for a certain Bayern Munich. But the two teams combined would end up strolling to Germany’s first European Championship title in 1972 – and beating England for the first time at Wembley along the way. Netzer would finish third in that year’s Ballon D’Or awards – behind Gerd Müller and Franz Beckenbauer. By the end of the 1972/1973 season, Netzer felt he had done and seen it all in Germany and decided to move on to Real Madrid. Borussia Mönchengladbach had reached the DFB-Pokal final against Cologne, which ought to be Netzer’s last game for his club. Just that the team’s coach Hennes Weisweiler wasn’t too enthused about his player’s latest career decision and benched him. The final turned out to be end-to-end stuff and one of the best in the competitions history, yet neither side could score the winner. The game, tied at 1-1, went into extra time. Then Netzer decided he had enough of it, substituted himself and scored the winning goal three minutes later. The legend was complete.

A happy 65th birthday Günter Netzer!

The youth level European Championship hat-trick is therefore complete: U17, U19 and U21 champions. Congratulations.

I really wonder what is going on in Jogi’s mind. He says things like we will learn from this experience, but then goes on to field his predictable 4-2-2-2. When the Norwegians figured out our system, he went so far as to pretty much do nothing. His style of managing reminds me of FIFA 98, where each half was four-minutes and the tactics only changed when the game was paused. Of course, stopping the game threw off hand-eye coordination. The Germans players are not that unresponsive – they can adapt if prompted (maybe not Westermann).

We obviously needed a tactical change during the game, but Jogi as usual just swapped players and crossed his fingers. What’s more is that the players he selected were wrong. Since it was a friendly there was no point in playing a team of regulars for more than a half. I was surprised Marin and Özil got to play at all. Did Jogi really believe Özil could change things in less than a quarter?

The problem is even deeper than that. The fact is that his system needs to be reworked. The type of players he has now in Marin and Özil are not the same as Hitzlsperger and an-injured Ballack or bruised Frings. Whereas players like Marin cannot maximize their ability in a rigid one-pass video-game formation, players like Hitzlsperger can get burned playing such a fast paced one-touch game – if at all. The formation and play has to be designed around the next-generation, not the already fading one.

The restructuring might have to wait, but at least Jogi should actually use friendly matches more to experiment with formations than to play promotion tours with (frankly crap) teams in Asia. If he had during the game changed into a 4-1-4-1, a 4-1-3-2, or even his recent discovery 4-2-3-1 (at the half) the result would have been different. Even if we had lost worse, we would have gained something more. Who knows I might be wrong. Maybe Jogi has finally learned that Westermann can’t play as centerback. Maybe Jogi will plan ahead next time and get a real centerback like Höwedes.

Now, it’s not all Jogi’s fault.

Adler: Extremely shaky at first and lucky on more than a couple of occasions. He produced at least one superb reaction save and had good positioning. Nonetheless, the jury is still out on who the Number 1 will be for 2010.

Hinkel: Was more effective than Lahm and played with heart. He showed very quick offensive and defensive runs and good ball control. Jogi was right to call him up time and time again, it’s just a shame Jogi has not had the guts to use him over Friedrich.

Mertesacker: Indispensable and made few mistakes. He provided some good through balls and as usual made some great last-minute tackles and recoveries.

Westermann: How many goals does it take for Jogi to realize that Westermann is no good as a centerback? I am all for player development, but clearly we have other options. Watching Westermann play is a fright. He was culpable of losing the ball, hesitating, and naturally caught sitting during the goal. It’s time he is benched or played someplace where he actually normally plays. Centerback is too important a position to have someone who cannot be trusted.

Lahm: It’s one of those days. Lahm was not up to his usual standards. Save for a classic run and shot from the left, he had a relatively quiet game. Maybe it’s time Jogi gave him a well deserved rest and played someone like Schäfer? Admittedly neither would be much use in dealing with high-crosses into the box, thus all the more reason we need a dependable centerback.

Frings: Not horrible and not brilliant. He had a poor first quarter, but afterward distributed the ball all right. Nonetheless, his lack of pace showed and did not help our scoring opportunities. This might be his last call.

Ballack: OK. Despite everything we still need Ballack. He gave an effort, distributed the ball, and was generally present at least for the first-half. He may want to work on set-pieces along with the rest of the team though.

Schweni: Good not great. He played a very good possession game, caused trouble on the right, and was dangerous in front of goal. When he was forced to overtake Frings’ role he was more subdued, but still present.

Trochowski: Silent through most of the game. He should have been replaced at halftime or placed on the opposite flank later on. He did make some crosses and had a good shot blocked.

Gomez: Whistled off the pitch. Below the frustration I actually felt sorry for him. He just seems unable to score. He was incorrectly adjudged offside more than once and presented a few windows of opportunity. Still he simply isn’t world class yet or so we keep telling ourselves.

Klose: I am sorry did he play today? Made one good pass and left the rest of his form back at Bayern. Then again we don’t have Ribery do we?

Helmes & Kiessling: Both substituted on with little impact. I guess there was not much they could have done, though sticking the ball in the back of the net might have helped.

Marin & Özil: As it turns out we do have Ribery type players or at least Messi like ones! Now, if they had been allowed to play from the start or at least a half, the score-line would have been very different.

Beck: Good, but not any better than Hinkel. Despite the glowing reviews, Beck was clearly caught watching during the goal. He failed to communicate with Marin at times, but by that point the German team was frantic. Nonetheless, it is good to know we now have a quicker alternative to Friedrich. Our rightback problem may be solved. Who knows, we might also have solved our centerback problem. Friedrich can play as centerback. Hold on, my mistake, that is Westermann’s guaranteed spot!

In conclusion, we need to find a cure to this chronic illness of poor form. It appears to be a psychological problem and thus, be it Ballack or Jogi, someone needs to motivate the team throughout the game. After all this is not FIFA 98 – players are human and I am not Bundestrainer.

If you are always on the hunt for rare German national team collectibles, I strongly recommend you try and get a copy of the German edition of FIFA 09 with Kevin Kuranyi as cover boy. I already ordered my copy, which will receive a place of honor right beside my copy of last year’s German edition of Pro Evolution Soccer with Jan Schlaudraff in a Bayern Munich jersey on the cover. Marketing video games in Germany ain’t easy…

He spent some time with Andreas Köpcke and Robert Enke during training…

..then he spent some time on the bench – around 90 minutes – during Germany’s friendly against Belgium.

And I’m led to believe that that was that for Tim Wiese’s Germany career. Which leaves us with the following list of potential Jens Lehmann successors:
Frank Rost
Tim Wiese
Roman Weidenfeller
Robert Enke
Timo Hildebrand
Michael Rensing
Manuel Neuer
Rene Adler

Following their shaky performance against Austria, German news channel N24 announced: “Ballack scheisst Germany into the quarter final.” You are free to look up the word in italics in your favourite German dictionary. (via: direkter-freistoss.de)
 

 
The national broadcaster ARD improved on N24’s typo with a more creative graphical hick-up. They got the colours of the German flag mixed up, when they reported about the upcoming game against Turkey. In case you plan to start up your own country, you might also be interested to hear that no country on this planet is using this flag yet. (via: FANartisch)

A young German fan and a young Turkish fan waving their flags ahead of the semi-final between Germany and Turkey. Adidas and Nike peacefully united on the same photo.

Here is Michael Ballack addressing the public prior to the match against Turkey. What does he have to say?

Portugal’s tourism office is currently running an advertising campaign in Germany – and a few other countries I guess – promoting a holiday in Portugal and here is Cristiano Ronaldo telling you that: “My country is the best golf destination in the world.”

via: Die Welt – aus Sicht der Südtribüne

Bastian Schweinsteiger’s girlfriend Sarah Brandner holding two beers prior to the quarter final between Germany and Portugal (3-2).

(Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)