Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan

[Toffe3m4n]

Couldn't be happier for Rudiger personally

 

[DualityNSNO]

They have been deceiving themselves since before Russia. They're still in denial, to some extent. However, I sense now that the pfennig might be dropping. The bad news for everyone else is when the Germans finally face up to a problem, they will fix it and back they will come to crush all-comers. That process might now be starting, at least four years too late.

Should've fired the ball sniffer in about 2016-17 tbh, they were on absolute cruise control since.

 

[Drico]

Should've fired the ball sniffer in about 2016-17 tbh, they were on absolute cruise control since.

Yup, my feeling is he should have gone after winning the World Cup. There really is nowhere else to go at that point. I know Del Bosque hung about for Euro 2012 and won it, but it's just a cherry on top at that point. At the latest, Löw should have gone after the loss to France at Euro 2016. But the DFB are a very bureaucratic, complacent organisation. The rumour now is Oliver Bierhoff is under pressure - as he should be. These lads have been coasting for a decade.

 

[Billy Dean]

They have been deceiving themselves since before Russia. They're still in denial, to some extent. However, I sense now that the pfennig might be dropping. The bad news for everyone else is when the Germans finally face up to a problem, they will fix it and back they will come to crush all-comers. That process might now be starting, at least four years too late.

That process will take a good few years though I would've thought. I don't really hear many mentions of young players they have coming through - although I'm no expert on that and there could be a lot. The only ones I seem to read/hear about are the likes of Wanner and Ibrahimovic who are about 17 I think.

 

[Billy Dean]

Yup, my feeling is he should have gone after winning the World Cup. There really is nowhere else to go at that point. I know Del Bosque hung about for Euro 2012 and won it, but it's just a cherry on top at that point. At the latest, Löw should have gone after the loss to France at Euro 2016. But the DFB are a very bureaucratic, complacent organisation. The rumour now is Oliver Bierhoff is under pressure - as he should be. These lads have been coasting for a decade.

Definitely seemed that way in the media post-mortem last night. Khedira basically said it's time for him to go

 

[Drico]

That process will take a good few years though I would've thought. I don't really hear many mentions of young players they have coming through - although I'm no expert on that and there could be a lot. The only ones I seem to read/hear about are the likes of Wanner and Ibrahimovic who are about 17 I think.

They have some outstanding talents - people like Florian Wirtz. Given the population size, football culture, and resources, it's always only a matter of time for the Germans. Like Schwarzenegger, they'll be back.

 

[DualityNSNO]

Yup, my feeling is he should have gone after winning the World Cup. There really is nowhere else to go at that point. I know Del Bosque hung about for Euro 2012 and won it, but it's just a cherry on top at that point. At the latest, Löw should have gone after the loss to France at Euro 2016. But the DFB are a very bureaucratic, complacent organisation. The rumour now is Oliver Bierhoff is under pressure - as he should be. These lads have been coasting for a decade.

Fully agreed. Maybe 2016 as a final push (cherry on top, as you say), but he should've been gone as soon as it happened.

Hopefully Hansi turns it around, and this will be a good lesson for him that you can't sleepwalk into any game at a World Cup as it will end up costing you.

 

[Pootsy]

Should've fired the ball sniffer in about 2016-17 tbh, they were on absolute cruise control since.

Took me longer than it should have that!

 

[miami]

View attachment 194177

Japan have updated their flag

Post of the day

 

[Billy Dean]

They have some outstanding talents - people like Florian Wirtz. Given the population size, football culture, and resources, it's always only a matter of time for the Germans. Like Schwarzenegger, they'll be back.

Yeah absolutely they will be at some point. Wirtz, Musiala, Havertz and definitely ones for the future, but beyond them I don't hear too much, especially for deeper midfielders and defenders

Edit - Moukoko and Adeyemi too

 

[Drico]

Yeah absolutely they will be at some point. Wirtz, Musiala, Havertz and definitely ones for the future, but beyond them I don't hear too much, especially for deeper midfielders and defenders

Edit - Moukoko and Adeyemi too

Well, that's five then.

They have a base. In their favour is the fact they host Euro 2024. If anything lights a fire under the backsides of the DFB, it's the fear of being humiliated at their own party. As a consequence, there will either be dramatic changes in the coming weeks or huge efforts put into backing Flick. If he wanted to make changes previously but felt he couldn't for political reasons, that will not be a problem now.

In terms of personnel, last night marked the end for Müller, Neuer, and Gundogan. The manager - whether it is Flick or not - will now have to go all-in on the likes of Kimmich - who is now 27, by the way - or else skip a generation. He needs to dream it all up again and the old World Cup winners really cannot be part of that process if he wants to empower a new generation. I saw the way Müller played up in interviews on front of the camera with Füllkrug during the week and I thought it was almost coercive bullying. It was all a laugh and a joke and everything was hilarious, but I couldn't understand why Müller seemed to think he was in any way the better option at this point. Sure enough, the Bremen player comes on last night, scores one and is on the pitch for three goals. The old guard are a block. That problem is eradicated now.

Just like the Germans stayed faithful to the 1990 World Cup winners for far too long, they did likewise with 2014. The smartest man in 2014 was Philipp Lahm. He retired the night he lifted the World Cup, despite being the best full-back in the world at the time. Lothar Mathäus, by comparison, was 176 by the time he finally went.

 

[McBain]

The older I get the less I seem to understand the rules lol

Football should not be this hard to understand.

How can a liner know if a ball has gone out of play for a throw in for example in these marginal situations without VAR assistance. They are literally guessing. If the rule was any gap between the bottom of the ball and the outside of the line then its out. The human brain / eye sight can make a much better judgement call on that than having to view it from above to be sure which they dont naturally have.

.. and dont get me started on hand ball and offside rules

What a mess!

Its amazing how long you can play football and all of sudden a ball that bounces out is actually in and a striker clearly standing 6 meters offside on the actual penalty spot is actually onside.

Crazy.

 

[Billy Dean]

Well, that's five then.

They have a base. In their favour is the fact they host Euro 2024. If anything lights a fire under the backsides of the DFB, it's the fear of being humiliated at their own party. As a consequence, there will either be dramatic changes in the coming weeks or huge efforts put into backing Flick. If he wanted to make changes previously but felt he couldn't for political reasons, that will not be a problem now.

In terms of personnel, last night marked the end for Müller, Neuer, and Gundogan. The manager - whether it is Flick or not - will now have to go all-in on the likes of Kimmich - who is now 27, by the way - or else skip a generation. He needs to dream it all up again and the old World Cup winners really cannot be part of that process if he wants to empower a new generation. I saw the way Müller played up in interviews on front of the camera with Füllkrug during the week and I thought it was almost coercive bullying. It was all a laugh and a joke and everything was hilarious, but I couldn't understand why Müller seemed to think he was in any way the better option at this point. Sure enough, the Bremen player comes on last night, scores one and is on the pitch for three goals. The old guard are a block. That problem is eradicated now.

Just like the Germans stayed faithful to the 1990 World Cup winners for far too long, they did likewise with 2014. The smartest man in 2014 was Philipp Lahm. He retired the night he lifted the World Cup, despite being the best full-back in the world at the time. Lothar Mathäus, by comparison, was 176 by the time he finally went.

I thought Mueller's post-match interview last night was a bit off too. He basically took the opportunity to announce his retirement and thank the Germany fans for their support etc. Didn't seem appropriate for the situation and came across (to me at least) as a bit egotistical. It looks like they've got good options in attacking positions for the future. Curious to see who comes through in defence/midfield

 

[Jimishorts]

biennial

Thanks, but biannual is also acceptable. It means both.

Unhelpfully.

Biannual and biennial, have separate meanings. “Biannual” means occurring twice in one year, and “biennial” means happening once every two years.

 

[Papa Shango]

Germany's is based on the old Prussia flag apparently.

The Dutch aswell based on the House of Orange

Oh yeah they will all be based on something.

I would assume a couple of the smaller nations have colours just because they look nice (Oceanic nations etc)

I love the history of team colours and kits in general really.