Joachim Löw’s side has small glitches that need to be addressed immediately. It is the small details that need to be worked on in order to make a good team into a great one, if not a historic one. Here are five changes that Low must make before World Cup 2014:
The Integration of a Left-back/Right-back :
Germany has only one full-back as far as the fans are concerned: Philipp Lahm. Jerome Boateng, Benedikt Howedes and Holger Badstuber can all play as a left-back or a right-back but none of them is a permanent solution. Boateng, Badstuber and Howedes are all naturally central defenders. Marcel Schmelzer does occupy a left-back berth for Dortmund.
Unfortunately, Schmelzer has been less than convincing in his national team outings. Dennis Aogo and Marcel Jansen are no longer part of the national side as far as Löw is concerned. The best option for Löw currently is perhaps to place Lars Bender there. In the Euros, he played as a right-back against Denmark and achieved some success.
A Proper Partnership in Central Defence:
Holger Badstuber and Mats Hummels very rarely starred together in the qualifiers for Euro 2012. Only during the tournament itself did they start playing with each other consistently. Against Italy, it was painfully obviously that the two required more match practice to develop a great partnership.
Both defenders have their own weaknesses. Hummels isn’t great in the air. Badstuber, as good as he is, concedes some rather pathetic goals. Boateng is another option; his weakness is his lack of focus. Nonetheless, the best pairing is seemingly that of Badstuber and Hummels and hence, this is the partnership Löw should continue to use for the next two years unless an injury disrupts it.
Integration of Mario Götze:
Germany is filled with midfielders gifted with pace and perfectly suited to counter-attacks. They lack a midfielder who can create when presented with the most difficult of situations. Müller, Lukas Podolski, Marco Reus, Andre Schuerrle and Julian Draxler are all midfielders of similar mould.
One player who is gifted with immense creativity is Toni Kroos. Unfortunately, Löw considers him a defensive midfielder and does not play him in his best position, in the hole behind the striker. Özil is also creative; unfortunately, he doesn’t bring the same amount of creativity into the side as he previously used to.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is also creative; however, injuries have seen his influence on the pitch decline even though he is gradually returning to form. The solution is perhaps to integrate Mario Götze into the side.
Götze is known as the ‘German Messi’. He is a creator who is blessed with speed and strength as well. He could be the one to break down tough defences and land Germany a cup that has eluded them since 1990. Götze of-course has his own injury issues to deal with currently and isn’t starting games for Dortmund just yet.
A New Striker:
The debate about Mario Gomez will last as long as the striker plays on. Make no mistake about it: Gomez is an innate poacher. However, he has failed to produce in semi-finals and finals for both club and country. Gomez is currently injured leaving him out of the picture momentarily. Germany’s main striker for the past decade has been of-course, Miroslav Klose.
Klose is the striker who is best suited to Germany’s style. His conversion rate in tough situations is far better than Gomez’s. However, nobody should forget Klose is 34. The 2014 World Cup will be his swansong provided he maintains his form and does not get injured.
Klose even spoke of having to drag his ‘cadaver’ over the pitch for Germany and having to train harder to keep up with the youngsters. He needs an able back-up, somebody who can play like him and who can put in the amount of effort that he does on a regular basis.
Among the options are Lukas Podolski, Müller and Schürrle. These players however don’t play in the front position for their respective clubs. Podolski, who has ample experience for the position due to his days of playing there until 2006, is a possible choice.
Other options include the likes of young Samed Yesil. Patrick Helmes was in great form; however, his chances of a return are very little due to his current long-term ligament injury. Löw does not want to consider Stefan Kiessling despite the striker’s good form. Nils Petersen of-course remains another choice. The bottom line is that this is the time for Löw to bring a new striker into the picture as Klose won’t be around for much longer.
A Winning Mentality:
The last piece of the puzzle is of-course the ‘m’ word. German teams of the past have always consisted of players with strong personalities- the likes of Stefan Effenberg and Michael Ballack come to mind. This generation however is not associated with mental strength and self-belief.
Prior to the match against Italy, the nerves were evident in Lahm and Löw’s words. Löw failed to use the options available to him and played an injured Schweinsteiger. Kroos, who had had a good season with Bayern, should have started next to Sami Khedira. Reus and Klose should have started the match.
Germany it seems always goes into a shell in semi-finals. They play to stop the opponent rather than to their strengths. This is of-course Löw’s doing. Germany needs to express themselves in the final stages of tournament as well as they do in the earlier stages and this definitely requires self-belief.
Matthias Sammer recently said that German football only looks at the ‘overall’ picture; the members of the DFB no longer look at the small issues that has seen Dortmund, Bayern, Bremen, Leverkusen and of-course the national side fail to win major club and international tournaments. The teams are good enough- unfortunately, the belief isn’t there at times.
The question about mentality obviously raises question marks over the captain of the side- German captains of the past have been outspoken players who have never failed to give their opinion. Whether Philipp Lahm is the best choice is questionable for both club and country.
Lahm will continue to lead by example it seems. He is not the kind to bark at his team-mates. Let’s hope that he develops into a better leader ahead of 2014.
These are only some of the small details that Löw needs to resolve. However, resolving these issues will be a start as the national side begins its journey to Brazil 2014, with the golden cup firmly in sight.
