Germany reveals strength in depth
Source: Agencies |
June 15, 2010, Tuesday
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GERMANY coach Joachim Loew was left pondering an embarrassment of attacking options after his young team took apart Australia with a scintillating display.
The dapper 50-year-old sounded the obligatory note of caution after Germany's 4-0 win past a Socceroo side known for its tight defending, albeit one without the dismissed Tim Cahill for much of the second half.
But previously stuttering forwards Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski getting on the scoresheet would have been a huge encouragement, while Cacau scoring the fourth goal soon after coming on as substitute was another big bonus. Midfielder Thomas Mueller fired in the third goal.
"Now I'm struggling even more to use the term 'standard team'," Loew said. "As far as our attackers are concerned we have a range of possibilities - Cacau, (Mario) Gomes, (Piotr) Trochowski - and they can really twist and turn a match when I bring them on. I could have fielded other players. It was a difficult decision not to field Cacau straight away. I just knew I had a strong substitute there on the bench.
"At 2-0, I took off Klose and I've got a range of possibilities as far as our defence is concerned."
Loew's decision to favor Mueller over Trochowski in his starting line-up also looked like a masterstroke after the young Bayern Munich winger dominated the right flank, drilling a series of quality balls across the face of goal and capping a fine night with a goal.
Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek meanwhile accepted responsibility for some curious selections and tactics. Verbeek played several players out of position, left out some regular starters and went into the match without a recognized striker.
Seemingly intent on grinding out a draw, Verbeek left out target-man forward Josh Kennedy and regular attacking midfielder Mark Bresciano, while star forward Harry Kewell never came off the bench.
"If you lose 4-0 you can always say it didn't help, but nobody can prove we would have won if we had those players on the field," Verbeek said. "They (Kennedy and Bresciano) didn't do well in the last two games. They didn't do well in training. The players who were on the field were the better players ... that's the reality."
The dapper 50-year-old sounded the obligatory note of caution after Germany's 4-0 win past a Socceroo side known for its tight defending, albeit one without the dismissed Tim Cahill for much of the second half.
But previously stuttering forwards Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski getting on the scoresheet would have been a huge encouragement, while Cacau scoring the fourth goal soon after coming on as substitute was another big bonus. Midfielder Thomas Mueller fired in the third goal.
"Now I'm struggling even more to use the term 'standard team'," Loew said. "As far as our attackers are concerned we have a range of possibilities - Cacau, (Mario) Gomes, (Piotr) Trochowski - and they can really twist and turn a match when I bring them on. I could have fielded other players. It was a difficult decision not to field Cacau straight away. I just knew I had a strong substitute there on the bench.
"At 2-0, I took off Klose and I've got a range of possibilities as far as our defence is concerned."
Loew's decision to favor Mueller over Trochowski in his starting line-up also looked like a masterstroke after the young Bayern Munich winger dominated the right flank, drilling a series of quality balls across the face of goal and capping a fine night with a goal.
Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek meanwhile accepted responsibility for some curious selections and tactics. Verbeek played several players out of position, left out some regular starters and went into the match without a recognized striker.
Seemingly intent on grinding out a draw, Verbeek left out target-man forward Josh Kennedy and regular attacking midfielder Mark Bresciano, while star forward Harry Kewell never came off the bench.
"If you lose 4-0 you can always say it didn't help, but nobody can prove we would have won if we had those players on the field," Verbeek said. "They (Kennedy and Bresciano) didn't do well in the last two games. They didn't do well in training. The players who were on the field were the better players ... that's the reality."
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