How the German press have reacted to last night’s game
Hint: they’re not happy
Obviously, the English press are delighted with last night’s victory in Berlin, but it’s good to know that the German media is just as negative and over-the-top when it comes to embarrassing international defeats.
Bild, Germany’s biggest daily and the equivalent of The Sun, is lamenting the German “B” eleven’s loss to the England “C” Eleven. Somehow, they conclude that a German side without Michael Ballack and Philipp Lahm constitutes a reserve side, and the Three Lions have been downgraded to a “C” for no particular reason.
The Germans have always boasted of their team’s overall strength, rather than the outstanding contributions of any particular player, so it’s interesting to see them blame the loss on Ballack and Lahm’s absence.
Bild believe Die Mannschaft are failing to recover from the power struggle that saw coach Jogi Loew and Michael Ballack fall out, and are calling the defeat the worst since they crashed out 3-0 to the Czech Republic in 2007.
2 responses so far
macleoud // November 20, 2008 at 3:00 pm
i think that the german team’s weakness was due to the coach’s (joachim lowe) inability to change anything wrong taking place on the field and inability to add anything positive on the field.
to start, the best game that Germany played in euro 2008, was when that coach himself was not allowed to sit on the sidelines, (red card). The German team played its best game against Portugal.
During the game against England, i was wondering why would he not let marco marin start along with Borowski, rather than chosing two center defensive midfielders that know how to stop the opponets’ offense but have no clue how to link a ball from the defense to the attack.
England’s first goal was a foul since Rene Adler’s arm was pushed down as he was in the air going for the ball. Germany’s first goal was a joke and i dont consider it a goal although it is fair and square. England’s second goal is a great goal and we have to congratulate Terry for such positioning and header.
If you count how many passes Germany have made that were wrong passes and were intercepted or given to the opponent somehow by error, you’d find that the German team had a very weak midfield. with or without ballack or frings, Germany would have had a stronger more effective midfield if Hitzelberger – Borowski – schweinsteiger- Marin were starting.
friendlies won or lost, Germany will impress at the next big tournament.
Tyler // November 21, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Podolski and Klose should have been paired together from the start until the final whistle. Mario Gomez simply has not found his international form, while Podolski is among the top strikers in the world internationally. After coming on, Podolski simply had too little time and too few touches to make any sort of impact on the game.
The experimental Rolfes and Jones center-pair gave no support in attack and could not pressure the English mid-field. Schweinsteiger and Hitzlsperger would have been a much more dominating force. Trochowski and Marco Marin started to show some creativity towards the final minutes of the match, but without a solid center-midfield, they were ineffective.
As a result of a weak midfield, the German defenders such as Westermann Metersacker and Friedrich were constantly trying to move up the pitch in support. New comer Marvin Commper was an absolute embarrassment to the German side, while Marcel Schäfer showed incredible form and creativity. What a mistake it was to start Commper over Schäfer.
Even with Adler’s mistake, he is still one of the best keepers I have ever seen. He should have played the entire match.
This is the winning eleven for Germany, with just a few changes in the starting 11, England would have been dominated.
Podolski
Klose
Trochowski
Schweinsteiger
Hitzlsperger
Marin
Schäfer
Metersacker
Westermann
Friedrich
Adler
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