World Cup: Group G discussion

Löw has never won anything, besides the Austrian league and a fluke German cup in the nineties.

How this guy came to be entrusted with the most talented German squad in decades and the most prestigious job in German football really is a mystery.

Probably something to do with satanism or the freemasons, that's why he never shows his forehead, there's probably some kind of mark there

He makes us play good qualification though, aided by our notorious luck in qualification group draws.

Reus injured looked bad. Might still make it for the Semis.

Ghana priest is doing some job isn't he...

Well, let's hope Marco Reus isn't that badly injured. If he's indeed out, then it might be interesting whom Löw takes along as replacement. Some options are Kevin Volland, Max Meyer, Max Kruse, or André Hahn.

Hapless_Hans wrote:Löw has never won anything, besides the Austrian league and a fluke German cup in the nineties.

How this guy came to be entrusted with the most talented German squad in decades and the most prestigious job in German football really is a mystery.

Probably something to do with satanism or the freemasons, that's why he never shows his forehead, there's probably some kind of mark there

He makes us play good qualification though, aided by our notorious luck in qualification group draws.

So true. Apart from getting the job how has he managed to retain it for eight long years? At least after Euro 2012 he should definitely have been shown the door. Maybe a suitable candidate was not available and going for anything but the tried and tested was too risky so close to the world cup. After WC 2014 unless he somehow manages to win the tournament he should surely be let go.

Well, if you just go by points per match, Jogi Löw is still the most successful Germany coach in history with 2.21 points per match with 105 matches played (if everything is calculated with 3-points for a win), that is 54.5% wins vs 24.3% losses (although Berti Vogts with 2.18 points per match in 102 matches is close behind). He "only" needs to win a major tournament now. ^^

Yes that's also true rwo. Unfortunately at this level even reaching the final is not considered enough. The world makes a very clear difference between winners and losers.

The more I read the more strange it seems for sure.... U would think a country like Germany would have loads of top managers in line for the job...

The more I think about it, Portugal is no joke, they have been together for years as a team, Ronaldo firing, they could spring a surprise if Germany is not careful!

The more I think about it the more I think it's probably better to finish second in this group.

Avoiding Brazil until a potential final is probably for the best. Argentina and France could potential be opponents for the winner of this group as well.

Didn't we beat Portugal like 3 times in a row now? More afraid of Löws tactical choking in the knockouts tbh.

VivaStPauli wrote:Didn't we beat Portugal like 3 times in a row now? More afraid of Löws tactical choking in the knockouts tbh.

Well it's not like Portugal have never beaten Germany and honestly if Ronaldo and Pepe are healthy I would fancy their chances to win the group convincingly.

rwo power wrote:I think the German players are too good not to get out of the group, no matter what Jogi Löw tries.

agreed!

Hoping for USA and germany to advance although I'd feel bad for Portugal then - yet. It increases my chances of TV Coverage on non cable network if USA stays in the game

I'm so so SO annoyed Ronaldo isn't fully fit, I'd totally give Portugal a good chance to beat Germany if CR7 was playing and Ghana and USA both have a bit of surprise factor about them, might knock Germany out early on.

BarcaLearning wrote:The more I read the more strange it seems for sure.... U would think a country like Germany would have loads of top managers in line for the job...

The DFB-coach job pays considerably less than high-profile club posts, plus the whole country is out to crucify you if things don't work well. Dunno if many top club coaches will like that too much.

BarcaLearning wrote:The more I think about it, Portugal is no joke, they have been together for years as a team, Ronaldo firing, they could spring a surprise if Germany is not careful!

I don't rule that out either. Germany come second in their group, thrash Belgium in the second round and then face Argentina in the quarters. It's as if it's destined that to do anything great at a world cup Argentina must first get past Germany.

Zealous wrote:The more I think about it the more I think it's probably better to finish second in this group.

Avoiding Brazil until a potential final is probably for the best. Argentina and France could potential be opponents for the winner of this group as well.

What? If you finish 2nd you get Argentina in the quarters. If you finish 1st you get France. Who would you rather have? You want to finish 2nd just to avoid a potential semi with Brazil and take on Spain or Italy instead. This Brazil team is seriously being overrated at this forum. I say a semi is too far away to plan for.

You just try to win every single match you play, that's probably the best strategy.

messixaviesta wrote:

Zealous wrote:The more I think about it the more I think it's probably better to finish second in this group.

Avoiding Brazil until a potential final is probably for the best. Argentina and France could potential be opponents for the winner of this group as well.

What? If you finish 2nd you get Argentina in the quarters. If you finish 1st you get France. Who would you rather have? You want to finish 2nd just to avoid a potential semi with Brazil and take on Spain or Italy instead. This Brazil team is seriously being overrated at this forum. I say a semi is too far away to plan for.

Brazil comprehensively beat Spain and Italy and the tournament is on their home ground. I think it's fair to label them as favourites.

rwo power wrote:

BarcaLearning wrote:The more I read the more strange it seems for sure.... U would think a country like Germany would have loads of top managers in line for the job...

The DFB-coach job pays considerably less than high-profile club posts, plus the whole country is out to crucify you if things don't work well. Dunno if many top club coaches will like that too much.

Thx for the insight rwo as always. But then a lot of nations face that problem. Maybe Germany FA or whatever should consider their choice carefully next time and perhaps raise the wage in order to attract more top candidates if Germany dont do well this time

messixaviesta wrote:

BarcaLearning wrote:The more I think about it, Portugal is no joke, they have been together for years as a team, Ronaldo firing, they could spring a surprise if Germany is not careful!

I don't rule that out either. Germany come second in their group, thrash Belgium in the second round and then face Argentina in the quarters. It's as if it's destined that to do anything great at a world cup Argentina must first get past Germany.

True. And imagine if that did happen that Portugal play Argentina, that Ronaldo vs Messi rivalry and fight to be the best would be taken even higher level It really could even be Messi's or Ronaldo's WC. Probably they both will get another chance next WC, but u just feel this year has to be their career's peak. Intriguing

Germany actually have lots of promising managers, more than many other nations, at least, but our FA is utterly in love with Löw for some reason.
Well I know the reason, he's good at building the team, instilling a style of play, and refining their technique.
He does, however, utterly suck at tactics, sadly.

messixaviesta wrote:

Zealous wrote:The more I think about it the more I think it's probably better to finish second in this group.

Avoiding Brazil until a potential final is probably for the best. Argentina and France could potential be opponents for the winner of this group as well.

What? If you finish 2nd you get Argentina in the quarters. If you finish 1st you get France. Who would you rather have? You want to finish 2nd just to avoid a potential semi with Brazil and take on Spain or Italy instead. This Brazil team is seriously being overrated at this forum. I say a semi is too far away to plan for.

Sorry bro but no one will want to play Brazil until the final. In a final anything can happen and the pressure will be ridiculously high but before then I can't see Brazil losing a game, not when they have shown that they raise their level with their high intensity football.

imo Germany/Portugal can beat Spain/Argentina and reach the final.

So with purely the final in mind I'd much rather face Argentina than Brazil on paper.

Of course I could be completely wrong about this and a team should never think about not winning or getting a result when they play any game.

M99 wrote:

messixaviesta wrote:

Zealous wrote:The more I think about it the more I think it's probably better to finish second in this group.

Avoiding Brazil until a potential final is probably for the best. Argentina and France could potential be opponents for the winner of this group as well.

What? If you finish 2nd you get Argentina in the quarters. If you finish 1st you get France. Who would you rather have? You want to finish 2nd just to avoid a potential semi with Brazil and take on Spain or Italy instead. This Brazil team is seriously being overrated at this forum. I say a semi is too far away to plan for.

Brazil comprehensively beat Spain and Italy and the tournament is on their home ground. I think it's fair to label them as favourites.

Yes perhaps but the turnaround is incredible. Before Scolari took over they were down in the doldrums. In so little time has he really managed to change so much or was the Confed a one off. I don't know for sure but I have a feeling Brazil is being at least slightly overrated right now.

BarcaLearning wrote:True. And imagine if that did happen that Portugal play Argentina, that Ronaldo vs Messi rivalry and fight to be the best would be taken even higher level :DIt really could even be Messi's or Ronaldo's WC. Probably they both will get another chance next WC, but u just feel this year has to be their career's peak. Intriguing

Yes the hype around that match would exceed all rationale.

Portugal have never won any top international tournament in their entire history, not even a Euro, and not even with the great Eusebio. If Cristiano can actually win the world cup for Portugal he may be considered greater than even Pele. For a player who at world cups has done nothing but flopped this kind of turnaround would easily be the eighth wonder of the world for me.

Yes both of them will probably play one more tournament. Cristiano is almost sure to play. In Messi's case it's a little doubtful. If you look at Argentina's history in pretty much every world cup the team is built around a new hero. Only Maradona and Messi are exceptions because of who they are. Consider this - Kempes(1978), Maradona(1982), Maradona(1986), Maradona(1990), Batistuta(1994), Ortega(1998), Veron(2002), Riquelme(2006), Messi(2010), Messi(2014). If Messi cannot even take Argentina to the semi finals this time I think the Argentines will give up on him and find a new hero for 2018. Messi may either be playing in a support role then or even be completely out of the picture. In a nutshell it's definitely the best chance for either of them because four years later they are unlikely to be at the top of their game and by that time the best players in the world may be some totally different names.

VivaStPauli wrote:Germany actually have lots of promising managers, more than many other nations, at least, but our FA is utterly in love with Löw for some reason.
Well I know the reason, he's good at building the team, instilling a style of play, and refining their technique.
He does, however, utterly suck at tactics, sadly.

So true. BTW Germany has the maximum number of managers at WC 2014 of any nation - four.

Moved the Brazil discussion into the Group A thread. Back to Germany / Portugal / USA / Ghana please

By the way, Manuel Neuer is back to proper GK training as of today. It is still undecided whether he or Roman Weidenfeller will be between the sticks for the Portugal group match, though.

messixaviesta wrote:

VivaStPauli wrote:Germany actually have lots of promising managers, more than many other nations, at least, but our FA is utterly in love with Löw for some reason.
Well I know the reason, he's good at building the team, instilling a style of play, and refining their technique.
He does, however, utterly suck at tactics, sadly.

So true. BTW Germany has the maximum number of managers at WC 2014 of any nation - four.

Ohh, interesting, who are the one?