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5 Conclusions: China 1-1 Germany

May 29th, 2009 | By: Jan | 7 Comments »

Bastian Schweinsteiger 1. The German team won’t have won (m)any fans in China with this lackluster performance. Maybe the Chinese team has won some fans in Germany, as they at least showed some spirit. Watching friendlies of this team is starting to become a masochistic exercise. At least the officials of the DFB and DFL were smart enough to sign all kinds of cooperation and rights deals prior to the match. It’s hard to tell how much jet-lag and all that was involved, but such things should be considered when planning and executing such a “promo” tour. The team will now fly to Dubai almost immediately, which is only two hours ahead of Germany. Maybe that’ll make things easier.

2. China completely outran Germany in this game, allowing them to gain both territorial advantages and win many balls. Germany helped to make things easier for China with sloppy and easily interceptable passes and overall sluggishness. The defense again lacked timing and proper organization, which meant Friedrich and Huth were reduced to proving themselves with last ditch rescue attempts, caused by their unorganized defending in the first place.

These are all familiar symptoms actually, so I don’t think you can just blame it all on a long season and a strenuous travel schedule.

3. There is no need for reckless tackles, especially late ones, in a friendly. This one is for Lahm and Podolski, who both got booked for unnecessary fouls.

4. Mario Gomez is now 15 games without a goal for the national team. Jogi Löw didn’t make it easy for him with his 4-2-3-1 formation. Gomez was mostly isolated and received no service from the midfield. Jogi Löw eventually switched to a 4-4-2 formation when he brought on Gomez’ teammate Cacau, which didn’t help Gomez though, as he was the one who had to make room for him.

5. There was no one pulling the strings in midfield. With some senior players absent, it would have been encouraging to see players like Trochowski, Schweinsteiger or Hitzelsperger step up and run the show.

Tags: Bastian Schweinsteiger, China, Friendlies, Germany, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez, Philipp Lahm, Piotr Trochowski

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Comments

By Nick | May 29th, 2009 at 11:45 am

This is some sick joke right?

By Footballlives | May 29th, 2009 at 7:59 pm

I’m becoming very worried with the performance of the team. Keep making mistakes in friendlies, if the team only concentrates in the qualification, it means they can be caught out in the main tournament. I am becoming more and more scared of the match in Moscow, we have to avoid defeat there at all costs.

Loew needs to find the strengths of the team quickly, it’s no longer 2006, the players are 3 years older, many are 3 years slower, Germany needs a crisp passer in midfield. I am really worried, Germany needs to fix things quickly.

Posted from United Kingdom

By Armando | May 30th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

With Ballack, Helmes, Oezil, Mertesacker, etc out, I still think Germany shouldve played with a 4-3-3, and called up a few different players, like this:

—————–Neuer
Beck—–Metzelder—-Huth—–Lahm
Schweinsteiger–Gentner–Trochowski
——–Gomez—-Klose—-Podolski

Normally though i would put Helmes in Gomez’ spot in the starting 11 because while Gomez’s club form is very impressive, his national team form is mediocre, similar to Gilardino with Italy.

By Armando | May 30th, 2009 at 7:32 pm

Or maybe Hitzlsperger instead of Gentner for a more attacking approach to the game. Either way though, i think Germany couldve definitely won this game if they played right and made the right decisions.

By FootballLives | May 31st, 2009 at 12:42 am

Another thing that is a big worry, none of the German keepers are playing for teams that have good defences. Adler’s team conceded 46 goals, Enke’s team conceded 69, YES 69, Wiese 50 goals, Neuer 35 goals, although Schalke love defending a lot.

I really think if Enke is thinking about being number 1 in 2010, he must leave Hannover, the goal against China looked very soft, he has become used to conceding goals hence he is losing some of his ability. Lets see how Neuer does in the U-21’s, but all the keepers need to straighten up, other wise recall Lehmann.

Posted from United Kingdom

By Nick | June 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Seems like Westermann is back in defense. There wasn’t much choice, but seems like Low can’t break bad habits. Huth will probably never be selected again and the only substitutions will be in the 60 minute with Low panicking about another media embarrassment.

By Nick | June 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm

0-4 at the half! Westermann should be a striker. Gomez has scored twice, he also missed two sitters, but at least he has broken his duck. Neuer made some great reaction saves, but also made a rookie mistake.

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