Cacau could play a key role for Joachim Löw’s side
Joachim Löw has indicated to reporters that he plans to take all six strikers from his provisional 27 man squad to South Africa. “Our plan is to have all six strikers with us at the World Cup because we want to be flexible.”
The strikers selected for the German team vary from the in-form Cacau and Thomas Muller to the erratic Stefan Kießling and the out of form Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose. Podoslki and Klose have scored a remarkable number of key goals in the World Cup and Euros, and despite their poor form Löw feels that he must take both to the World Cup. But to hedge his bets, plenty of cover will also make the trip to South Africa.
Germany’s formation has been changed by Löw in the past year to reflect the emerging talent of Mesut Özil, the 21 year old superstar attacking midfielder from Werder Bremen. Considering Özil does not tend to track back at Bremen and Germany seems likely to play an attacking oriented 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, Michael Ballack whose tackling has become a subject of ridicule at Chelsea will be forced to do a lot of defending and pick his spots to go forward.
Löw and Jurgen Klinsmann have changed Germany’s mentality. Once feared for stout defending and physical play, Germany now reflects a more expressive and multi cultural style of play. With so many players that were either foreign born or born to immigrant parents in the German side, the style of play and attacking intent has changed.
While the integration of immigrants has not necessarily been smooth in a societal sense (particularity in the former East Germany), from a footballing standpoint, the DFL and German coaches have embraced the countries growing diversity. the number of key players for the national team that have an immigrant background seems to grow by the year. The Germans, unlike some of their UEFA rivals have fully embraced the possibilities of a multi-cultural team.
Germany will certainly be a team that causes headaches this summer. Group D could very well be the preverbal “group of death,” with Ghana, Africa’s best team, Australia and Serbia joining the Germans.
Kartik Krishnaiyer is the Director of Communications for the North American Soccer League which is a partner of World Cup Buzz.
Ballack does a lot of stupid things (what other outfield player would catch a ball in open play in a crucial Champions League game?) but he also does a lot of the dirty work for Chelsea. If that is what he needs to transition to for Germany, he’ll still be a valuable presence.
D and G both deserve the phrase this year.
Typical pro German post from Kartik. Not that I disagree, but the “Germany is so great” stuff from him gets really old after a few years
Ozil is quite a talent. Could be a star after this world cup.