Who has the strongest squad at Euro 08

Forget about their starting Xl im talking about the 23 as a whole, how has the best strength in depth, the best options on the bench.

For me i think Italy have so many great options available and can rotate well without losing their quality.

France and Italy, on paper at least.

France and Spain on paper.

Germany in reality

I definitely like Italy's squad...like you said, they have lots of different options. Spain is very good in some positions, not so good in others. Germany has a good starting 11 and some subs, but a little thin otherwise.

France and Italy. Spain is shallow in the defense, Germany isn't really more than 15 or so deep as far as top class international quality players go.

france, italy and germany

spains squad is not impressive, even portugal has a better squad

spain has some great midfielders, but they lack of quality strikers and defenders in depth

Italy and France have the best squads. Germany have a very good starting XI.

Toni Kroos wrote:france, italy and germany

spains squad is not impressive, even portugal has a better squad

spain has some great midfielders, but they lack of quality strikers and defenders in depth

I won't even dignify that with an answer...

Germany and Italy

CATEGORICALLY NOT France or Spain

Mill1on wrote:Germany and Italy

CATEGORICALLY NOT France or Spain

France

Then Italia

Then Spain

Then Portugal

Then Germany

this boils down to the thousands of discussions we have had on here about the quality of respective players

99.9% of fans and experts judge the value of a player by the sexiness of his youtube videos

tactical awareness, character, discipline, team-play and endless other soft-skills are entirely ignored , even by the likes of Lothar and Co

which is why most people don't understand why a healthy Borowski is "better" for the success of his team than an in-form Ribery

Germany's C-Team humiliated England's A-Team at Wembley

that constitutes STRENGTH in DEPTH

France, Spain and Portugal lack the relevant mental strength, tactical Nous and team-orientation to qualify as top squads

think about it

Holland of course :

* we have tons of attackers, interchanging them won't hurt the team

* our defense is so Cr@p, we can easily bring in the second string and no one will spot the difference

Where we judge players on youtube videos otto, you judge then on whether they been born in Germany (Poland, brazil , turkey etc) or not.

Germany has a very good first team as people have said, but if ballack and pig get injured who comes in. Neuville and odonkey?

COTR wrote:Where we judge players on youtube videos otto, you judge then on whether they been born in Germany (Poland, brazil , turkey etc) or not.

Germany has a very good first team as people have said, but if ballack and pig get injured who comes in. Neuville and odonkey?

haha

Ballack was injured for an eternity and we still kicked English arse

THAT IS THE POINT

we do NOT need Ballack at all



he is a nice luxury to have



neither do we need Klose or Gomez, or even Poldi

Kuranyi + Neuville is still more than enough, as demonstrated umpteen times

Germany does not need more quality or more depth

we need more confidence, more arrogance and more swagger

26-Otto-19 wrote:

COTR wrote:Where we judge players on youtube videos otto, you judge then on whether they been born in Germany (Poland, brazil , turkey etc) or not.

Germany has a very good first team as people have said, but if ballack and pig get injured who comes in. Neuville and odonkey?

haha

Ballack was injured for an eternity and we still kicked English arse

THAT IS THE POINT

we do NOT need Ballack at all



he is a nice luxury to have



neither do we need Klose or Gomez, or even Poldi

Kuranyi + Neuville is still more than enough, as demonstrated umpteen times

Germany does not need more quality or more depth

we need more confidence, more arrogance and more swagger

Ever wonder why this board verges on the anti-German?

Think about it

26-Otto-19 wrote:this boils down the the thousands of discussions we have had on here about the quality of respective players

99.9% of fans and experts judge the value of a player by the sexiness of his youtube videos

tactical awareness, character, discipline, team-play and endless other soft-skills are entirely ignored , even by the likes of Lothar and Co

which is why most people don't understand why a healthy Borowski is "better" for the success of his team than an in-form Ribery

Germany's C-Team humiliated England's A-Team at Wembley

that constitutes STRENGTH in DEPTH

France, Spain and Portugal lack the relevant mental strength, tactical Nous and team-orientation to qualify as top squads

think about it

are Lehmann, Mertesecker, Metzelder C-Team now? Schneider (through injury) and Pander are the only ones who started who aren't in your Euro squad.

England started with Robinson, Shorey, Carrick and Alan Smith - all of whom aren't even in England's B-squad for today's game. hardly an A-team.

not that it matters. I just like to point out some outright lies

debaser wrote:

26-Otto-19 wrote:this boils down the the thousands of discussions we have had on here about the quality of respective players

99.9% of fans and experts judge the value of a player by the sexiness of his youtube videos

tactical awareness, character, discipline, team-play and endless other soft-skills are entirely ignored , even by the likes of Lothar and Co

which is why most people don't understand why a healthy Borowski is "better" for the success of his team than an in-form Ribery

Germany's C-Team humiliated England's A-Team at Wembley

that constitutes STRENGTH in DEPTH

France, Spain and Portugal lack the relevant mental strength, tactical Nous and team-orientation to qualify as top squads

think about it

are Lehmann, Mertesecker, Metzelder C-Team now? Schneider (through injury) and Pander are the only ones who started who aren't in your Euro squad.

England started with Robinson, Shorey, Carrick and Alan Smith - all of whom aren't even in England's B-squad for today's game. hardly an A-team.

not that it matters. I just like to point out some outright lies

Facts never get in the way of a good Otto tale

England aren't even in the top 20 countries in Europe according to said author, so I personally strugge to see why he is STILL boasting about this game, months and months down the line, as if it holds any relevance to the team today.

An arse kicking would also translate as a 5-1 trouncing at home, and not a narrow 2-1 victory

France and Spain on paper.

Spain, France or Russia.

my logic is impeccable

pretty much as always

think about it

debaser wrote:
are Lehmann, Mertesecker, Metzelder C-Team now? Schneider (through injury) and Pander are the only ones who started who aren't in your Euro squad.

----------------------------------Lehmann----------------------------------
A. Friedrich*----------Mertesacker--------Metzelder----------Pander
------------------------------------Lahm-------------------------------------
-------Schneider (90. Castro)-----Trochowski* (72. Rolfes*)-------
Odonkor* (54. Hilbert)-----------------------------------Hitzlsperger*
-----------------------------------Kuranyi*---------------------------------


red = not in the Euro 2008 squad

yellow = not in the squad because of injury

blue = first (and only) time played on that position (DM)

* = not a starter for Germany


I think that it's very safe to say that Germany beat England with a B-team, especially if you consider the fact that we never played this system before (Lahm as DM!), and again after.

indeed, but:

a) I was responding to Otto describing it as a humiliation by your C-team - which was, as you'll surely agree, a lie.
b) England started with Alan Smith - by itself far more of a weakening than all the changes you guys made

blutgraetsche wrote:

debaser wrote:
are Lehmann, Mertesecker, Metzelder C-Team now? Schneider (through injury) and Pander are the only ones who started who aren't in your Euro squad.

----------------------------------Lehmann----------------------------------
A. Friedrich*----------Mertesacker--------Metzelder----------Pander
------------------------------------Lahm-------------------------------------
-------Schneider (90. Castro)-----Trochowski* (72. Rolfes*)-------
Odonkor* (54. Hilbert)-----------------------------------Hitzlsperger*
-----------------------------------Kuranyi*---------------------------------


red = not in the Euro 2008 squad

yellow = not in the squad because of injury

blue = first (and only) time played on that position (DM)

* = not a starter for Germany


I think that it's very safe to say that Germany beat England with a B-team, especially if you consider the fact that we never played this system before (Lahm as DM!), and again after.

So effectively it was a B team versus a B team (see England's team that day)

Hardly translates as a C team beating an A team as Otto is claiming. But then when has Otto ever really claimed anything within the realms of reality....

blutgraetsche wrote:

debaser wrote:
are Lehmann, Mertesecker, Metzelder C-Team now? Schneider (through injury) and Pander are the only ones who started who aren't in your Euro squad.

----------------------------------Lehmann----------------------------------
A. Friedrich*----------Mertesacker--------Metzelder----------Pander
------------------------------------Lahm-------------------------------------
-------Schneider (90. Castro)-----Trochowski* (72. Rolfes*)-------
Odonkor* (54. Hilbert)-----------------------------------Hitzlsperger*
-----------------------------------Kuranyi*---------------------------------


red = not in the Euro 2008 squad

yellow = not in the squad because of injury

blue = first (and only) time played on that position (DM)

* = not a starter for Germany


I think that it's very safe to say that Germany beat England with a B-team, especially if you consider the fact that we never played this system before (Lahm as DM!), and again after.

well, actually, it's a cross of an A-B-C-D-E Team

Lehmann, Mertesacker and Schneider IN THAT POSITION are clearly A-team stuff (even if Schneider is not part of the Euro squad)

Metzelder is Loew's darling, but considering his out of the world incompetence (mostly due to lack of match practice) should NEVER even be in the SQUAD

watch him against White Russia and Serbia and get goosebumps, it's THAT bad

Metzelder is and was the only reason why Germany could conceivably NOT win this Euro

due to injuries and lack of match fitness he is easily D-team stuff, and should have been at the time of the England game as well

Pander played his first and last game for Germany at Wembley and could be called D-team as well

Lahm played as a DMC, for the first time in his life (at this level) and would have been not even our E-choice in that position

Friedrich at RB is our 3rd (ie C) choice

Kuranyi at the front is our 4th choice (D-team)

Castro and Hilbert are E-teamers

Hitzelsperger B

Troch: C

Odonkor as a starter on the right is maybe the FIFTH or sixth choice in that position (after Schneider, Borowski, Schweisteiger, Fritz and possibly even Frings , depending on the system used)

so

@blut

how on earth you conclude that this was a B-team is beyond me

I think you have been sitting too much in the sun today

B- or C-team is semantics. The point is that we played with a team / system that is considerably different to our starting XI, much more different than England's team was IMHO.

blutgraetsche wrote:B- or C-team is semantics. The point is that we played with a team / system that is considerably different to our starting XI, much more different than England's team was IMHO.

Well all I can say is that if that game is still being recalled as a reason for Germany "depth", then I'm personally unconvinced.

Firstly that game included a goal which came from a mishit cross cum shot which was palmed onto the bar by Robinson and landed right at the feet of Kuranyi (a goal of luck more than skill),

and then a quite amazing miss by a recently returning from injury Owen from 3 yards which would have levelled the score,

at no point did Germany outplay a B team England managed by Mclaren - a team that according to Otto shouldnt even be in the top 20 and one of the most inept coaches to have ever graced English football-

so why this friendly game should still be referred to now in view of Euro 2008 is strange if you ask me (other than as yet another kick at the already rotting corpse of English football this summer!).

Surely the fact that Germany lost to Czech Republic at home with a largely experimental side is more of an indicating factor of whether Germany have a strong second string or not

Senor Woody wrote:
Surely the fact that Germany lost to Czech Republic home and away

as for McLaren

he is one of the best England managers EVER



just one of the 1000 excuses Englanders come up with to explain their regular failures (snow, sun, grass, heat, cold, humidity, dryness, noise, lack of noise...+ McLaren)



@bernd

you will see that Capello with his dream CV will only be marginally more successful, IF THAT

who will you blame then, me wonders

Germany lost to the Czech Republic at home after they had already qualified for the tournament, how does this little fact get 'forgotten' all the time? If Germany had continued to steamroll the opposition, they would have been seeded first in the tournament, and probably would have ended in the group of death like Holland. Holland did their best to 'worsen' their record in their last qualification matches also, but it didn't work out...

Well, either you see England as a major footballing nation Pele, or not. If not, it's not an achievement to beat them with that team indeed, as the first national team ever in the new Wembley (after being the last team to beat them in the old Wembley also).

@ Otto,

you really are a tool if you honestly believe that England aren't good enough to qualify for major championships. Difference between me and you is that I'm actualy willing to have a bit of banter but equally a vaguely balanced discussion, whereas all you seem interested in is being a bellend

Blut - its not forgotten at all that you had already qualfied, but the England game wasn't even a fully competitive match! Also, every team wants to qualify top of the group: Germany were just YET again goddam lucky with the draw in the end, just like you were in 2002 when England topped the group and ended up in the group of death, and you ended up in a group with Saudi Arabia and Ireland.

So all I am saying is that if Otto is going to use the England game as an example of Germany's squad depth, then I would argue the Czech Republic game is just as significant.

And yes, congrats on becoming the first side to win at Wembley: I don't think you will find anyone in England talking this team up in any shape so if it gives you pleasure in scraping a 2-1 win then go for it; but certainly England have proved not to be in the top 16 teams in Europe this year - is anyone suggesting otherwise? And a 2-1 will never be a 5-1 - we are the ONLY side to have beaten you at home by that scoreline, and still the last time we played each other in a competitive match in an international tournament, we beat you, so yes - we were, and will become, a biggish footballing nation again, so enjoy it whilst you can

Munich is not 'home', it's Bavaria, and that stadium doesn't even exist anymore.

But yeah, you are probably right. Not a good example for squad depth indeed, when you can kill England with a Panda...

Heimspiel in Wembley, wir haben ein Heimspiel in Wembley!