France were far worse than Germany yesterday but apparently Germany are the only ones underperforming. Figures.

As long a Loew plays that fraud Lahm in his natural position, the Germans should be fine. I think it's well and truly established that's he's definitely no midfielder now. His positional sense is awful, he has zero vision and he slows down the play far too much.

2-0 Germany.

Löw will start Lahm at DM again, though, and it will cost us. Mark my words.

Just re-watched the game. Dat bottle job from Algeria

Philipp Lahm is one of my favorite players, but FFS move him back to defense

I largely echo Viva in his assessment on Mustafi and Hoewedes. Both are capable of playing at full-back, but goodness me...this is not the time for that. What must Khedira be thinking?

Germany really just lack balance overall. They are always dangerous even when they shouldn't be, but I think they have flattered to deceive. The tragedy is if Loew truly fixes these tactical problems, they might just be clear favorites at this point in the tournament.

Looking forward, I think France have the edge here just based on their form and their setup. Beyond that, it's any one's game. Not sure why Benz is getting hate again either. He's been leading this French side from the front all tournament.

How has Franced choked  They destroyed the first two teams they played and won the pool.... rested 5 starters in the 3rd game.  Against the *bleep* Nigerians, it was the first time they played at 1pm in 30+ degree and 80% humidity weather... they started sluggish and the tactics were wrong.  They created 6 CLEAR scoring chances:
1-  Pogba volley
2-  Debuchy uncontested volley in the box
3-  Griezmann one-on-on shot
4-  Benz one-on-one shot
5-  Benz header
6-  Cabaye shot that hit the underside of the bar

I'm not even talking about the decent chances.... these were all the great ones

Sorry we didn't pound Nigeria 5-0 like all the other supposed great teams are doing in this tournament.  It's the elimination rounds of WC though if you hadn't noticed.  I looked through the games of the WC winners in these rounds from 1998 until now.  It's strange that none of the games involved more than a one goal game.

So really, with France and Germany winning by two goals.... if one wins the WC, it would be the first WC winning team to beat an opponent in elimination rounds by more than 1 goal

Keep coming though.

"that fraud Lahm" Gil, really.

And no, the exact opposite is true, it is now well established he can be an excellent midfielder. Just not for this Germany team, under Löw.

Nothing wrong with Lahm as a midfielder... the problem is playing 4 CBs as the back 4 when you need a fullback who knows how to overlap. Not to mention that you're playing 3 10s as your forward line It makes no sense.

Problem with Lahm is no quality FB is availaible or so Jogi things and you play one of the best FB's at DM/CM when you have quality DM/CM's and Lahm is not WC in mid-field.

Other that Lahm/Kroos/Schweni are all static, slow and not that creative. A Goetze or Ozil is required to unlock defenses while also the pace and width of a Schurrle is required in the wing.

Having 2 CAM's at Wing only works when you have fast technical Wing-backs to overlap and compensate for lack of width

I think Lahm is perfectly fine at DM, he's brilliant as a midfielder. It's just that Khedira and Schweinsteiger are too, and Lahm is the only world class fullback.

It just makes no sense to bench a great player just so you can play Lahm out of position, and then replace Lahms original position with someone else played out of position.

Neuer is very entertaining but he sometimes gambles too much, better players could take advantage of that imo,especially sneidjer. Remember the Ronaldo's shot that bounced over the bar

Adit wrote:Neuer is very entertaining but he sometimes gambles too much, better players could take advantage of that imo,especially sneidjer. Remember the Ronaldo's shot that bounced over the bar

Yeah I said this in chat the other day. Quick thinking Improvisers like Messi, Ronaldo, Ibra, Suarez etc would punish him.

Thats true, but some of his "risk taking" to me were very much needed and not risks at all.

2-3 of those rush outs saved the Algerian forward from having 1 v 1 with him.

Also, Neuer played against Messi and Ronaldo, and wasn't punished.

... But was punished by stankovic. Let me repeat that: stankovic.

VivaStPauli wrote:Also, Neuer played against Messi and Ronaldo, and wasn't punished.

Ronaldos shot bounced over the bar,got lucky..i cant get the Video.


About guess working (not about the sweeping alone any way) Btw from my experience, Guess working works perfectly fine against normal players. Yes, the success rate is very high.It is when you face genius players you look like a fool for guessing them. Remember Van persie scoring a 180 degree goal on Valdes when valdes jumped early to catch that virtual cross? that situation 10/10 times your normal player goes for the cross. To me Guess working is unreliable and the chances are not worth taking when you could just as well cost u the team a stupid goal. It should be a last resort imo.

I feel like Germany's line is way too high. It's one thing to try to dominate the ball and to push up, but those guys are way too high. The amount of times long balls just bypassed the midfield and put Algeria in a position to counter wasnt normal. It could have gone extremely bad for Germany on another night.

Mr Nick09 wrote:I feel like Germany's line is way too high. It's one thing to try to dominate the ball and to push up, but those guys are way too high. The amount of times long balls just bypassed the midfield and put Algeria in a position to counter wasnt normal. It could have gone extremely bad for Germany on another night.

This.

The entire tactic is retarded. I hate what Löw is doing just so much.

VivaStPauli wrote:I think Lahm is perfectly fine at DM, he's brilliant as a midfielder. It's just that Khedira and Schweinsteiger are too, and Lahm is the only world class fullback.

It just makes no sense to bench a great player just so you can play Lahm out of position, and then replace Lahms original position with someone else played out of position.

exactly.

The Franchise wrote:Thats true, but some of his "risk taking" to me were very much needed and not risks at all.

2-3 of those rush outs saved the Algerian forward from having 1 v 1 with him.

that's the point.

He takes on the 1 v 1 situations according to his rules, i.e. before the attacker can control the ball.
That's Neuer's game, he does it all the time, of course it is a risk, if he's late and makes a foul he's off.

Yet he's rarely late and never sent off so I guess that should tell us he is very well capable of judging and estimating the risk in relation to his capabilities.

Would be much more risky to let the attackers control the through balls and have a go at his goal.

He's a genius goalkeeper, plain and simple.

I fail to understand Löws experimenting and I fail to see how much more proof that he is WRONG he needs untill he is willing to change something.
We do have a great team and all options to put the players in
to places that will let them excell to their full capability - yet they are forced into playing a system that does not suit them...

I do not get it - and if we get kicked out it is absolutley not to blame on the team!

VivaStPauli wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:I feel like Germany's line is way too high. It's one thing to try to dominate the ball and to push up, but those guys are way too high. The amount of times long balls just bypassed the midfield and put Algeria in a position to counter wasnt normal. It could have gone extremely bad for Germany on another night.

This.

The entire tactic is retarded. I hate what Löw is doing just so much.

high line and no persuasive pressing is a recipe for disaster.

Gil wrote:France were far worse than Germany yesterday but apparently Germany are the only ones underperforming. Figures.

As long a Loew plays that fraud Lahm in his natural position, the Germans should be fine. I think it's well and truly established that's he's definitely no midfielder now. His positional sense is awful, he has zero vision and he slows down the play far too much.

Schuerrle Mueller Oezil
Khedira Kroos Schweinsteiger
Lahm Hummels Mertesacker Boateng
Neuer

2-0 Germany.

Predict 2-0 for Germany?
Then France will win because everything you "predicted" about France was wrong like "Switzerland gonna top the group E" -> France topped the group
"Ribery is out then France is going to flop in big tournaments as usual" -> Quarter finals which is considered as a good WC for France.
"Switzerland gonna smash France" -> France 5 - 2 Switzerland

I'll clarify what I meant regarding Lahm. He's not doing bad at all honestly, as you've all said, but is he really needed in midfield? Is this where he best helps this team? I don't think this is about what he's actually doing...it's about the imbalance this brings to the midfield. It's not really his fault honestly, but there's also not much he can do about it either purely because of what kind of player he is. Germany need an enforcer in front of that defense. Lahm ain't it and neither is Schweini. Too much silk and not enough steel for my liking.

So if we can't answer those questions with a definitive yes, then he needs to go back to FB where he will be much more effective than everyone we've seen thus far.

Mclewis we're with you there 100%.

I was merely replying to Gil who claimed it was 'now well established Lahm is no midfielder', you know, after he played a fantastic season as a midfielder for us.

VivaStPauli wrote:I don't believe in the Germany as mentally weak meme, to be honest. I think it's about 50% tactics, 25% bad luck, and 25% the fact that sometimes the other team is just better.

This, and this btw is the appropriate and definite reply to almost everytime this 'mentality' stuff is brought up, for whatever team.

I am going for France for several reasons. One is that they were my predicted semi finalist even before the tournament began and it's no fun to change that now. The second is that while Germany's system lacks balance and their defence is laughable, France are one of the few or maybe even only team in the tournament having quality in almost all positions on the pitch. The third is that while some years back I may have gone for Germany because of their mental strength and winning mentality I don't think this generation of Germans barring one or two exceptions such as Thomas Muller have that. So this becomes more of a football contest with no mental edge for either team.

France to win.

Sticking by my gun.

Pour La Liberte et Fraternite, Allez Les Bleus!