Five Conclusions from Poland 2-2 Germany

September 6th, 2011 | by: Jan | Comments Off

4-1-4-1 accommodates Germany’s attacking options and underlines Germany’s defensive weaknesses. If Jogi Löw considers 4-1-4-1 his formation of choice for next year’s Euros, then he has a lot of work to do, to get the balance between offense and defense right. It’s perfect for high scoring friendlies and against smaller teams though. The last three games of the national team were all quite entertaining. Still, Poland only needed one or two passes on the counter attack to open up acres of space. They could have scored a couple of goals more, if their finishing wasn’t so bad. Not that Germany did any better – also because: Szczesny > Gratzei.

Christian Träsch won’t be fined for his performance. Which is the one positive he can take home to Wolfsburg. If you know of any other German midfielders, central defenders or strikers Jogi Löw should try next as right-back, please get in touch with the DFB.

Arsene Wenger has some work to do. Let’s hope the Arsenal coach can return Per Mertesacker to form and teach him a thing or two about proper positioning and passing. This was an underwhelming comeback against Poland. But as long as players like Hummels or Höwedes stay fit, it won’t be our biggest concern ahead of the Euros.

Tim Wiese should stay on his line. He didn’t kung-fu kick any Polish player to hospital but played his part in both Polish goals. He shouldn’t try too hard to be a “modern” goalkeeper. He won’t have to fear that Jogi Löw invites Roman Weidenfeller anyway.

Toni Kroos finally finds the back of the net. It took him 21 games. Let’s hope we won’t have to wait another 21 games until he also finds the right position in this team. He often seems to be in the wrong place, either missing in attack or defense.