Jogi's unbearable choice
Germany's national team coach Jogi Löw has a true embarrassment of riches. The squad depth that Germany has available is simply astounding. Germany's upcoming friendlies against Spain and Brazil are two of the last chances for Löw to experiment, as he must soon decide which players he will take with him to the World Cup in Russia this summer.
Here is Joachim Löw's #DieMannschaft squad for the upcoming friendlies with Spain and Brazil! #GERESP #GERBRA pic.twitter.com/LT4D83abLp
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) March 16, 2018
For Germany’s friendly against Spain this Friday, Löw has stated that Marc-André Ter Stegen will start in goal and that the rest of the lineup will be built around the starting framework of Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller. We asked our writers to fill in the blanks.
Chuck Smith
Joachim Löw has tremendous depth and talent to choose from for his opening lineup during this international friendly session. The defense and goalkeeper should be locked down. The biggest battle is at striker where I think Timo Werner is the choice over Sandro Wagner and Mario Gomez. Otherwise, I think it comes down to starting Julian Draxler or İlkay Gündoğan, which determines where Thomas Müller will play. I think Draxler starts on the right wing and Müller moves inside to create a lethal playmaking combo with Mesut Özil. If Gündoğan gets the nod, Müller moves to the wing.
Tom Adams
This is one of the last chances Low will have before May to make some of his “fringe” decisions on who he wants to take to the World Cup. For that reason, I think it would be beneficial to keep a solid mix of seasoned Die Mannschaft players with some of those players who’re fighting for a spot on the final roster for Russia. Niklas Süle, who’s been solid for Bayern this season, joins three veterans (by amount of caps) in Jonas Hector, Joshua Kimmich, and Mats Hummels. A solid three-man central midfield of Toni Kroos, Draxler, and Özil will give Leroy Sané and Julian Brandt plenty of licence to do what they do best: attack. Wagner gets the nod up top, and I think Löw will bring on Gomez for him to try and decide which of the two works better in Germany’s system.
Mike Lynch
Low, I would imagine, has to start seeing what he’s got in some of the youngsters, hence Marvin Plattenhardt, Emre Can and Sané get starts here. All three have proven to be talented at the club level, but haven’t made a name for themselves yet on the National team. Low will still start his core group of Hummels, Boateng, Müller, Kroos and Özil—as he should, since that will be the core of whatever starting XI is on the pitch in Russia, but it would behoove him to let some of the younger guys fill in some of the gaps.
How do you think Löw will line up the team for Germany-Spain? Tell us below!