will KURANYI and LAUTH always be average

both praised as next generation of german football strikers, when both the next generation, please shot me down^^

other players become better, this two become only worser, any reasons for that?

Lauth was the new Gerd Muller when he was at 1860, wasn't he?

Deisler wrote:both praised as next generation of german football strikers, when both the next generation, please shot me down^^

other players become better, this two become only worser, any reasons for that?

E.g. the fact that they were wasted and that mistakes were made? They were part of the first generation of young players after the WC 2002--if you ask me, that burden was just too much in the end; being shot to fame and getting overplayed (just remember: Sammer left Kuranyi and Lahm on the bench at the beginning of the 04/05 season because they weren't fit and never really got back into a rhythm) is just one aspect. Another might be that on top of the personal crisis, Kuranyi hardly got any service in Stuttgart--they have been lacking a proper N°10/attacking midfielder of Ballack's abilities ever since Balakov left.

And surely the pressure got to them! You could notice something similar happening to Podolski last year. And Schweinsteiger of course--only that they managed to get out of that slump while others (due to other factors such as cr0p management at the clubs/insane coaches--->Hinkel) got even worse.

*winks* I know my arguments are feeble, but well...

Surely Hleb provied Kuranyi at stuttgart?

Kevin wrote:Surely Hleb provied Kuranyi at stuttgart?

Not quite--Hleb was highly ineffective before he left for Arsenal. He used to dribble past five players and lose the ball to the sixth. Something that even caused a split in the team at some point--it was no secret he and Timo Hildebrand were at odds with one another in 2005.

Oh ok!
I hear very positive things about Hleb at Stuttgart, wasnt he the highest assister in the league?

kuranyi i still rate hm as a good finisher
hleb, if you watch all the complications he will dribbles past loads of people then bloody loose it or screw it up

Lauth was *terrible* tonight : a complete waste of space...

Kuranyi has the potential to be amongst the best strikers in Europe. His move to Schalke has not worked for him, he seems to have a mental block.

Lauth offers nothing. He does not even seem phased when he misses 100% chances like the one last night. No pace, no technique....a completely different player to the one I saw at 1860.

Kuranyi is a limited player, but what he can do, being an excellent poacher, he does very well, if in form. The problem with Kuranyi is, like with most talented youngsters, that there always is a danger to believe your own hype. Kuranyi needs to learn humility, his character is his major problem. Under a good and strict coach, I can see him reaching his old form again, so he can be an alternative for the Mannschaft in future.

I never rated Benny Lauth, and never understood the hype about him. Players like Lauth and Kuranyi benefited from the lack of good German talent after the disastrous EC in 2000, which made it easy for them to get into the spotlight.

Things have changed these days. After the major reforms of our youth education systems finally yield fruit, we have a ton of excellent German youngsters coming through who are already better than them. So the initial hype backfires for the likes of Kuranyi and Lauth, and becomes a negative hype.

Toni Kroos wrote:both praised as next generation of german football strikers, when both the next generation, please shot me down^^

other players become better, this two become only worser, any reasons for that?

I told ya.... Both are cr@p

i`ve got a facking crystall ball in my brain, i can look into the future

that one game from kurayni changes nothing, this guy is utterly useless and for me he deserves no place in the euro08 squad

but for godssake, we dont have better options

Lauth is and always will be Cr@p (despite scoring against Real Madrid, but that's another story). Kuranyi however did learn from his mistakes, and improved considerably after missing the WC in 2006. He is a completely different player now, with a much better attitude and work ethic. A very good striker actually, and definitely part of the EC 2008 squad.

One of the positive surprises of the Löw era really, which many, me included, didn't / couldn't forsee.

Toni Kroos wrote: do we have better options?

Is Paulo Rink still alive... the Brazilian life style kid with German talent...?

Toni Kroos wrote:i`ve got a facking crystall ball in my brain, i can look into the future

that one game from kurayni changes nothing, this guy is utterly useless and for me he deserves no place in the euro08 squad

but for godssake, we dont have better options

You won European Championships with Hrubesch or Kuntz up front. With Kuntz up front Germany even never lost a match (he has 25 caps). Whereas when you had better ones, you didn't win. Maybe you should start Kuranyi. Wouldn't bet against him winning the topscorer trophee

I could never stand Keffin the Orc, but he might be usefull enough for the bench at the EC.

De Guzman wrote:

Toni Kroos wrote:i`ve got a facking crystall ball in my brain, i can look into the future

that one game from kurayni changes nothing, this guy is utterly useless and for me he deserves no place in the euro08 squad

but for godssake, we dont have better options

You won European Championships with Hrubesch or Kuntz up front. With Kuntz up front Germany even never lost a match (he has 25 caps). Whereas when you had better ones, you didn't win. Maybe you should start Kuranyi. Wouldn't bet against him winning the topscorer trophee

it is my biggest nightmare... Kuranyi scores the winner in the EC final from a lauth assist....

I think many underestimate Kuranyi cause they don'T like him in person. But he is a good striker. He has some downs but when he is in form, he is definately someone for the EC squad. I think with Gomez, Klose, Podolski and KK Germany has one of the best strikers at the moment.
You always should remember 2002 at the world cup, they had so many poor ones, a thing that has changed completely now. (Ok, Klose was doing good at the cup, but before the tournament there was really no single outstanding striker there...)

Antarion wrote:I think many underestimate Kuranyi cause they don'T like him in person. But he is a good striker. He has some downs but when he is in form, he is definately someone for the EC squad. I think with Gomez, Klose, Podolski and KK Germany has one of the best strikers at the moment.
You always should remember 2002 at the world cup, they had so many poor ones, a thing that has changed completely now. (Ok, Klose was doing good at the cup, but before the tournament there was really no single outstanding striker there...)

good point, I can't remember the last time Germany had such a good selection of strikers to choose from. In particular I've been impressed by Gomez.

De Guzman wrote:
You won European Championships with Hrubesch or Kuntz up front. With Kuntz up front Germany even never lost a match (he has 25 caps). Whereas when you had better ones, you didn't win. Maybe you should start Kuranyi. Wouldn't bet against him winning the topscorer trophee

While Hrubesch was a limited player, his strenghts were so overwhelming that he probably was the best header this game has ever seen. Rather have a player with few, but real (read: extraordinary) strenghts, than a allrounder with a lot of strenghts, but none of them outstanding.

Furthermore, Hrubesch profited a lot from Klaus Allofs as his partner. Allofs was highly talented, a very complete striker, one of the best strikers Germany ever had.

Antarion wrote:I think many underestimate Kuranyi cause they don'T like him in person. But he is a good striker. He has some downs but when he is in form, he is definately someone for the EC squad. I think with Gomez, Klose, Podolski and KK Germany has one of the best strikers at the moment.
You always should remember 2002 at the world cup, they had so many poor ones, a thing that has changed completely now. (Ok, Klose was doing good at the cup, but before the tournament there was really no single outstanding striker there...)

Good point. I'd even go so far as to say that this particular weakness had the most devastating effect in those years, when Germany lacked talent on most positions. All of our successful sides had some high quality strikers to choose from.

Another thing no one has mentioned yet is that Kuranyi doesn't get that much service from Schalke's midfield--back in Stuttgart, when he scored that, what was it, 15 goals per season, he had support from the wings from Hinkel and later Lahm and Aleks Hleb pulling the strings in midfield. From what I've seen of Schalke this season, they haven't been able to fill the space left by Lincoln's departure. So comments that he'd been working almost as a midfielder again (a point even the Stuttgart fans readily concede, even those who still haven't forgiven him for leaving the club) didn't really come as a surprise.

Kuranyi ist quasi die ideale hängende Spitze, er ackert, er setzt Mitspieler in Szene, schafft gefährliche Situationen und wenn er richtig gut drauf ist und seine Nerven im Griff hat und einen guten Tag erwischt und der Torwart einen durchschnittlichen, ja dann schießt er sogar Tore. Wenigstens wenn er den Ball auf den Kopf bekommt.

anglophileHedgehog wrote:

... und wenn er richtig gut drauf ist und seine Nerven im Griff hat und einen guten Tag erwischt und der Torwart einen durchschnittlichen, ja dann schießt er sogar Tore. Wenigstens wenn er den Ball auf den Kopf bekommt.