I’ll tell you something Kevin
I know Germany pretty good…i’ll just throw a few things at you
Euro2004, i thought Germany could win…but…this is what happened
Voeller…absolutely terrible coach
He refused to play Klose, which irritated the hell out of me, and kept pumping this Kuranyi guy, who was never gonna score, and the more he screwed up, the more dejected he became out there, and Voeller let him die out there on the field, and just shattered the young striker’s confidence for life…you just never ever do something like that as a coach.
Key mistake #2…he refused to play Metzelder, who i consider a great young defender…and in the game vs Holland that eliminated Germany, the cross that found Van Nistelrooj for the late winner came from the position that Metzelder plays…i can virtually guarantee you that if Metzelder was on the field and playing his position, that cross never would’ve got through and found its way into Germany’s net
That was why Germany did nothing at Euro2004, only those 2 things and nothing else
Now you see the difference those 2 players make in the team’s performance level
Ballack is a pure champ, one of my favourite players, but he went down vs Argentina, i cant ignore that, he’s hurt…i like Frings, he’s playing really good, kind of like how Jeremies played the midfield a few years back in the World Cup, a strong powerful runner
Okondor is moving his ass pretty good, but you can’t start him, he’s not that kind of player…he is effective when you bring him in late, after the other teams defence is worn down a bit, then his speed is more useful, and he has much more impact on the game, if you put him in from the start, you would probably have to pull him after 60 minutes, then you lose one of your aces who come in off the bench
This game is much more complicated than people think…the coaches really have to make all the right moves
I thought Klinsman made a couple mistakes so far that might have jeopardized his team, especially in the late going of this tournament
The game vs Ecuador…Ecuador conceeded that game from the start by resting their best players, but Klinsman had his team going full throttle, and rested nobody…the effects of that move showed against Argentina, as they were life and death to survive and came limping off the field…and it will show again against Italy, they needlessly spent themselves…i was trying to relay a message to Ballack in that one, yo, wtf are you doing, settle down and save yourself for later, but Klinsman had the idea that he could win this thing by having the pedal to the metal right from the start, now the tank is nearing empty because of that idea
You just have to take a few games off if you’re gonna win one of these things, and make sure your key players get a rest…Klinsman should’ve got guys like Assamoah into the game, let them run around out there and give your top guns a rest…Klose has played over 400 minutes of this tourney, none of the Italian strikers have played even 300 minutes
Then look what Italy has on the bench…100 goals in Del Pierro and Inzaghi…and they don’t even need them, they have played 150 minutes between them…in fact, every single player on Italy’s roster has seen action, with the exception of the backup goalies…that is the sign of a very good coach and a solid team
If you want to compare starting lineups in terms of minutes played so far(and its a very important stat)…you will see that overall, Italy as a team has played over 1000 minutes less than Germany…i’ll get out some specs
Forwards – Italy +308 minute advantage
Klose – 408
Podolski – 443
Toni – 286
Gilardino – 257
Midfield – Italy +258 minute advantage
Ballack – 390
Schweinsteiger – 400
Schneider – 402
Frings – 449
Borowski – 176(gets occassional start, might start this game)
Totti – 285
Pirlo – 427
Camoranesi – 175 (plays when they go with 5 in midfield, and 1 forward)
Gattuso – 312
Zambrotta – 360
Defense – Italy +674 minute advantage
Metzelder – 390
Lahm – 480
Friedrich – 453
Mertesacker – 480
Nesta – 196
Cannavaro – 450
Grosso – 360
Materazzi – 123
Team Total – Italy +1240 minute advantage
Obviously the lower those numbers are next to each player, the better, and Italy has a huge advantage, they are coming into this game in much better shape physically, and way less worn down, consider any thought you had of Germany being physically superior in this one a complete myth, it’s quite the opposite
Germany will need all the help they can get just to keep it close…that is such a huge advantage for Italy(how did they do it…smoke and mirrors baby), they average over 100 minutes less per player, just incredible
Imagine i’m in a 10km marathon race against the world’s best 10km runner, but i only have to run 7.5km…well i’m gonna kick his ass…no matter how good you are, you just can’t give away that kind of advantage
:hattip: