There isn’t a country in the world that wouldn’t rue being paired against the Germans in any soccer competition, and certainly the US is no exception. Possessing a youth system second to only the Spanish, Germany has had a steady supply of world class talent pumped through the Bundesliga. After all that, you have the inspirational rise of Borussia Dortmund supplying new players to the national team as well as Bayern Munich atop the world’s stage.
But the whispers around the street corners of good old Deutschland generally aren’t optimistic. The problem? Germany’s third place curse. It isn’t so much the fact that the Germans have fallen so late in the past few competitions, but the way they’ve fallen. After leading fantastic charges in the World Cup and the Euros, and playing some of the most exciting football the world has ever seen, Germany usually ends up going out in the semifinals in humiliating fashion. The entire team seems to fall apart like a Weight Watchers member at a cupcake bakery.
It won’t be gradual, and there won’t be signs. The team will be on a streak of utter domination, annihilating lesser nations with criminal efficiency. One need only to look at the way the Germans tore apart Argentina 4-0, holding a shutout against a team that possesses some of the greatest strikers in the modern game. And then, just as easily as they win, they fall to a strong Spanish side. Fair enough, that was the year that Spain began their reign of power, but the way that every member of that German starting XI were made to look like schoolboys was cause for concern. It happened again in Euro 2012. A strong tour de force by the Germans, and then letting Mario Balotelli tear apart their defense and nab two in the first half. It was a poor showing by a team that could match the Italians player by player, and they dropped out of the semi-finals again.
So you can understand fairly well why the whispers in every living room, restaurant, and stadium are pessimistic. Soccer history often repeats itself, after all, and the Germans would surely not be the favorites if they went up against Spain or Brazil. That being said, a lot has changed in the past few years. For one, Bayern has become much, much stronger. Just as Spain bases the majority of its team and style of play in Barcelona, Bayern has been the traditional core of the German national team. Obviously many of Bayern’s players are foreigners, but the residual effect of their advanced style of play and their skill level will surely factor in to the players entering the fray. Put that on top of the fact that their German players have increased in skill level tremendously. On top of that, a new challenger has become the second in command of the national team. Dortmund and Dortmund alums make up six of the 23 man squad, only behind Bayern Munich’s seven. Those six players include big names like Reus and Gotze, players who could essentially walk onto any team in the world.
Add in a little bit of experience to the mix as well. Bayern destroyed the tiki-taka football played by Barcelona (and emulated by the Spanish national team) in a 7-0 thrashing a year ago. Throw in that the underdog Dortmund boys have beaten Real Madrid by a goal once, and lost by a goal once, both very much to the surprise of many bystanders. The confidence and the formula should be set for a perfect victory against any opponent.
Unfortunately, it’s not all that simple. There are really only two true strikes (I consider Lukas Podolski a full on striker). One is Miroslav Klose, a poacher who needs to find the net just twice to set the record for most goals scored in a World Cup. He is an aging striker who is there for ceremony, backup, and experience more than anything else. Behind him is Lukas Podolski, who although not considered a striker by some, still holds forward as his natural position. The problem with Podolski is that he’s not nearly the threat he was many years ago. While going to Arsenal saved his career, it certainly didn’t perfect the goal scoring machine and he can’t be expected to be the sniper he once was for Germany.
So, two inadequate Polish strikers are all that Germany has on offense. It’s highly likely that manager Jurgen Low will use Mario Gotze or Thomas Muller in a false nine position, almost putting them as attacking midfielders with no true striker. While both players are brilliant individually, this tactic has been known to be shaky and by no means is a cure-all solution. That leaves a midfield that is all too over packed with talent along with a defense that, with the addition of Dortmund’s young players, is more impenetrable than Fort Knox. Throw in a couple oddballs like Julian Draxler and Mesut Ozil, players who aren’t likely to start but will surely provide a deadly arsenal if used properly.
It’s also yet to be seen if recent injuries to Neuer, Schweinsteiger, and Lahm will keep them out for many games, but with Schweinsteiger’s record, he’s unlikely to be 100% for the first few games. This is a brutal blow, as he is the essential component that makes the entire German and Bayern squad. Playing without him will be like trying to work a clock with a missing gear. Add in that captain and veteran defender Phillip Lahm happens to be experiencing one of the first injuries of his career at the worst time possible and the situation grows tense. As of now, it can be expected that many Germans are on their knees praying to God that their players are miraculously healed in time, but a relatively easy group stage means that they don’t have to spend too much time at whatever the German word for a place of worship is.
In the end, it seems that the Germans are a mixed bag. They have the past few years weighing on their shoulders, but a midfield and defense that has fresh new players, players like Marco Reus, who have the ability to change a game within minutes. Add in injuries, and you never know what to expect. It should be an easy path to the semi’s, but beyond that, only fate can decide.
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