Germany Look Good But Are There Chinks In The Armour?

Article by Pete Bancroft (@Pete_Allsports)

Click here to follow e-Football on Twitter!

Sunday night saw Germany crowned as rightful world champions with their first World Cup final win as unified nation. The victory was fully deserved. The team navigated their way through a hard group and impressively overcome three top opponents - France, Brazil and Argentina - in the knock out stages.

The hyperbole machine has now gone into full flow. Football fans around the world, not least in England, are wondering how to replicate the success. Many are predicting a new golden era for German football, hot on the heels of the Spanish domination of the last ten years.

But whilst it’s easy to find reasons for the Germans to be cheerful right now, the team may not be as impregnable as the current hype suggests. Here are five reasons that there may be hope for the other nations yet.

Dodgy Sweeper-Keeper

As Iker Casillas and Gigi Buffon said goodbye to international football in somewhat underwhelming fashion, Manuel Neuer showed that he is now best in the world. His ability to react quickly off his line made ‘Sweeper-keeper’ the new phrase of the moment. As with many football tactics though, opponents will now expect it and try to exploit it. Argentina tried and it led to a couple of sickening clashes for which less lenient referees may have punished Neuer with a red card. It’s also an okay tactic as long as Neuer is available. If he is not then can his understudies play in this way or can the defence easily adapt to playing deeper?

Full-back Failings

The Germans possess strength in depth in all but two positions – the full-backs. Howedes is a decent centre-back but looked awful when played out of position. Philipp Lahm is comfortable playing either side which suggests that there are very few alternatives on the right or left. There maybe some gems out there that were not quite ready for this tournament and there are also some players that the current coach clearly doesn’t rate (Schmelzer). Either way it could be an area of weakness if not addressed as Lahm gets closer to international retirement.

Big Time Charlie’s

The unity of the team was a key factor in success and was bought about by the humility of players that have played together from a young age. With success however will come distractions and expectation. Even the lesser known players can now call themselves World Cup Winners and flirt with big contract offers from Europe’s elite clubs. Toni Kroos is already somewhat of an outcast at Munich, Sami Khedira has priced himself out of a move to Arsenal and the likes of Thomas Muller and Mats Hummels will surely consider the opportunity to cash in on being genuine stars of a tournament. With big moves and salaries could come prima donna behaviour and whilst this may not affect the national team ethic, it just as equally could.

No Klose Competition

A perceived weakness of the Germans ahead of the World Cup was that they had just one ‘out-and-out’ centre forward in their squad; the 36 year old Miroslav Klose. For much of the tournament this had little impact as Muller and Gotze showed that given the chances, they were perfectly capable goal scorers. In certain situations however, such as the 2-2 draw with Ghana, Klose showed the importance of those players who posses the heightened knack of putting the ball in the net. Klose has now scored more World Cup goals than any other player. A third of them have been headers and all were scored from less than 18 yards. He has never been a flamboyant star of the show but his contribution should not be underestimated. As Klose ends his international career there does not seem to be a natural replacement. He has made a career out of making the difference in tight games. How Germany do this without him will be an interesting dilemma.

All time Low?

The World Cup win was the culmination of 10 years work for the coach Joachim Low. He began as the assistant to Jurgen Klinsamann before taking full control in 2006. He has spent those years nurturing a generation of players and making them into winners. The question now for Low is how much longer does he continue?

Like his players, he will be besieged by offers from big clubs. Chelsea and Manchester City in England as well as the Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona have regularly changed their managers in recent years and Low could well be the next man on their wish lists. Pep Guardiola manages Germany’s biggest club, Bayern Munich, but is known to favour short bursts rather than long managerial reigns meaning there are also domestic options that could also appeal. The potential challenges for Low, whose record at club level modest at best, are therefore endless. At international level he only has the European Championship and retention of the World Cup to aim for, neither of which would embellish his CV.

Of Low’s immediate predecessors, Klinsmann was style over substance and Rudi Voeller was just poor. Germany have good coaches working domestically but there is no guarantee that they will be able to continue the success that Low has achieved if he decides to move on.

© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football