Never expect an easy game when you're playing...Germany

Internationals / Alsy / 16 November 2007 / Leave a Comment

Morgan in the Driving Seat - Alister Morgan tells us why playing Germany in a major competition never gets any easier

The long road towards Euro 2008 qualification has almost ended. Steve McClaren remains confident that England will qualify - maybe he knows that his next bar of Wonka Chocolate contains a Golden Ticket - but every other England fan is praying for a miracle. England has been on qualification tenterhooks before but it doesn't have to be this way. Believe it or not, some players in Europe are resting on their laurels after securing qualification. Top of the list is Germany the current favourite [6.2] to win the next year's European Championships.

To date their qualification record has been pretty impressive with 7 wins, 2 draws and a solitary defeat but is the weighty mantle of 'tournament favourite' appropriate for such a young squad of players?

Germany's World Cup 2006 preparations were dogged by criticism. As they prepared to host the tournament on home soil coach Klinsmann was accused of spending too much time at his Californian home. Germany has a superb history of tournament success but they hadn't played any competitive qualifying matches and were struggling with injuries and patchy form.

No one gave them much chance of victory but when Philipp Lahm scored 5 minutes into the opening game against Costa Rica the host nation went from strength to strength. Germany eventually lost a semi-final classic to Italy but the team earned plenty of praise while Miroslav Klose won the Golden Boot with five goals.

Around seventeen months later the team has come full circle after securing Euro '08 qualification with relative ease despite having a number of key players like Michael Ballack, Tim Borowski, Clemens Fitz and Torsten Frings missing for many games. When Klinsmann chose not to renew his contract his assistant, Joachim Löw, was appointed as his replacement. The German team has certainly benefited from continuity on the sidelines.

Most people will not have heard of Löw (his managerial record is by no means crammed with success) but he was a significant contributor to Germany's World Cup '06 campaign and is now the chief architect of their continued success.

Germany plays a diamond variation of 4-4-2 that requires mobile wing/back play and a holding midfielder. Philipp Lahm is now considered among the best wingbacks in the world and can operate on either flank to devastating effect while Torsten Frings is the preferred choice as holding midfielder.

Other Key players include Real Madrid's superb centreback, Christoph Metzelder while Lukas Podolski and Klose remain Löw's first choice pairing in attack when fit. Like every Germany team I've ever seen the current crop boast excellent technique and play with formidable physicality. This new generation is youthful and have much-needed pace and if you remove Lehmann from the equation Germany often field a team with an average age of below 25-years-old.

Chelski fans will know that Ballack has been injured for many moons. A player of his quality will always be missed but Germany's results prove that the team can prosper in his absence. Löw has had to deal with injuries to many players (including the impressive Schweinsteiger) but the team remains very difficult to beat. They don't always produce free-flowing football but they know how to dominate possession and always seem to produce enough to win, as displayed in the key 2-1 victory away to Czech Republic.

Statistically Germany has the best away record of any team leading up to Euro '08 and the squad has gained vital experience.

Next summer, I expect Italy, [8.6] to provide the main barrier to a German victory as both countries often save their best for tournament play. Germany [6.2] is worthy favourites but there's something about Portugal [13] that makes me pause for thought, especially at that price or am I wrong to presume that Ronaldo's white boots will be as mesmerizing outside the Premiership?