An analysis why Joachim Loew was a deserved winner ... Jogie Loew isnt one of those coaches whod let his ego get the better of him. He lost Reus prior to the WC, who was a sure starter. Lost Gundogan and Lars Bender, who were real performers in central midfield for their clubs last season. Came to the WC with only one out and out striker, a fact not liked by many, including myself. But he knew, an injured Gomez or an inexperienced Volland would not aid Germany, rather he selected a side which covered the bases and counted on the established players to get the job done. He even called up Mustafi, as a cover for Lahm, in case Lahm played in Midfield. One of the first decision was to play Lahm in a holding position. This had a lot of extenuating circumstances, with both Bender and Gundogan out, and Khedira not fully fit, that seemed the logical decision for him. He also started with Muller playing as the false no 9 from the start of the WC leaving out Klose. Klose came on the pitch only in cases where Germany had to chase the game, i.e. against Ghana only. After comfortably passing the group stages, Germanys watershed match was against Algeria. Germans were not direct, Mustafi suffered an injury and it was upon Loew to make the changes. And changes he did make. From the QF against France, Klose started from the start and lahm went back to his traditional RB position. Germans had a more direct notion to attack. Although the QF was a rather slow and grinding affair, the tactical astuteness was all there. He dropped Goetze, probably a personal favorite of Loew, on to the bench, kept faith in Ozil and introduced Khedira in the middle. He also benched 100+ capped Per Mertesacker in favor of Boetang at the heart of defence against France, after seeing him beaten for pace against Algeria. All these were testament to his awareness and astuteness. His choices of substitution were also profound. From Kloses goal against Ghana, to Schurrles goal against Algeria and Brazil. He even didnt risk Khedira and Schweinsteiger when they werent fully fit. He told to preserve energy in the 2nd half against Portugal, against USA, even against France. All to be fit when it mattered. Even in the final when Khedira wasnt fit, he played Kramer. But when the youngster was knocked out, he didnt risk rookie Draxler, rather brought on the in-form Schurrle and exploited the wings. Muller+Lahm from the right and Schurrle+Howedes from the left broke the Argentine backline a few times. Even when Klose was subbed, I thought a more physical Podolski would be a better choice than the nimble Goetze, to fight out with the heavily physical Argentine backline. But the sneaky Bayern man was in the right place at the right time to superbly slot from an equally impressive cross from none other than Schurrle, the other sub. All in all, a pure masterstroke. So Loew made changes whenever necessary, a stark contrast to the likes of Brazil coach Scolary who persisted with Fred, Sabella who persisted with his favorite Palacio, even Van Gaal played Van Persie, even when he struggled. In this world cup of some stellar coaches like Van Gaal(Ned) , Sabella (Arg), Peckerman (Col) ,Jorge Luis Pinto(C Rica), Sampaoli(Chile), Hitzfeld (Sui) and many more, no other coach perhaps showed the most amount of versatility and awareness to win the ultimate prize. The list of handicaps faced by him with player injury, adverse weather condition and crowd support, and the sheer weight of the achievement, makes him standout as a true legend of the game now. Hoping for an illustrious decade to follow :)
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 16:46:02 +0000
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