Group F: Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany

[hallamblue]

I like this German team but I don't trust Low.

Not many players are at their peak in the German team. They have old players who used to be good, young players who might be good and peak age players who aren't that good.

 

[Wolf8312]

Look at the top of the draw and then the bottom. Where would you rather be?

But I don’t understand in the next game France play Switzerland and Italy play Austria are you saying those games are more difficult than England playing their legendary banana peel Germany?
Belgium have to play Portugal but is that really such a difficult tie? The Germans who we are playing ourselves beat and exposed them convincingly!
Why the weird fixation on England? What nationality are you?

 

[Papa Shango]

Lighting up the stadium in rainbow colors against Hungary is a direct protest against their government's policies, which in turn is a political statement. UEFA have zero tolerance for political statements. Or you believe UEFA should become political?

UEFA have always been political.

Everything is political one way or another.

 

[carolinablue232]

But I don’t understand in the next game France play Switzerland and Italy play Austria are you saying those games are more difficult than England playing their legendary banana peel Germany?
Belgium have to play Portugal but is that really such a difficult tie? The Germans who we are playing ourselves beat and exposed them convincingly!
Why the weird fixation on England? What nationality are you?

You’d rather swap places in this draw with France, Italy, and Belgium? Think that might be a lonely view.

 

[Wolf8312]

You’d rather swap places in this draw with France, Italy, and Belgium? Think that might be a lonely view.

I only asked you your nationality because I wondered if you realized the significance of that particular draw to us English, how much trepidation it involves, and how much it would mean to us if we actually won it?
It's a massive game for us and no English fan will be thinking jackpot we've drawn Germany!
You seem to be trying to prove that we didn't deserve to win the tournament just on the off chance that we actually do win or do well in the tournament. Live and let live!

 

[carolinablue232]

I only asked you your nationality because I wondered if you realized the significance of that particular draw to us English, how much trepidation it involves, and how much it would mean to us if we actually won it?
It's a massive game for us and no English fan will be thinking jackpot we've drawn Germany!
You seem to be trying to prove that we didn't deserve to win the tournament just on the off chance that we actually do win or do well in the tournament. Live and let live!

Dont worry Wolf, there’s still absolutely no concern that England will win it.

Also I’m American. We take quite a few pot shots on here, so yeah, it’s nice to poke the English bear once in a while.

 

[Wolf8312]

Dont worry Wolf, there’s still absolutely no concern that England will win it.

Also I’m American. We take quite a few pot shots on here, so yeah, it’s nice to poke the English bear once in a while.

I agree it's unlikely but I don't think we've been as bad as people are saying. I think the beginning portion of all of our games has shown promise quick movement and forward passing but then we either lost or conserved energy for pragmatic reasons. If it's the latter then hopefully we could surprise people. Don't need to be the best team to win a tournament though it obviously helps!

 

[Tin-Tin]

 

[Drico]

I live in Berlin and have followed German football forever. There isn't a single quality German defender in that squad and, as a result, they will struggle not to be eliminated pretty early. Löw is a busted flush who outstayed his welcome a good 5 years, and when you're scrabbling around to recall Hummels - who you rightly discarded aeons ago - you really don't have a defender worth his salt to rely on.

9 times out of 10 you could rely on Germany to beat England in a knockout game. Not this time. Germany has too many mentally fragile talents - Werner, Havertz, Sane - and a surfeit of mediocrity: Volland and pretty much the entire defence. I think it could well get ugly for Löw before he finally goes. Still, they'll host the next Euros with Flick. They'll be back in the last four by that one.

This has aged well.

 

[Tin-Tin]

Bloody hell. Shes the reason Rabiot is apparently a bad egg isnt she

 

[TheBigIguana]

This has aged well.

Assuming Flick is going to use the same type of system he used at Bayern they'll be a contender in 2022 for me. Kimmich and Goretzka is a hell of a platform to build off of. I think Sane and Gnabry will be much more at home in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 and then you just have to work Havertz in. Bin off Werner and you're in business.

 

[Billy Dean]

Assuming Flick is going to use the same type of system he used at Bayern they'll be a contender in 2022 for me. Kimmich and Goretzka is a hell of a platform to build off of. I think Sane and Gnabry will be much more at home in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 and then you just have to work Havertz in. Bin off Werner and you're in business.

False 9 maybe as they don't seem to have a CF at the moment.

 

[davmaher]

I would not have forecast that no team from this group would get beyond the last 16.

 

[TheBigIguana]

I would not have forecast that no team from this group would get beyond the last 16.

You would have expected one to find a way to win but really none of them played well enough to guarantee anything. Back to the drawing board for all 3.

 

[Drico]

Assuming Flick is going to use the same type of system he used at Bayern they'll be a contender in 2022 for me. Kimmich and Goretzka is a hell of a platform to build off of. I think Sane and Gnabry will be much more at home in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 and then you just have to work Havertz in. Bin off Werner and you're in business.

The Germans have great powers of recovery, but I think they've got a big job ahead to return to past glories quickly. They have no defenders and no strikers worthy of their shirt. They have a surfeit of midfielders to the extent that the German FA no longer speaks of goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and strikers when announcing their squads. Mifielders and Strikers are conflated as "Attackers".

Timo Werner is not an international footballer. He has failed under multiple coaches now: Löw, Lampard, and Tuchel. Flick isn't changing that narrative quickly. He's not got the raw materials upstairs. Havertz will blossom into an elite player, but he needs to become a leader. The retirement of Kroos and Müller will help that along. Kroos has been phoning it in for Germany since 2016. His departure will help reset the midfield. Goretzka can now make one spot his. However, until they start developing defenders who can defend and strikers who score goals, Germany will be an also-ran in the major tournaments. Gnabry has benefitted from playing with the greatest striker in the world at Bayern, but without him has shown himself to be inadequate at this level. Germany have serious issues to address - and it is more to do with the type of players their system has been producing than any coaching eccentricities that Joachim Löw was evidently guilty of.

Euro 2024 will be Hansi Flick's main target with 2026 the eventual final destination. Qatar is a pipe dream in terms of winning.