Bayern just beat Arsenal in the first match for the round of 16 in Champions League 3-1 and virtually sealed their place into the last eight. Schweini controlled the game, Kroos was everywhere and scored a great volley while Muller as usual the hard working, untraceable be-in-the-right-place-in-the-right-time striker. At the same time in Dortmund Reus and Gotze are in fire with the former scoring a hat-trick in the last Bundesliga game. On top of that add Ozil and it seems there are so many players and so few places in Nationalmaschaft. So how should Low pick the right players...well my suggestion is to play of all them :) Sometimes to win it all you have to make risky choices and it's time for Low to show he has the balls to do it. With time passing there's a growing opinion that Low is under-performing with all the talent he has. He has been very conservative and it has showed in the decisive matches (last example being the semi-final against Italy in Euro 2012). There are quite a few arguments to support the above selection:
- Germany doesn't have a World Class striker. Low keeps playing Gomez and every single time it doesn't work. He makes the changes and the team is much better (Italy Euro 2012 anyone?)
- The above players are actually the best individuals available to Low. He has to integrate them and create the best team.
- A wining team should not copy the latest trend, but create the trend. Now the trend is to play two double-six players. Why not challenge it?
So how can the above players be fielded into the same team? My preferred formation would be:
-----------------------------Schweini-------------------------------
---------------------Gotze---------------Kroos----------------------
-----Muller--------------------Ozil-----------------------Reus------
Let's see if Low will read this and take note ;)