Behind The Wall: Flight Of A Charlatan The Bundesliga is back, Klinsmann is gone, and Brian O'Driscoll returns with his weekly take on the German game.
Flight of a Charlatan
After the euphoria of the national team’s summer endeavours and the departures of Jürgen Klinsmann and Michael Ballack, all eyes turn to the start of the Bundesliga on a week that saw German players dominate the Footballer of the Year award.
First to the national team and the impact of a semi-final appearance at the World Cup. As predicted here by your overworked scribe, Germany did indeed make the last four of a competition that they could never truly hope to win. As also predicted here, England were touted as favourites and still blew up before the redoubtable hosts got into second gear.
Putting my cards on the table, let’s make no bones about it: it was no big deal for Germany to make the semis. Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador, and Sweden provided the kind of mediocre opposition that hosts invariably seem to hurdle with little difficulty. Defeating Argentina was an achievement, but only in surviving the South American road block. Germany “won” on penalties – as they always do – against a team hamstrung by the cravenly pessimistic tactics of its coach. That they took advantage of this and held their nerve is to their credit. However, that’s as far as it goes despite the socio-psychobabble that we’ve all been subjected to since.
With expectations at an historic low, Germans – young Germans in particular – celebrated the romp to the latter stages as if some form of miracle had been bestowed upon them. More seasoned types enjoyed their happiness in a sober fashion, wondering what all the fuss was about. Klinsmann, unable to construct a solid defence, threw caution to the wind and found the opposition compliant. When faced with a side who met fire with fire, Germany lost bravely to Italy. That was the extent of it.
All this talk of Germany reinventing itself had nothing to do with football. Germans felt good about themselves because foreigners found them charming hosts and their football team exceeded lowly expectations engendered by recent European Championship disasters by attacking in a cavalier fashion. This was an ordinary German side rampaging forward because it couldn’t defend. It beat the teams it always did, and lost to the team it could never beat. Significantly, that defeat exposed the naivety of a defence that ticked like the timebomb it always was. Four men ballwatched, Ballack stood off, and David Odonkor – the quintessential Klinsmann player, a triumph of eager style over substance – fatally abandoned his post. Klinsmann, showing absolutely no faith in the boys who had loyally followed his orders, abandoned his squad and departed for pastures new, a charlatan basking in the reflected glory of a country coming to terms with its past rather than one forging a new footballing future.
True progress will be measured at Euro 2008. For all the hype, Klinsmann’s Germany failed to beat a top-ranked footballing power within regulation time during his tenure. When all is said and done, Rudi Völler’s team actually reached a World Cup final at a time when they twice embarrassed their own shirts at successive European Championships. Why anybody would think the current side would do any better against top opposition from their own continent is beyond me. It seems as if Herr Klinsmann was of a similar mind…
Joachim Löw, the faceless number two, now assumes control. It is to be hoped that his reign is more substantial and grounded than that of his erstwhile boss. We will watch with interest.
One man who had a genuinely good World Cup was Miroslav Klose. The Bremen forward was this week voted German Footballer of the Year in a poll dominated by the national team squad. Only Rafael van der Vaart of Hamburger SV and Robert Vittek of Nürnberg represented foreign players in the top 20. While Germany boasts quite a few good young players, it’s hard to escape the thought that the journalists responsible for the vote are still rather drunk on the banal feelgood factor which infected the nation last month. You see, everything German is now somehow greater than it was this time, say, six weeks ago, and all because four goals were banged past Costa Rica...
All that said, it will be interesting to see how so many of this summer’s stars fare in the hurly burly of domestic football which resumed this week. Werder Bremen won the Ligapokal last weekend and go into the new league season with Per Mertesacker in their ranks. On Sunday, Werder face Hannover – his former club – in what promises to be the match of the round.
As I write, Bayern began their defence with a 2-0 win over a Borussia Dortmund side that is treading water. Promoted clubs VfL Bochum, Energie Cottbus – East Germany’s lone representative in the top-flight – and Alemannia Aachen all kick-of their campaigns on Saturday. Mainz, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Bayer Leverkusen are unlikely to prove accommodating hosts. Title contenders Schalke will expect to beat Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburger SV should prove too strong for Arminia Bielelfed, while VfB Stuttgart could find revitalised Nürnberg awkward opposition on day one. Wolfsburg and Hertha complete the week’s action on Sunday.
Nine months out, nobody will be surprised if Bayern are once again holding the shield aloft come May. However, I’m going to put my neck on the block and predict a second Werder Bremen crown in three years if only to say “I told you so” once more this time next year.
Brian A. O’Driscoll
Flight of a Charlatan
After the euphoria of the national team’s summer endeavours and the departures of Jürgen Klinsmann and Michael Ballack, all eyes turn to the start of the Bundesliga on a week that saw German players dominate the Footballer of the Year award.
First to the national team and the impact of a semi-final appearance at the World Cup. As predicted here by your overworked scribe, Germany did indeed make the last four of a competition that they could never truly hope to win. As also predicted here, England were touted as favourites and still blew up before the redoubtable hosts got into second gear.
Putting my cards on the table, let’s make no bones about it: it was no big deal for Germany to make the semis. Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador, and Sweden provided the kind of mediocre opposition that hosts invariably seem to hurdle with little difficulty. Defeating Argentina was an achievement, but only in surviving the South American road block. Germany “won” on penalties – as they always do – against a team hamstrung by the cravenly pessimistic tactics of its coach. That they took advantage of this and held their nerve is to their credit. However, that’s as far as it goes despite the socio-psychobabble that we’ve all been subjected to since.
With expectations at an historic low, Germans – young Germans in particular – celebrated the romp to the latter stages as if some form of miracle had been bestowed upon them. More seasoned types enjoyed their happiness in a sober fashion, wondering what all the fuss was about. Klinsmann, unable to construct a solid defence, threw caution to the wind and found the opposition compliant. When faced with a side who met fire with fire, Germany lost bravely to Italy. That was the extent of it.
All this talk of Germany reinventing itself had nothing to do with football. Germans felt good about themselves because foreigners found them charming hosts and their football team exceeded lowly expectations engendered by recent European Championship disasters by attacking in a cavalier fashion. This was an ordinary German side rampaging forward because it couldn’t defend. It beat the teams it always did, and lost to the team it could never beat. Significantly, that defeat exposed the naivety of a defence that ticked like the timebomb it always was. Four men ballwatched, Ballack stood off, and David Odonkor – the quintessential Klinsmann player, a triumph of eager style over substance – fatally abandoned his post. Klinsmann, showing absolutely no faith in the boys who had loyally followed his orders, abandoned his squad and departed for pastures new, a charlatan basking in the reflected glory of a country coming to terms with its past rather than one forging a new footballing future.
True progress will be measured at Euro 2008. For all the hype, Klinsmann’s Germany failed to beat a top-ranked footballing power within regulation time during his tenure. When all is said and done, Rudi Völler’s team actually reached a World Cup final at a time when they twice embarrassed their own shirts at successive European Championships. Why anybody would think the current side would do any better against top opposition from their own continent is beyond me. It seems as if Herr Klinsmann was of a similar mind…
Joachim Löw, the faceless number two, now assumes control. It is to be hoped that his reign is more substantial and grounded than that of his erstwhile boss. We will watch with interest.
One man who had a genuinely good World Cup was Miroslav Klose. The Bremen forward was this week voted German Footballer of the Year in a poll dominated by the national team squad. Only Rafael van der Vaart of Hamburger SV and Robert Vittek of Nürnberg represented foreign players in the top 20. While Germany boasts quite a few good young players, it’s hard to escape the thought that the journalists responsible for the vote are still rather drunk on the banal feelgood factor which infected the nation last month. You see, everything German is now somehow greater than it was this time, say, six weeks ago, and all because four goals were banged past Costa Rica...
All that said, it will be interesting to see how so many of this summer’s stars fare in the hurly burly of domestic football which resumed this week. Werder Bremen won the Ligapokal last weekend and go into the new league season with Per Mertesacker in their ranks. On Sunday, Werder face Hannover – his former club – in what promises to be the match of the round.
As I write, Bayern began their defence with a 2-0 win over a Borussia Dortmund side that is treading water. Promoted clubs VfL Bochum, Energie Cottbus – East Germany’s lone representative in the top-flight – and Alemannia Aachen all kick-of their campaigns on Saturday. Mainz, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Bayer Leverkusen are unlikely to prove accommodating hosts. Title contenders Schalke will expect to beat Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburger SV should prove too strong for Arminia Bielelfed, while VfB Stuttgart could find revitalised Nürnberg awkward opposition on day one. Wolfsburg and Hertha complete the week’s action on Sunday.
Nine months out, nobody will be surprised if Bayern are once again holding the shield aloft come May. However, I’m going to put my neck on the block and predict a second Werder Bremen crown in three years if only to say “I told you so” once more this time next year.
Brian A. O’Driscoll
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i love this player i hope he gets back.Such a shame he has all those players, would've been a great player
....there will certainly be a new CB partnership in the german defense.And that was not a problem for ppl playing germany for a while now.
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