Scouting Germany

England have just managed to squeeze through to the last sixteen, but the news that they will be facing Germany, especially after their history as two football teams playing together, will not be welcomed as such good news.

Germany have looked impressive in two of their games so far but as evidence that England could most definitely get one over on their sausage loving enemies, one only needs to look as far as their 1-0 loss to Serbia. Whilst Serbia are considered to be a formidable side, they did not manage to get out of their group and undoubtedly benefited from a soft red card for Miroslav Klose. A more sobering thought is the memory of Germany's 4-0 win over Australia and 1-0 win over Ghana both of which were convincing and demonstrated that Germany are very dangerous.

Their coaching team, the two most senior of which seem to insist upon wearing 'trendy' matching outfits, is not as prestigious as in the past. No national heroes like Klinsmann or Beckenbauer this time, instead the job is held by the previously little known Joachim Loew. He had a very modest career as a player but seems to have forged himself an impressive career as a manager. Working his way up through German and Austrian teams, he earned himself a job as assistant manager of the national side in 2004. After Klinsmann grabbed the third place spot in 2004, Loew became the manager and in the 2008 European Championships, he was able to guide his team to the final. So far he has been able to craft this, the youngest German side since 1934, into a formidable outfit. So who are their key players?

For me the most dangerous man, and most probable to be a future star, is Mesut Oezil. The attacking midfielder has looked very impressive so far and if he continues to be a similar force throughout the latter stages of the tournament and against bigger opposition, I wouldn't be surprised if some premiership teams had a look at bringing him to England. Other names, probably more familiar to many fans, are Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski. Klose will be back from suspension against England and, despite his age, will need to be closely watched by the likes of Terry and Carragher. Podolski, who is yet to really take off in this tournament, will be dangerous especially if he plays on the left and faces Glenn Johnson whose pace is somewhat less than Podolski's. The ever present and ever threatening Bastian Schweinsteiger will undoubtedly cause problems and whether or not he starts, Sami Khedira's pace could also cause England's defence difficulties.

Personally, I can't see England being able to cope with Podolski if he is on form and the pace of the German team in general. For that reason the defence will probably have to play quite deep which of course has repercussions elsewhere on the field. Barry will have to play slightly deeper as well but if he can use his playmaking skills to their fullest then this won't necessarily be a bad place for him to play. Arguably the most important thing for England to do is keep the ball and play patiently across the back. It would be a bad move for them to, as Beckenbauer has said, to revert back to 'kick and rush' football. Play it slowly and patiently and one or two goals may be enough. Let's hope that Cole can keep up his reasonably good form up to date and let's hope even more that Rooney is able to find his form for his contribution will be key if England are to have any chance of winning this World Cup.

World Cup 2010 - The Story So Far

Well with the group stage of the world cup coming to an end, it seemed like a good time to start this blog up as a place to air my views on the many sporting events taking place throughout the world. I know more about some sports than others but I will do my best to cover as many different sports as possible especially if it a large event followed by many people. I doubt many will read this but if you are one of the lucky ones I hope you enjoy it and find the time to agree or disagree with what I have to say.

Round one of the 2010 world cup is nearly at an end and whilst we don’t know all the teams through to the last 16 it is, none the less, a good point to review the teams so far. Firstly, the inevitable demise of the French under Raymond Domenech. There are few who can understand why he was allowed to continue as team coach after the French lost the final in Berlin in 2006, especially considering the many rumours claiming that Domenech had lost control of the dressing room and was a mere bystander as Zidane picked the teams and gave the talks. It was almost inevitable then that they would struggle this world cup and that they have, I advised a friend to place a small bet on South Africa to beat France after the news of the French strike came through in protest after Nikolas Anelka was deported back home for swearing at Domenech. He said he wouldn’t risk thinking that their recent tiff would bind them closer together.

The loss to a spirited South Africa made the French look pathtic and Domenech’s refusal to shake Parreira’s hand after the game maybe gave us a clue as to why he struggled to get on with so many of the players. In the end it is probably karma. The Irish will I’m sure be cheering as the French plane leaves Johannesburg as it was Henry’s blatant handball that sent the Irish very cruelly out. As I am writing this I am sure the whole of Paris is glistening with guillotine blades waiting for Domenech’s heads. The most senior person to be doing this is Sarkozy, who has apparently ordered a probe into the failure.

Other things have been happening in South Africa. By far and away the most successful continent in this year’s tournament has been South America whose teams have lost very few games and conceded very few goals. The Argentineans have looked very threatening and aggressive going forward, qualifying as they did with all 9 points. Unfortunately for them though, they remain exposed at the back and may struggle a little more when they have to play more serious opposition but, for the mean time they are safe. Their eccentric ego of a coach Diego Maradona has promised to run through the streets with his ‘tackle’ (football related pun) out if Argentina wins the tournament. Whilst I don’t usually swing that way that is something that I would like to see. They play Mexico in the next round and I fancy Argentina to get a result there, maybe it won’t be as easy as many are expecting but a win. When they come up against the stronger teams it may end up being a question of them saying “if you score four, we’ll score five”.

Brazil has been the most convincing of all the teams so far. They look solid in all areas of the pitch and are playing very fine football. My money is with them to win it but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t be beaten. If North Korea were able to score against them and restrict them to only two goals, then I am sure others will be able to threaten them further. The others have all looked impressive to. Uruguay put in a very convincing performance against South Africa and managed to beat Mexico fresh off the back of their 2-0 victory over France.

Chile have also looked good and have played really fast entertaining football with their nippy right-winger Alexis Sanchez leading the way. Finally Paraguay have earned themselves a reputation. Whilst generally considered to be the weakest of the South American teams, Paraguay have looked good holding Italy to a draw and beating Slovakia 2-0. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these smaller South American teams sends one of the top European teams out of the competition.

In England most people are of course talking about their own national team. Capello’s men squeezed into the next round after a 1-0 win over Slovenia which I felt was barely a reason to be excited. Whilst there were spells of very good football from England it only lasted for 75 minutes. If England still have a lot of work to do because if they play like that against the better teams then they will be home sooner than anyone would like them to be.

Other teams in contention for the ultimate prize are Spain, whose faulty start against Spain was made a thing of the past after their 2-0 win against Honduras. The Netherlands have won both their games so far and already qualified but they haven’t looked anywhere near as good as the side that played so well in the 2008 European championships. The Germans, who started so well by thrashing Australia 4-0, then faltered and lost to Serbia who have themselves been a bit of a mixed bag. Portugal have been the most impressive European side after their very professional 7-0 win over North Korea, a game which I am sure wasn’t broadcast back in the Democratic People’s Republic. I wouldn’t be surprised however, if Serbia, who look to have found their stride, surprise a few complacent defenders.

So the next round awaits us. The English will be watching the games this evening to see who they will play on Sunday. It could be either Germany, Serbia, Ghana or, although highly unlikely, Australia. I can’t see Brazil losing in this world cup but I think they will face some very tough opposition on the way.