[Funari]

Erich Ribbeck has revealed his Euro 2000 plans! He said:
"Sixteen of the 17 players from the 1-1 draw with Croatia will be nominated, I will only drop one player but will not give the name now". I guess this will be Carsten Ramelow.
And he also told us the names of six players who will be added. This makes the following squad:

Goalkeepers:
Oliver Kahn
Jens Lehmann
Hans-Jörg Butt

Defense:
Thomas Linke
Lothar Matthäus
Jens Nowotny
Marko Rehmer
Christian Wörns
Markus Babbel

Midfield:
Michael Ballack
Stefan Beinlich
Dietmar Hamann
Dariusz Wosz
Christian Ziege
Jens Jeremies
Mehmet Scholl
Sebastian Deisler
Marco Bode

Attack:
Oliver Bierhoff
Ulf Kirsten
Oliver Neuville
Paulo Rink

 

[xax]

who do think should get into 1st team!?

mine is:

kahn

worns-mattaeus-babbel-ziege

ballack-hamann-scholl-jeremies

kirsten-bierhoff

subs:lehmann, neuville,jancker,linke,wosz,deisler

 

[Funari]

Ribbeck will play 3-5-2, so my favourite team would be:
____________Kahn______________
_Babbel__Matthäus__Nowotny_
________Jeremies_____________
Deisler_______________Ziege
______Ballack____Scholl______
_____________________________
______Kirsten____Rink_______

 

[Driver X]

Olivier Bierhoff is one of few players in your squad that has Euro and World Cup experience, he's captain of the team, why leave him out?

 

[Sergio]

Better Bierhoff-Rink than Bierhoff-Kirsten!!!!

 

[xax]

i've never seen rink..so i can't say anything about him!

but i don't understand why u leave out hamann!????

this guy's been in splendid form and some time ago..beckenbaeur even said that l'pool should build all the team around him!!

i can't imagine him not being in1st team!~!~

ok if germany goes on 3-5-2 there it goes:

kahn

matthaeus
babbel linke

jeremies
hamann
ballack ziege
scholl
kirsten-bierhoff

subs:lehmann, neuville,bode, nowotny ,diesler

 

[Funari]

Why I left out Bierhoff:
For me, Bierhoff is a very one-dimensional player. He is one of the best, when playing in a team with great players on the wing, guys that can cross like Beckham does. But Germany doesn't have any Beckham-like player, so Bierhoff always stands all alone in front of the net and doesn't see any ball for the whole 90 minutes of a game. The reason: Bierhoff is not able to go back to midfield and get the ball there. So I would put Kirsten and Rink up front - they worked very well at Leverkusen since the winter break, and I'm sure they would also do well in the German national team!

Why I left out Hamann: In my team (3-5-2), there is room for only one defensive midfielder (because my team plays with two attacking midfielders - Scholl and Ballack). So I have to choose between Jeremies and Hamann. Hamann played awfully in his recent games for Germany - he was one of the worst in the 1-2 loss vs. the Netherlands! He seemed having lost everything he showed for FC Bayern and Team Germany in 1998! And Jeremies is playing constantly well on a high level, he is very dynamic and always shows great fighting spirit, so my decision is clear: Jeremies in - Hamann out!
I wonder why you always consider Jens Nowotny as a substitute. He is clearly Germany's best defender, and one of the best defenders in Europe! He has much more offensive skills than Thomas Linke has, and at defense, he is much more reliable than Markus Babbel or Christian Wörns. Nowotny: For me and Erich Ribbeck the Number 1-defender!

[This message has been edited by Funari (edited 15-04-2000).]

 

[Driver X]

Jeremies at least won't be part of the German team which plays Switzerland on April 26. Maybe Hamann could have one final chance to show what he is capable of, someone of his calibre, with experience too, should really not be left out of the squad.
I also read that Markus Babbel is a likely candidate to be dropped and get picked for Euro 2000.

 

[xax]

hey funari:
have u seen hamann play for l'pool!???
i think he;s simply awesome!!!!!
he's just great great great...he is a real dynamo and links up the attack with the defence perfectly~!!!he is always cool on the ball and aggressive..rarely makes a bad pass and ..many managers consider him to be one of the most versatile midfielders right now cos of his ability to play as defensive,offensive midfielder or as playmaker..

maybe germany's style just doesn't suit him..

about nowotny..i've never seen him play ..that's why i left him out.

i prefer including a player i know...rather than on how other ppl rate him..

i've seen linke play at bayern..and i consider him to be real gd!!!he may be short but he's got quite some aggresivity..and gd positional sense as well as gd tackling ..
i doubt about his heading though,,

 

[Funari]

xax, the type of player you've described is exactly the player Germany desperately needs at the moment - a player who links the attack with the defence, a player who is defensively reliable and has playmaking skills. After Hamann played a solid World Cup in 1998 German football fans had high hopes in Hamann, that - someday - he could be "the man" in German midfield, but his performances in the national team have always been disappointing.
I strongly believe that he is showing great football with Liverpool, as he did last year with Newcastle (otherwise Liverpool would not have spent so much money for him), but German coach Erich Ribbeck's decisions can only be based on a players performances in the national team - so Ribbeck has chosen Jens Jeremies.
But Driver X is also right: Jeremies has been suspended for the game vs. Switzerland, so Hamann probably has one more opportunity to demonstrate his qualities.

Markus Babbel has played the last four or five games in a row (when being healthy), so he will play alongside Jens Nowotny and Lothar Matthäus in Germany's defence.

 

[xax]

i think jeremies is a very gd defensive midielder..but he doesn't have much offensive qualities...he can play as anchorman but not as playmaker..

why does hamann play so poorly in national team!??is it the playing style that doesn't suit him!?
anyway..i heard he had another great match after l'pool beat wimbledon 2-1..

how come carsten jancker is not included in the squad by the way!?i don't think he's very skillful player..but he's got great physical attributes which many other players don't have....

 

[Funari]

You are right about Jens Jeremies - defensively, he is great, good tackling, very dynamic, but he is not the playmaker the German team needs.

In the 2-1 loss vs. the Netherlands Hamann was almost inivisible during the whole 90 minutes, and the few times he had the ball, he played wrong passes - so he (and Zoltan Sebescen) were the worst players on the pitch!

Carsten Jancker is not in the squad, because Bierhoff, Kirsten and Oliver Neuville are better. Carsten Jancker had a great season in 1998/99 but has lost a bit of his great form since. And: Erich Ribbeck obviously has decided to travel with only four strikers to Euro 2000, so there's no room for Carsten Jancker!

 

[xax]

only 4strikers!!??
that's pretty much tight!!
looks like he's going for a very defensive squad all the way!!

maybe hamann plays so badly cos he's out of position...i know at liverpool he plays as anchorman...but since in germany it's jeremies who is anchorman...

though i think hamann has all the qualities needed to perform any job in midfield!

 

[s04adi]

I'd say the team now is a huge step up from this Euro 2000 team, which if I remember correctly tied Rumania, lost to England, and got killed by Portugal...

 

[gautam]

Wow! Wonder how you managed to dig this out!

Yeah the current German squad is looking good for the future. Now if only the back four could gain in confidence and experience...

 

[W.Bremen_Yank]

lol great idea to revive this post

 

[s04adi]

Wow! Wonder how you managed to dig this out!

Yeah the current German squad is looking good for the future. Now if only the back four could gain in confidence and experience...

haha..yeah I was just curious to see how old this forum was and clicked on last page, so sure enough it brought me back to euro 2000 (5 years of longevity ain't bad)