World Cup 2010 Semi-Final Day Two
in [World Football]
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From: Werner Pichler on 9 Jul 2010 02:45 On 8 Jul., 17:19, JK <jkn...(a)oacpc.com> wrote: > Werner Pichler wrote: > > On 8 Jul., 10:05, Joachim Parsch <s...(a)bunuel.franken.de> wrote: > >> Werner Pichler schrieb: > > >>> two great teams battling it out relying on > >>> their footballing skills and their tactical nous alone, helped > >>> along by an excellent referee as Kassai. > >> No, Germany wasn't great yesterday. Somehow they didn't believe, > >> that they could win this. After about 15 minutes I already had > >> this hopeless feeling. Just a few comments: > > > This is giving Spain too little credit. The reason Germany > > couldn't play like against England or Argentina is that > > Spain didn't allow it. The Germans delivered an honourable > > battle in midfield, and even they came up short in the end, > > they gave the Spaniards enough reasons to worry. > > Like a venomous snake that only snaps twice, but each > > occasion (Özil & Kroos) could have spelled a semifinal > > exit for the Spaniards. My impression was that the game > > was actually on the edge for the longest time. > > > I admit I overlooked the Ramos incident, which should have > > warranted a yellow. Still, very few fouls in this match. Of > > course, Germany could have played more aggressively, > > "durch den Kampf ins Spiel zurückfinden" and all that, but > > I very much prefer them if they don't. But then, I'm no > > German fan... :) > > > And I don't think Puyol's header was a 'cheap' goal, it > > was the logical conclusion of the continual wearing > > down of the otherwise extremely disciplined and > > resourceful German defence. One slip is all it takes, > > not only in this respect football is very much like chess. > > In fact it was a very "German" goal in that respect. :) > > I am in agreement with some of your other points as well. I think > Germany planned from the outset to win 1-0 and played an accordingly > cautious game. My sense was they were just waiting for the right > counterattack. The question is, is this the right way to play Spain, maybe even the only way, or did Löw commit his team to a tactic that was doomed to fail. Joachim and others seem to think so; myself, I think it was a valid game plan, I don't see easily how else Germany would have had any chance beating them. > But I think that what they didn't count on was the > Spanish getting stronger as the game went on, particularly in midfield > and on defense, and strangled any counters before they could get going. Yes, that was the key to winning the game - the balance of mutual respect that dominated in the early stages slowly and inexorably tipped towards the Spaniards as the game progressed - not because of bad tactics or 'choking' but because one team was just this little bit better than the other, and took heart from it. > Spain really was all over them in the middle of the field and Pique > and Puyol were also very solid. Still, had Kroos scored on his > chance, the game would have gone exactly as planned from a German > perspective. > It also doesn't help that Oezil did not have a good match. It's his disappearing act in big matches, it's the same for Werder. Ciao, Werner
From: Mark V. on 9 Jul 2010 03:18 On Jul 8, 1:40 pm, Chagney Hunt <ess...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Jul 8, 4:36 pm, Mehdi <Be...(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote: > > > I don't think it was the players who choked, it was the coach. > > Trochowski's selection flew in the face of the aggressive, attacking > > approach adopted in the previous games. Schweinsteiger sat too deep > > because Lowe was afraid of a counter to their counter attack when there > > was no need. Spain's midfield is one paced. > > Quick -- how does Spain score the majority of their goals? It begins with "c". There is a reason why the ultra-mega-defensive Swiss were the only team to beat them and why the ultra-mega- conservative Portuguese almost held their own against them.
From: Abubakr on 9 Jul 2010 04:12
On Jul 9, 5:18 pm, "Mark V." <markvande...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > On Jul 8, 1:40 pm, Chagney Hunt <ess...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > On Jul 8, 4:36 pm, Mehdi <Be...(a)soccer-europe.com> wrote: > > > > I don't think it was the players who choked, it was the coach. > > > Trochowski's selection flew in the face of the aggressive, attacking > > > approach adopted in the previous games. Schweinsteiger sat too deep > > > because Lowe was afraid of a counter to their counter attack when there > > > was no need. Spain's midfield is one paced. > > > Quick -- how does Spain score the majority of their goals? > > It begins with "c". It's the most important aspect of the modern game and every great team worthy of the title should be able to exploit the transitions from defence to attack, it's at such times is that usually space is available at its utmost and the opposition unbalanced. Why should the Spanish game not be able to work best at those times, like everybody else? >There is a reason why the ultra-mega-defensive > Swiss were the only team to beat them and why the ultra-mega- > conservative Portuguese almost held their own against them. The whole idea behind 'parking the bus' is to not through up any instances of transition from defence to attack by not bothering to attack at all. If you can fluke a goal at some point, a la les Swisses, all dandy, otherwise you end up like Portugal. |