If I'm Germany, I start the old man up front. At least I know that guy can put balls in the back of the net, consistently, on the World Cup stage. Muller can as well, but sometimes that dude is so clumsy up front. Schurrle will plenty of opportunities as well, although I don't think he'll start. Podolski has a cannon and seems to elevate his game on this stage.
That midfield is ridiculous. Somebody will have to sit. You figure Ozil, Reus, Khedira and Schweinsteiger will start with Kroos as the more defensive midfielder backup and Gotze as the 2nd half offensive midfielder backup. I do realize Khedira and Schwein both have had injury concerns so that can all change but those are my expectations.
No chance Lahm floats to the midfield like he does with Bayern, too much midfield talent. Keep Lahm at right back. This group has several good strikers . . . the German defense needs to be up to task. One thing is for certain, the national team defense definitely gets an upgrade over the Bayern defense when you throw in Mertesacker and Hummels. Much more solid unit, but still a unit that you can expose.
Still, the Germans "should" win this group. The Nani/Ronaldo combo will probably give them the most fits.
yeah, klose is experienced enough that you can just throw him in the starting formation. he needs to be healthy though. he's showing his age. Müller is clumsy, absolutely, but he knows where the goal is. he's scoring a lot of goals just being in the right spot. that's a true striker quality, which aside fom Klose, no one else on the team has. Müller can at least occasionally win a header, too. neither Götze nor Reus nor Schürle do that.
i fully expect Schweinsteiger and Khedira to play the "6". Özil and Götze will battle at the CAM spot. Kroos backs up all three central midfield positions and provides competition. young Kramer is depth. Ginter can play the position in a pinch, too. i hope Reus and Schürrle start on the wings. Podolski has a wicked shot. that's about it. good option off the bench. if he can elevate his game and legitimately wrestle a staring 11 spot from Schürrle or Reus, so be it. Draxler is young and technically gifted, but very VERY inconsistent. this World Cup will be a learning experience for him.
defense is a ****ing riddle at this point. Hummels, Merte and Boateng appear to be the three centre backs fighting for two spots, although Boateng could play RB or even LB if need be. especially if Lahm does play CDM. i have no idea what our clueless coach is up to as far as Lahm is concerned. i'd prefer him to play RB in a 4-2-3-1 system. LB is a fiasco. Durm is young and inexperienced, although talented. Großkreutz is the biggest idiot you'll ever see, but at least he played decently for Dortmund over the last few season, albeit mostly as a midfielder. he does have some experience at LB and RB, and played some Champions League there, too. Höwedes is strictly depth IMO.
i hope our depthchart looks something like this:
----------------------------------------Neuer----------------------------------------
------------------------------------Weidenfeller-------------------------------------
----------------------------------------Zieler-----------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---Lahm-----------Boateng---------------------Hummels--------Großkreutz------
--Höwedes---------Ginter---------------------Mertesacker----------Durm--------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------Schweinsteiger-------------------Khedira--------------------------
--------------------Kroos--------------------------Kramer--------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---Schürrle---------------------------Götze---------------------------Reus--------
----Draxler----------------------------Özil---------------------------Podolski------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------Müller----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------Klose----------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
of course Löw will do something stupid and the team will look completely different. i don't see him ditching Özil, as he's immensely talented, but completely useless in important games. Podolski is another one of his favourites, as is Klose. so, he's probably going to start those three guys regardless of form, whereas much better players will be on the bench in their stead. Klose and Podolski have the uncanny ability to come off the bench and be right in the middle of things immediately. perfect options from the bench.
