I have always been in two minds about the international season starting so early, particularly during a World Cup year. Despite it being almost two months after the Nationalmannschaft’s triumph in Rio there is still something of a sluggishness, with
The victorious German team are back home or on holiday, the World Cup trophy is safely in the locker for another four years, and it’s now time for what will be one of most memorable tournament post-mortems. The recent retirement
When the World Cup began more than a month ago, the thought of Germany being in the final would be little more than a dream. Placed in the toughest half of the draw with a possible quarter-final against France and
Welcome to the latest World Cup vlog, covering everything from the final group match against the United States to a preview of the quarter-final against France. The Algeria game and team tactics are discussed at length, as I try my
Germany’s World Cup goes on, but their second phase encounter with Algeria would produce yet another dramatic chapter in what has so far been an incredible tournament – arguably the best for a long time, possibly since Mexico 1986. Expected
After all of the speculation, we now have our final squad of twenty-three – and the expected surprise. While one of the three players not making the cut would come as no great shock, the other two would generate more
Two days ahead of the friendly against Cameroon in Mönchengladbach, it’s time for another training group report – and finally some positive news as Joachim Löw’s squad of twenty-six go are put through their paces looking to make the final
With just four days to go before Germany’s next World Cup warm-up game against Cameroon in Mönchengladbach and five days before the announcement of the final squad of twenty-three who will be flying out to Brazil, things are certainly hotting
The squad of twenty-seven players taken to the training camp in Italy is now down to twenty-six, following the withdrawal of gritty midfielder Lars Bender thorough injury. The absence of the Bayer 04 Leverkusen defensive midfielder leaves Nationaltrainer Joachim Löw
Ostensibly billed as a World Cup warmup, what might have been an interesting and testing fixture for the Nationalmannschaft at Hamburg’s Imtech-Arena would be defined by the long list of absentees. With some clubs unable or unwilling to release players
Earlier today I described the German side for this evenings meeting with Poland as a C-Elf, and it appears that Kicker Online agrees, calling tonight’s lineup a Dritte Anzug. In my last pre-match post I would name a side with
With a few hours to go until the friendly in Hamburg between Germany and Poland, here’s my projected line-up for what is effectively a C-Mannschaft. With the experienced Lars Bender now injured, the now-reduced squad of seventeen includes only ten