Germany / Dave Farrar / 14 May 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

You'll hear plenty of "Never rule out the Germans" and "Germany are always there or thereabouts" this summer but don't believe everything you hear. This side has plenty of problems, not less their goalkeeper issue and internal squabbling...

"There are solid reasons to oppose Germany, though, and the first is the group in which they’re drawn. Group D is one of the few from which you can make a realistic case for any of the four teams qualifying, and right from the moment that Germany kick off against Australia they will be up against it. "

Germany have reached at least the final 4 at the last two World Cups, and the received wisdom which says that they must never be underestimated means that there'll be plenty of market support for them this time round, and I'm sure that, god forbid, a few pundits will include them on their list of "dark horses" for the tournament.

There are solid reasons to oppose Germany, though, and the first is the group in which they're drawn. Group D is one of the few from which you can make a realistic case for any of the four teams qualifying, and right from the moment that Germany kick off against Australia they will be up against it.

To me they look like an unhappy and uncertain squad. The dispute between the captain Michael Ballack and coach Jogi Low is said to have been resolved, but there must be some lingering ill feeling between the two men, not to mention the fact that Ballack has made it abundantly clear that he wants his central midfield partner to be Torsten Frings and not the current incumbent Bastian Schweinsteiger.

There has also been confusion about the team's formation, and Low's insistence on keeping the faith with the likes of Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose, who have so clearly looked out of form in the Bundesliga. Kevin Kuranyi's goals mean that logic would dictate that he simply HAD to start at the World Cup, yet Low's inability to manage his most talented and arrogant forward means that Kuranyi won't even go to South Africa.

The performance of Bayern Munich in the Champions League doesn't mean anything with regard to Germany's World Cup chances, and don't be fooled into thinking that it does. That has been a Dutch inspired adventure, and the likes of Arjen Robben and Mark Van Bommel might well be looking on their adopted countrymen with a measure of pity over the next couple of months.

COACH Jogi LOW

Low rightly got a lot of credit for being the brains behind the Jurgen Klinsmann team which did so well in 2006, and he then followed that up by taking the team to the final of Euro 2008, but his stock has fallen with the German public since then, and he seems certain to be replaced as national coach by Matthias Sammer for the European Championship qualifying campaign.

The news that he had wanted a 3 million Euro signing on fee to stay on as national coach after the World Cup, together with a series of public rows with players, means that Low has lost the confidence of both the fans and much of the dressing room, and the togetherness which normally characterises a German tilt at a major tournament may just be missing this time around.

KEY PLAYERS

Tim Wiese/Manuel Neuer

If you think that England have goalkeeping problems, then rest assured that Germany are in a very similar predicament. The tragedy of Robert Enke means that all of this must be kept in a very real context, but now that Rene Adler has been ruled out for the summer with injury, Low is left with a straight choice between Wiese of Werder Bremen and Neuer of Schalke, neither of whom have any great international experience. Wiese is occasionally error prone, Neuer likewise, and it's a genuinely tough decision for the coach. Neither is ideal, and a country that has been used to a brilliant last line of defence in recent World Cups may have to cross their fingers and hope that one of them rises to the challenge.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Schweinsteiger is so effective in midfield that it's easy to forget that he's playing. He has made things tick for Bayern Munich all season, and I think that he is now a more important player for the Mannschaft than Michael Ballack. Ballack will have to play alongside him, whether the Chelsea man likes it or not, and may also have to accept that he has become the junior partner.

Miroslav Klose

Low's decision to leave out the best German striker in the Bundesliga, Kevin Kuranyi, and his public support for both Klose and Podolski, puts a lot of pressure on the man who finished top scorer at the last World Cup. Klose is in the unfortunate position of seeming a likely starter and yet knowing that most German supporters think that he should be a squad player at best. He has a great record with the national side, particularly in World Cups, but he has been a fringe player under Louis Van Gaal at Bayern and has managed only three goals this Bundesliga season. The likes of Stefan Kiessling and Thomas Muller may well get the nod ahead of him, but the choice of Klose ahead of Kuranyi means that Bayern's benchwarmer shouldn't be, but will be, a key man this summer

Recommendation Lay Germany to win Group D @ [1.92]

Tags: German football team, German footballers, Germany manager, Joachim Low, Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose