Turkey (x), Belgium ( )

October 9th, 2011 | by: Jan | Comments Off

Sorry, I couldn’t write a post discussing the game. I didn’t manage to watch it, recorded it instead, but only had time to skip through it.

A few quick thoughts:

• A great game for Neuer to showcase what sets him apart from most other goalkeepers in the game. Instead of just clearing the danger or making a save, he also always tries to quickly initiate a counter attack. With quite some success this time around, as he basically set up the first two goals.
• The midfield looked a bit disjointed. Sami Khedira didn’t entirely convince me. Toni Kroos has a realistic chance to win the starting spot alongside Schweinsteiger.
• Lukas Podolski has proven with Cologne, that he can be devastating on the counter attack, while he also noticeably improved his defensive game. It would have made more sense to start Schürrle and then sub in Podolski, when Germany were leading, and Turkey had to open up.
• I’m not really happy with the experimental feel of the defense. The right-back position continues to be deserted, while Löw happily shuffles through different central defensive pairings. I hope Löw eventually finds whatever he’s looking for in his back-line.
• We have great depth.

Now all that’s left to do is beat Belgium, set the new record for Euro qualifiers and experiment some more. Götze won’t play, Özil and Klose could return. Toni Kroos could start. Maybe/Hopefully Marco Reus will get more minutes to prove himself.

Elsewhere, Germany’s youth teams are doing really well. The U21 kept their perfect record and beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-0. The U20 beat Switzerland 4-1 as part of a round of international matches. The U19 beat Montenegro 2-0 and qualified for next years elite round, which determines the teams taking part in the U19 Euros.