ballack plays down germanys chances for WC glory

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/default.stm

hahaha good job dude, this shit his talking is even on BBC, keep low the pressure men^^

after his argumentian spain is the clear favourite, they doomend every team, even in the friendlys

Yes he is being honest and a realistic man.

the Ballack interview is very good

as always

playing down Germany's chances is NOT what Ballack should be doing though

there is very little logic to what he says either: after all , the Mannschaft has often been poor and lacklustre in friendlies and then went on to perform brilliantly in Cups

BUT

I get the feeling Ballack gave a TACTICAL interview

it's basically a public cry for help and a public warning to Löw to get his act together



Ballack says we do not have strength in depth/enough quality , but also lack CONSISTENCY

when you look at the players Löw selects you HAVE to agree with him

the Swabian has all sorts of crushes on players who should not even be in the squad, let alone the starting 11

Ballack also points out that EXPERIMENTATION inevitably leads to poor performances, which DRAG DOWN the overall team

ie

a BLATENT appeal to start settling on a best team

NO MORE ROTATION NONSENSE

he also does not like friendlies against smaller countries, which the DFB is so keen on

the Saxon prince then points out that the Mannschaft could have a problem because so many of its players are having problems with their clubs

Friedrich is currently in the middle of a relegation battle at Berlin

ditto HitzElsBerger, Khedira, Cacau, Tasci... at Stuttgart

Klose is sitting on the bench under the mad Nederlander

and Poldi is another struggling relegation boy

interestingly, Ballack says that Poldi and Klose have ALWAYS been on fire for the MAnnschaft even when they had problems at their clubs

so THEY are NOT the problem, he believes

but the others (Friedrich, HitzElsBerger...) could be

and he is 100% right

also take into account that Löw lover-boy Trochowski is going through a slump at HSV

EXPERIENCED players like Borowski, Kuranyi, Frings... are no longer part of the team though

Ballack then makes a furious appeal for FRINGS, saying that his experience is exactly what the Mannschaft needs now

there is also a warning that confinement to the HOTEL (because of security problems) at the World Cup could lead to "Lagerkoller"

Ballack does not say this , but what he means is that the team members need to enjoy each other's company

which at the moment is probably not the case

remember the nonsense that Friedrich pulled at the last World Cup

and the idiotic "everybody is shit but me-interviews" by Lahm

add the Bierhoff obsession with WAGS and you know what Ballack is talking about

in this sense Ballack needs his friend and ally , FRINGS, at his side

Kuranyi, the CLOWN and ENTERTAINER, of the olden days

hugely popular amongst team-members, would be the other missing link

so as always: good interview by Ballack and a solid warning shot to Löw , which he will ignore

HELAS

------------

I suppose, THIS is the team that Ballack would like to see

--------

Wiese

Hinkel - Merte - Hummels - Lahm

Frings - Ballack

Schweini Özil

Klose - Poldi



Ballack is always keen on experiene, in particular at CL level, so that would favour Wiese over Adler and Neuer

Friedrich and Tasci he clearly has questions about, so maybe Westermann or Hummels could do it

he likes Frings, and has raved about Özil in the past

Kuranyi would have to be part of the squad as well

throw out Trochowski and bring back the on-form JANSEN, and we are set

what a brilliant combo of experience, youthful vigour and SKILL

THAT would make us World Cup favourites

72-76-80-96-08 wrote:

Ballack says we do not have strength in depth/enough quality, but also lack CONSISTENCY

when you look at the players Löw selects you HAVE to agree with him

the Swabian has all sorts of crushes on players who should not even be in the squad, let alone the starting 11

Ballack also points out that EXPERIMENTATION inevitably leads to poor performances, which DRAG DOWN the overall team

How do you want to solve the no strength in depth problem when you insist on continuity though? In order to solve the former you will have to experiment, no?



It's also funny that you're criticising Löw for his blind loyalty to underperfoming players, when you yourself are having such a massive crush on Frings, who was absolute pants last year and didn't deserve to be anywhere near the Mannschaft.

72-76-80-96-08 wrote:HitzElsBerger

I demands LINKS

(the latter word was meant in English not German )

P.S. Hase you too must read the Broder/Biller interview Otto posted for me on the Schumi thread!!!

hase

a) I am quoting Ballack, and THAT is what HE believes (read the interview)

b) yes, I agree with him

c) there are NO contraditions

to c)

I think what Ballack and me would answer is this

to play for the MANNSCHAFT, and even more so a major CUP, you need a CERTAIN LEVEL of EXPERIENCE

Ballack constantly refers to the importance of CL-experience

unfortunately, we do not have that much of it in Germany

but chucking out players like Frings, Kuranyi, Borowski, Wiese

is CRIMINAL in this respect

even Lahm believes van Gaal was wrong to disregard EXPERIENCE and PAST achievements when treating his players EQUALLY

in other words

what Ballack and even Lahm (and certainly I) want is that you prove yourself AT THE HIGHEST CLUB-LEVEL (CL or at least Europa-league) over a certain PERIOD of time

THEN you get selected for the MANNSCHAFT where you prove yourself again

and BASED ON THAT, you have a certain BONUS

that allows you the odd below-performance(s) (view Frings at Euro 2008)

THIS BASIS of EXPERIENCE then allows you to select the odd player who constitutes a RISK (Marin, Özil)

at a CERTAIN POINT the PERIOD OF EXPERIMENTATION has to be FINISHED though

EVERYBODY who knows his football says so

Illgner just gave an interview where he STRONGLY suggested that Löw HAD to settle on a keeper NOW

Kahn criticises the Löw keeper rotation

Lehmann believes it's madness

and even Enke (in a 11Freunde interview) said that keepers thrive on TRUST, not endless competition

the same applies to the other positions

just look at Boateng's last games for Germany

DREADFUL

there is NO WAY he will be ready for the Mannschaft

so why continue this farce

(Hummels for me could be an exception)

Haha you has another Irish legend in your avatar Ottolein. I was at his grave in Père-Lachaise last month...

Allez les rouges wrote:Haha you has another Irish legend in your avatar Ottolein. I was at his grave in Père-Lachaise last month...

I don't know whether ade really appreciates my Irish-themed avatars

but there we go

Père-Lachaise is my favourite cemetary in Europe

alongside the Old Highgate one , which is probably the BEST I have ever been to

utterly unsurpassable on a misty Autumn afternoon

Hi Otto, long time fan. Please tell me who would make your 23 man squad to South Africa.

Who do you fear in your group? Why/why not?

Thank you in advance.

My squad is zis:

GK: Adler, Neuer, Wiese

V: Lahm, Mertesacker, Boateng, Beck, Westermann, Höwedes, Hummels, Schäfer

M: Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Özil, Trochowski, Rolfes, Khedira, Frings, Hunt

A: Klose, Podolski, Gomez, Helmes

Otto's will be different cos he is a bellend.

I still can't find this interview online

I did the "humour noir" tour of Père-Lachaise on a cold Sunday, which was slightly egotistical and individualist, with the result that I had to run around at the end to catch Piaf. Molière, La Fontaine, Héloise, Abélard and Jim and missed Balzac, Proust, Apollinaire and, I've just realized, Callas

Allez les rouges wrote:
P.S. Hase you too must read the Broder/Biller interview Otto posted for me on the Schumi thread!!!

I did.

Broder's "Weißt du was? Ich bin ein Pausenclown, aber du bist es auch." hits the nail right on the head. That's how I feel about both of them too.



Broder's un-PC style is kinda refreshing, although I think his cynicism and sarcasm gets out of hand at times.

Since Schweini has been performing so well in the central midfield for Bayern recently, it got me thinking (Spox prososed it recently too) if he weren't an option for the spot next to Ballack in the 4-2-3-1 as well?

72-76-80-96-08 wrote:

but chucking out players like Frings, Kuranyi, Borowski, Wiese

is CRIMINAL in this respect

Otto, Frings WAS absolutely DREADFUL - for the Mannschaft and for his club alike in the past 2-3 years. Experience does not compensate for a permanent lack of performance. He plays a very physical game, it's only normal then, that his performances degenerate when he's getting older, more so than Ballack's for example. If he continues to perform well then he deserves to get called up again, but he surely didn't deserve it for the most part of the WCQ campaign.

We simply couldn't rely on him any longer.

Re Borowski

He wasn't even a starter for his club and you want Löw to call him up? That's ridiculous. Above that, he's too injury prone. His time is well and truly over.

Re "Chucking out Wiese"

Wiese made his debut under Löw, Otto. Löw gave him a chance and this although it was absolutely unnecessary since we already had 3 adequate options in Enke, Neuer and Adler for the first spot. So I really don't know what you're talking about "chucking out Wiese" here?

Löw's goalkeeper rotation has indeed to end now though. I agree on that.

It has, even though tragedy has settled the issue, it's clearly been Adler for a while now. I don't think the fact that he used Neuer and Wiese to give them some experience in the last friendly changes that.

@black magic

my squad would look something like this

Wiese: EASILY the number one; most CL experience; has REAL presence; is in TOP form; fantastic penalty killer

Butt (or Rost): these two would be excellent back-ups; again, LOTS of experience + NEITHER would rock the boat since neither expects to be part of the squad; you virtually never need the number 2; both have the advantage of BOOSTING confidence in the squad because of their experience

Neuer: VERY young and inexperienced, but should learn the ropes

(NO ADLER please: a poor-man's Neuer, with little experience and even less presence; HUGE talent though)

Hinkel: very experienced, on form; HAS to start

Beck: solid back-up; very hard-working and ambitious + he is a Russian German : would be a good signal to our over 3 million "Aussiedler" that they have arrived in society

Mertesacker: easily the number one

Hummels AND Höwedes: a RISK, and would need blooding immediately; BUT HUGE talents, both of them, who are NATURAL leaders and would be able to step up just like Metze did in 2002

Westermann: we need two more CBs and I don't know who; Westermann is VERY versatile but dodgy; Berlin's Friedrich is an IDIOT and BAD of the team climate (clearly anti-Ballack), he is also struggling with Hertha, BUT a serious alternative; otherwise in-form MANUEL Friedrich who is doing brilliantly at Leverkusen where Hyppia is raving about him

NO Boateng, please: TWO DREADFUL games for Germany now; refuses to sing the national-anthem + flirted with playing for Ghana

Lahm: obviously

Jansen: in-form at HSV, with LOTS of experience and flexibility (can also play midfield); VERY good character

Ballack: obviously

Schweinsteiger: ditto

Özil: could be our Wunderwaffe

Khedira or Marin: HUGE potential both, cannot make my mind up; depends on late season form

Frings: a 100% must ; NON-NEfuckingGOTIABLE

Borowski: HUGE experience; preposterously UNDER-RATED; I have seen him many times at the Bayern training, and even under van Gaal , when Boro already knew he would go back to WErder , he was the MASTERMIND of the B-team, that led to defeats of the A-team TWICE

Klose + Podolski +Gomez: non-negotiable, obviously

Kuranyi: THE in-form striker in the Bundesliga; HUGE international experience; VERY popular with team-mates; usually their disc-jockey; would be excellent against "Lagerkoller"; + BIG-game-HIGH-PRESSURE player

Kiessling: top Bundesliga goal-scorer playing for Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen, has matured IMMENSELY, and proven himself in the UEFA Cup

as for Cacau: WHAT ON EARTH does Löw see in him ?

Helmes: NEIN, NEIN, NEIN: he is injured and Kiessling has FAR more international experience

brilliant combo of youth and experience

good age-average as well

well balanced in terms of temperaments

not much friction since Lahm is isolated and the anti-Ballacks are out



we would win the World Cup with THOSE LADS

me thinks



-----------------------



allez: I suppose the full interview is in the PAPER edition of Kicker

no idea whether they put it up completely later

this could be an ALTERNATIVE Starting 11

note: Schweini wants to play in the centre

Wiese

Hinkel-Merte-Hummels-Lahm

Ballack-Schweini

Özil Poldi
Klose
Kuranyi

Three attacking midfielders, three strikers and half a person who can defend

You are a legend Otto

Wonder what Guzman would make of that team

Also, isn't Kuranyi part of the Schalträger-brigade?



Why does he make your squad then, Otto?

That's a nice manly scarf he's got there Hase. Like his nice manly porno-beard. And his nice manly Schusstechnik.

When you sit in row Z...

Stiftung Haeschentest wrote:Also, isn't Kuranyi part of the Schalträger-brigade?



Why does he make your squad then, Otto?

Why he looks so depressed? did he just talk with a Dutchie...?

Stiftung Haeschentest wrote:Also, isn't Kuranyi part of the Schalträger-brigade?



Why does he make your squad then, Otto?

Ricardo Wetzel wrote:

Stiftung Haeschentest wrote:Also, isn't Kuranyi part of the Schalträger-brigade?



Why does he make your squad then, Otto?

Why he looks so depressed? did he just talk with a Dutchie...?

Why in such self-hating mode today Ric? Stop it, bad German habit

Well according to ottolein germans get depressed after talking to dutchies so thats why i asked it.