Kevin Kuranyi Stays Home

May 3rd, 2010 | by: Nick |

Here is an excerpt from Kevin Kuranyi’s homepage…

“As most of you might know now I won’t be at the WM in SA. Like every footballer I have dreamed since I was a little kid of taking part in a World Cup. This dream is for a second time shattered. It’s clear that I am saddened by this decision.”

“I have given my best. I know that in the past I have caused a lot of trouble – by leaving the stadium against Russia. For that I have personally and publicly apologized. I have given my all performance-wise this season too, but this is the decision of the Bundestrainer that I accept and respect.”

“Naturally I wish the trainer and the team the best for SA. And I will cross my fingers like very fan in front of the television.”

So Kevin Kuranyi won’t be going to South Africa. He’s given his all, kept a low profile, and even had enough class to wish the team the best. Unfortunately Löw has made it clear Kuranyi is not part of his tactical considerations or personel plans even if he has forgiven him for what happened in October.

I think we might have known this all along. Kuranyi has proven that he is a decent footballer in all respects, but he doesn’t really fit into the system in place nor is he in terms of performance that much different from our current fourth striker option Stefan Kießling. You can’t help though to feel a little sorry for his situation, but the decision was probably the right one.

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Anish Nair

I never liked him at all.. Anyone who weighs Kuranyi over Gomez should flash back to the Confed. Cup 2005 whe he alone squandered innumerable oppurtunîties…

Still feel sorry for him.. After all, world cup is the ultimate dream for any footballer…

But its Löw’s decision… Had Helmes not suffered injury this season, he would have joîned Miro, Poldi, Mario & Kießling.. Instead, it seems Cacau..
A Kap

Why do I get the feeling that a lot more hinges on this decision for Loew, than simply leaving Kuranyi out? It is interesting now, since maybe other than Kiessling, Germany might have no real aerial threat in the box (and how much of a threat he is, I’m not sure.)
tomas

I think almost everyone knows that Kevin wasnt going, and IF he did he would see much pitch time anyway. This is really a non-story. The REAL story is who will Jogi be bringing for mids and backs?!?!?!
astral

‘Germany might have no real aerial threat in the box ‘

don’t know how you’re forgetting about Klose – probably the biggest aerial threat in the whole tournament. See his goal last week for reference:
http://bayern.theoffside.com/team-news/borussia-monchengladbach-vs-fc-bayern-munich-matchday-32.html
http://bundesliga.theoffside.com Jan

I think Jogi Löw would have been much better off, if he had chosen this line of communication (”I forgive you for your half-time escape, but unfortunately you don’t fit my tactics and system”) earlier. As in: not too long after the Russia match actually. But it was apparent, that just neglecting Kuranyi for disciplinary reasons was far too convenient.

It’s the same problem with his “performance principle”. Absolutely nobody buys it anymore anyway, that Löw selects players purely based on their performances. He has his darlings. He has players he feels simply fit better into his system etc. It’s again a problem of bad communication by Löw. He gives a completely out of form Klose (for club and country) a new chance game after game, until he pays of Löw’s trust and becomes the matchwinner against e.g. Finland. Others only get one chance for ten minutes late in a game.

Should Löw decide to extend his contract, I hope that he learned from the past four years and adopts a new line of communication. Magath suggested that it never hurts to be as unspecific as possible as a coach and to keep as many doors open at all times as possible, because you never know what happens and when you might need a player. So maybe Löw should also forget about publicly announcing any type of selection criteria and simply be unspecific as well. Otherwise he should simply be much more honest and explain why certain players currently aren’t featuring in his plans – without silly excuses.
A Kap

@astral, I wasn’t forgetting about Klose. That was probably the only headed goal he has had all season. If you look at his goals over the past few seasons, Klose has gone into a downward spiral aerially. He’s still a good player, but I’m not convinced of his heading ability anymore.
kilippy

Klose has chsnged his game if u monitor his career. From 2002 world cup, he has no skills but his heading ability, hence scoring all 5 goals with his head. After his dip in form in Euro 2004, he changed his game that he’s able to run and take on defenders 1-on-1, which I think to date, he’s still the only national striker that can do that. I dont see that in Podolski, Gomez, Cacau or kiessling….who all rely heavily on service….
Martin

Latest from the Sueddeutsche Zeitung web site: Rene Adler is definitely out of the World Cup. So, presumably it’s going to be Neuer in goal now, with all of two caps to his name.

SZ speculates on the third goalie coming into the team, and predictably the L-word has been mentioned again, but on balance they reckon it will be Butt, with Weidenfelder (the obvious other name) considered too volatile to settle into third man mode.
http://australia.worldcupblog.org Luka

Rolfes is out as well. Am I right to think that he won’t really be missed, given you have Schweini and Khedira?
http://germany.worldcupblog.org Nick

Neuer is quality wise equal to Adler. It won’t make sense to choose Jens as third because he already has announced his retirement and would frnakly make too much commotion. This goes for Weidenfelder too who has made one too many public personal slights to be considered. It will likely go to Butt, because of his experience and his ability to keep his mouth shut when it matters.
mukhe

great
basel

kevin is a good but not a great player so no loss for germany. Cacau in my opinion is a must as he is having a great year and in the argentina game was the only striker making any impact. Ballack has to prove he can also lead and be effective as i didn’t see his impact in recent games either.
Adler is i think second best to Neuer who has a great upside.
I think Loew has to start showing his judgment and pick Hummels and Howedes and taking out Taschi for sure.