It has been an enjoyable evening in Istanbul for the Mannschaft, as they clincially wrapped up what was in the end an easy 3-1 win to take their qualifying group record to nine wins out of nine. It could very
A Second Serving of Stuffed Turkey
Kicker’s XI and Deutschlands junge Türken
Kicker has just published its starting XI for the upcoming match against Turkey, and I still have to wonder where they get some of their ideas from. While nearly everybody else seems to have selected a back line of Badstuber,
Team News Update
As promised, here’s my update on the squad for the up-coming double header against Turkey and Belgium, and my selected lineup. Jogi Löw has made things easy this month by making few changes to the squad selected for the last
Squad for Turkey and Belgium
The qualifying round for the 2012 European Championship is almost at an end, as Joachim Löw’s side finish off their campaign with fixtures in Turkey and at home to Belgium. While the Mannschaft have safely qualified for next year’s finals
Nationaltrainer als Bundesverdienstkreuzträger
Here’s a little bit of trivia for you: who is the only Nationaltrainer to have been awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz – the Federal Cross of Merit – for something other than his work with the Nationalmannschaft? Answer: Jupp Derwall, who received
Building up to 2012
With the Nationalmannschaft now safely in the mix for next year’s feast of football in Poland and the Ukraine, and I have now switched into another gear in the hope of having a number of key sections of this site
Poland v Germany: Kicker’s Ratings
After just over a week, Kicker Online has finally published their in-depth analysis and revealed their player ratings for last Tuesday’s disappointing but always exciting 2-2 draw in Danzig’s shiny new PGE Arena. Let’s see how they compare with my
My own 4-1-4-1
Like Jogi Löw earlier this week with his 4-1-4-1 formation, I carried out a small experiment on the site. Some of you may have immediately noticed the difference, while others may still be scratching their heads wondering has happened –
A Tale of Two Keepers
So to Danzig, and yet another experiment from Nationaltrainer Joachim Löw. Having sent Mesut Özil, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Manuel Neuer back home, one expected a number of changes for the Poland game, but perhaps more surprising was the experimental 4-1-4-1
Punditry and Predictions
The day after the Austria match I posted my match overview where I touched on player ratings, highlighting three individuals: Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller and Mirosolav Klose. Today Kicker Online published its post-match analysis which includes player ratings, and guess
Poland: Team News
Having watched the Austria game for a third time this afternoon, I thought I’d keep things up to date with the latest team news for the friendly international against Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland in Danzig/Gdańsk on Tuesday.
Six of the best
With seven wins from seven matches, an eighth three-pointer against Austria would guarantee Germany a place at next year’s Euro 2012 finals in Poland and the Ukraine with two games to spare, and they didn’t disappoint what was a sell-out