SB Nation - Philipp Lahm

Post-Match Chalkboard: Spoke Too Soon?

Mark O'Rourke — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:00:55 -0000

Want some good news? Chicago is still ahead of D.C. United in the standings. Want some better news? D.C. United have to travel to Saputo Stadium to play Impact de Montreal on Saturday. Montreal have been unbelievable at home this year and near Portland Timbers level awful on the road. If Montreal can maintain their home dominance against D.C. United on Saturday, then the Fire and D.C. will be level on games, but the Fire will maintain a one point lead while getting some rest.

Feel better now? Good. Because there's going to be some ugliness after the jump.

I would've been happy with a draw. I could have tolerated a loss by one goal. This was not expected, so please forgive me if I come off a little rash on anything said in this post. I have let some time pass between watching the game and writing this post, but I am still in a bit of hysterics.

I have no idea what I saw on the pitch Wednesday. Were the Fire too used to playing awful teams in August? Were they just tired? D.C. did have a couple more fresh legs on the pitch than the Fire did thanks to suspensions. Was it the travel? I don't know. The first 30 or 40 minutes had seemed like everyone had just been woken up from a nap, and D.C. was finding space all day. It was frustrating.

Defending Issues

As I've harped on in previous posts, the defense has seemed to start off slowly. This match was a little odd. Watching it, it felt like the defense was being lackadaisical, but passing wise according to OPTA, it wasn't too bad. D.C. only completed 2 of 8 passes in the attacking third in the first 20 minutes. The killer, however, was that D.C. had 4 shots and 1 goal. Once again, the first goal was something that should have never happened.

Above is what D.C. did in the attacking third in the first 20 minutes. What about the Fire in the attacking third in the first 20 minutes?

Yes, I did laugh a little when I saw this. It's pretty awful. Why couldn't we get anything going in the final third? Were we awful in the midfield?

That honestly doesn't look so bad. We completed 79% of our passes in the midfield, so that should have led to more offense, right?

Oh, so that's the defense that D.C. put fourth in the midfield over those first 20 minutes? Now I get it. A majority of those defensive points are ball recoveries. It felt like every time a Fire player touched the ball, the touch was too heavy, and the ball would just seem to roll to another D.C. player following the run of play. It happened the entire night.

Can We Shut Up About Paladini Now?

I'm not sure when, why or how this happened, but I feel like there are a number of Fire fans who are anti-Daniel Paladini. I thought most fans supported this guy. In any case, I'm a fan of Paladini, and as I mentioned over on Scott Fenwick's post over at Man on the Fire, I feel like I've been a bit of a Paladini apologist. If anyone reading this has a reason why Paladini should not be playing in place of Pause, please say something in the comments.

He completed 42 out of 50 passes tonight. Got forward a lot as well. That's a pretty solid performance for a holding mid.

And above is what Paladini did defensively. He had 10 recoveries, 6 interceptions and 4 clearances. When it comes down to it, Paladini's game is very similar to Pardo's. He likes to get forward and get into the attack. Pause compliments Pardo because Pause prefers to lie deep and play the conservative, defensive role. There is a chance that Pardo might not be back next year. Paladini could be a good fit for when Pardo leaves.

I know there are a lot of fans high on Videira, and after his sub appearance during last weekend's game, I can see why. I know a lot of fans who would like to see Videira over Paladini, but I can't agree with that just yet. I've hardly seen Videira play. He's put in 31 minutes so far this season. After what I saw against New England, I wouldn't mind seeing a little more of him on the field.

Pardo

After talking about Paladini, I can't leave Pavel Pardo out of the conversation. He had a monster of a game and was the most influential player on the pitch Wednesday for the Men in Red.

Out of all the statistical points recorded for Fire midfielders during this match, 49% of them were from Paladini or Pardo. Nyarko had a pretty large chunk of those as well.

Marco Pappa

Did Marco make the trip to D.C.? Or is he already in the Netherlands?

Flaco/Falco

This has not so much to do with the D.C. match, but more to do with watching Alvaro Fernandez overall as a member of the Fire. Alvaro does have a nose for finding open space, and he has had a few chances on net, but I'm quickly losing patience. I want to call him a bust, but I'm going to reserve my judgment until after Marco Pappa leaves for Europe. Hopefully I won't ever have to call him a bust, but so far, the only good thing coming from Alvaro is that every time some one calls him Flaco, it makes me think of Falco, which makes me think of one of my favorite songs.

Najar

I had heard of D.C. starting Andy Najar as a fullback, and it kind of perplexed me. Najar seems to a naturally gifted player who should always be in an attacking position, but D.C. United does seem to have a crowded midfield of talented players (Hell, DeRo never played forward in Houston). But after watching Najar last night, I can see why Ben Olson would put him there. He's Steven Beitashour on speed/steroids. Najar is only 19 years old, and this was only his 4th or 5th game at fullback. A little more experience at the fullback position and overall, this kid is going to be one of the best fullbacks in the league. He could be the Honduran Philipp Lahm.

Overall

This was a tough one, the Fire now have only one match against every team in the East remaining. D.C. will be at the very end of that line coming to Toyota Park to close out the season. It could be a very important match. At Toyota Park, the advantage has to be in the Fire's favor.

Nobody Puts Walter Sabatini In A Corner

cgovoni — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 22:03:32 -0000

I don't even know what that means. I've never even seen that movie. But it sounded like a headline, and so it is. [Overlords grumbling.]

'Member last summer of potential and promise and persistence and p-word here? Of course. But then...much of the business didn't happen til the last grains of sand were clanking off the hour glass.

Despite the fact that the ink on Roma's sale was still being tattooed onto TDB's bottom, there was ample time to set things in motion. Instead, they got scraps - some damn good scraps, like Lyon deciding Miralem Pjanic wasn't worth his worth - and looked a bit of a disheveled roster as result. The defense was a mess, no real cover for Daniele, etc.

There's nothing to say the same won't happen again this year. Something says Walter likes to win his battles.

Sebastian Jung

Not happening. So allow me to reach back into my quiver of knowledge on Eintracht Frankfurt such that we can properly gauge the sorrow needed for the loss of what shall not be.....

Oh.

A headline on a Roma news site of unknown name pegged him as the new Philipp Lahm. That would've been splendid, because even if he plays like Flippa Lamb, we'd absolutely delight in him telling the front office to politely fuck off with regularity, all while looking like a 12 year old boy. Well this seems like a critical loss, because even Totti's toed the company line (relatively speaking) in recent times.

Here's to hoping M. 25k sticks around.

(Who the hell cares how he is as a fullback? He's not coming and we discuss priorities here.)

Leandro Greco

Fight the power.

He, of course, is blocking the Michael Bradley deal, due to his refusal to go play in Verona. Or perhaps he's just true Romanista at heart, and for a club with the prestige of Totti, Mexes, Batistuta, Osvaldo and Luciano Spalletti, pasty white nothingness just ain't gonna cut it.

But if you're going to renew the contract of a player who isn't wanted...

Well, this is your comeuppance.

Mattia Destro

It may take several days of careful consideration before coming up with an final decision on this. Both for Greco and myself.

Fabio Borini

See the photo at the top of the page.

Merch

This is curious:

Shirt sales are being tabulated and unsurprisingly, Totti and DDR lead the pack, with lots of I-was-there-whens are grabbing a Lamela. To be expected. They don't provide digits, but the blurb remarks on the popularity of Alessandro Florenzi and his ability to bring in some euros and after lighting up Serie B, is now The Next _______. Which is funny, because last year at this time, he was not the hottest young midfield prospect in Rome - 'twas Andrea Bertolacci who was the hamster's tatas.

So this is your friendly reminder that...

Everybody was young once. Including Adrian Pit (Pronounced 'Piz').

Germany 1, Italy 2: Dominant Italy Rise to the Occasion

Noel C — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 21:21:14 -0000

There were surprises for Germany, with Toni Kroos seeing his first action of the tournament as Joachim Low looked to give Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira help against Andrea Pirlo and Italy's narrow midfield. Meanwhile for Italy there were question marks, with Daniele De Rossi and Giorgio Chiellini able to start despite carrying minor knocks and Ignazio Abate consigned to the bench by his. And, of course, there were questions about Mario Balotelli. Because there will always be questions about Mario Balotelli.

Germany 1 Ozil 90+2'
Italy 2 Balotelli 20', 36'

Germany started brightly, their pace and technique seeming too much for a game Italian side to fully cope with, and in the opening minutes a rout for the favourites didn't seem an unlikely outcome. Their first seemed inevitable when Gialuigi Buffon hesitated on a German corner and the ball fell to Mats Hummels on the edge of the six-yard box. Andrea Pirlo, though, was guarding the post, and Italy's player of the tournament saved the underdogs from going down inside five minutes and kept Germany from setting a very different tone for the match than the one that would instead develop.

With Italy trying to play football despite Germany's ascendency, more chances followed, and twelve minutes in Buffon again misjudged the flight of the ball when Boateng sent a low cross towards goal. The Italian keeper got his hands to it, but he could only push the ball straight out towards the penalty spot. A ricochet off an Italian defender could have landed anywhere but fortunately for Buffon anywhere was on this occasion wide of his goal, once again sparing him the embarrassment of putting his side down early.

Rather than reverting to a more defensive posture as they might have in years past, the Italians kept plugging away, and soon they began to find chances of their own. It all conspired to give neutral fans the most open, competitive start to a match since the group stages ended. Then, twenty minutes in, the underdogs struck. Pirlo, growing into another strong performance, switched the play to the left and the ball ended up at the feet of Antonio Cassano. The striker wriggled his way past two defenders and lofted a ball towards Balotelli, who climbed above Holger Badstuber and sent a firm header past Manuel Neuer.

While it marked the start of another fantastic game for Pirlo and a top day for the good Mario Balotelli, it signalled the beginning of a nightmare for Germany's defence. Badstuber in particular had a poor showing at the back, repeatedly shown up for power and pace by the on-form Balotelli, and Mats Hummels looked a far cry from being one of the top defenders in world football as he is so often billed. There was plenty of blame to go around, though, and when the second Italian goal came, much of it would fall to Philipp Lahm, caught napping as Italy countered off a German corner. The defender belatedly stepped up to play Balotelli offside, and so when the Italian striker took down the ball onside there was nobody between him and Manuel Neuer. Balotelli made no mistake, hammering a strike into the roof for his second goal of the night.

Beyond serious problems in defence for Germany, as the first half wore on it became increasingly clear that returning Marco Reus to the bench in favour of Lucas Podolski when the former had looked good against Greece and the latter had spent the group stage hindering the fluidity of their attack had been a mistake. Joachim Low took the chance to correct his error at the break, swapping Reus for the still struggling Podolski and also bringing on the speedy Miroslav Klose for Mario Gomez at striker.

The change was almost instant, and within three minutes Reus had Germany's best chance since Buffon's early nervy moments had nearly gifted them a pair of goals, cutting in from the right and firing a low effort at the Italian keeper that was well saved. Soon afterwards, Reus was again the catalyst in a move that ended with Lahm firing over from fifteen yards out as the Germans focused on attacking down Italy's left, where the injured Chiellini and De Rossi appeared increasingly vulnerable.

It wasn't a pace the Germans could sustain, however, and when a goal didn't come their play inevitably began to slow, allowing a stretched Italian defence to re-organise. As the match approached the three-quarter mark, the strain of keeping up with the Germans after having gone to penalties on Sunday against England began to show for the Italians, and when a cramping Mario Balotelli had to be removed in the 68th minute there seemed reason to think the Germans might once again begin to assert themselves on the match.

That German pressure didn't come. With their hopes seeming dashed and their heads beginning to drop, the best chances all fell to Italy for the remainder of regulation time. Germany finally did find something of their earlier determination—and along with it a faint lifeline—92 minutes in, when Ozil converted from the spot after an Italian handball, but that was as close as they would get, and with Neuer racing up the pitch for a German spot kick just past the 94 minute mark the referee blew his whistle and time ran out on a late and unlikely comeback attempt.

Though they looked good in the opening minutes, the final scoreline is one that flatters the Germans. It also speaks to Italy's continuing troubles converting their chances into goals. In the end, though, the better team finds itself on the winning side tonight, and in so doing sets up a rematch of the Group C opener between Italy and Spain. And after today, there can be little doubt that Sunday's final is anything but a rematch for the two best sides at Euro 2012.

Euro 2012: Germany-Italy Live Game Thread

Scott Kessler — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:14:35 -0000

Germany starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng; Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira; Lukas Podolski, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil; Mario Gomez.

Italy starting lineup (4-3-1-2): Gianluigi Buffon; Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Federico Balzaretti; Daniele de Rossi, Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio; Riccardo Montolivo; Antonio Cassano, Mario Balotelli.

Stadium: National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland

Television Broadcast Information: Wednesday, June 28th, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local - ESPN (U.S. - English), ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), BBC One (U.K.), TSN (Canada); ESPN3 (Online)

Use this space to discuss the game. Please do not use it to post illegal streams, troll, or attack others. All soccer fans are more than welcome to join the discussion, but don't be an idiot. As someone who has been on this network for a long time, it is very easy to tell the difference between someone well-meaning, and someone whose sole purpose is to incite a reaction out of others, a.k.a. trolling.

EURO 2012: 23 June 2012: Open Thread

Bostjan Cernensek — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:30:04 -0000

And now we have two EURO 2012 semifinalists. In the highest scoring game of the tournament Germany absolutely dominated Greece and put four shots into Michalis Sifakis' net. Despite the domination Germany had to wait 39 minutes for the opener when Philipp Lahm unleashed a terrific long range shot. But in the second half the floodgates opened. However, against the play it was Georgios Samaras who tied the game first. The Germans weren't rattled by the equalizer and with three goals in 13 minutes they put any doubts about the winner to rest. Powerful strikes by Sami Khedira and Marco Reus, and a header by Miroslav Klose made it 4-1 at the time. But that was not the final score as Dimitris Salpingidis successfully converted a penalty to make the final score more respectable.

Today Portugal get their Semi-Final opponent but whoever wins today's Quarter-Finals match-up Ronaldo and Co. will have a difficult task. Spain are one of the main candidates to lift the EURO 2012 trophy while France came into the tournament with a very long unbeaten streak that was snapped just days ago against Sweden.

Spain, winner of Group C, didn't impress in the group games. A draw against Italy (1-1) and wins against Republic of Ireland (4-0) and Croatia (1-0) were enough for the 1st place in the group but their play left much to be desired. The passing, as expected, was fantastic but they are creating less chances than in the past while their defense has been anything but solid. Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos are slowly getting used to one another so this should get better but the right back position needs to improve as Alvaro Arbeloa just can't take the ball away from anybody. Juanfran was very impressive at RB this season for Atlético Madrid but surely Vicente del Bosque will not use him. Just as he won't use Pedro or Fernando Llorente up front. Hopefully I'm wrong...

Looking at the Group D table the first thing you will notice is that France only managed to gather four points, tied for the fewest of all teams in the Quarter-Finals with Greece. But putting the results aside for a minute the French played some good football against England (1-1) and Ukraine (2-0) - not so much against Sweden (0-2). Their passing was crisp and they created quite a few chances. But there came the problem - their finishing was just as bad as the finishing of the Netherlands. Karim Benzema doesn't appear to be in that terrific goalscoring form he was with Real Madrid which puts more pressure on Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri. But despite their scoring woes the French could have a field day against Spain's defense. France will be forced to play without their starting defender Philippe Mexes who picked up two yellow cards in the group stages of the competition.

Euro 2012: Germany-Greece Live Game Thread

Scott Kessler — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:49:11 -0000

Germany: Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng; Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira; Andre Schurrle, Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus; Miroslav Klose.

Greece: Michalis Sifakis; Giannis Maniatis, Giorgos Tzavelas, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Vasilis Torosidis, Sakratis Papastathopoulos, Grigoris Makos, Sotiris Ninis, Kostas Katsouranis, Giorgos Samaras, Dimitris Salpingidis.

Stadium: PGE Arena, Gdansk, Poland

Television Broadcast Information: Saturday, June 21th, 2:45 p.m. EDT - ESPN (U.S. - English), ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), BBC 1 (U.K.), TSN (Canada); ESPN3 (Online)

Germany vs. Greece: Euro 2012 Quarterfinal Open Thread

Ben Schneider — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:21:18 -0000

Germany vs. Greece

Euro 2012 Quarterfinal #2

Friday, June 22, 2:45 PM EDT

PGE Arena, Gdansk, Poland

SBNation.com coverage: hier/εδώ

Yesterday's match was surprisingly decent, so here's an open thread for your enjoyment of the second Euro 2012 quarterfinal, the Eurozone Crisis grudgematch between Germany and Greece.

The Germans cleaned up in Group B, winning all three matches for the first time in their history at the European Championships. Greece squeaked through by beating Russia in their final group match, only the second time they've ever made it out of the group in four appearances at the Euros. The only other time the Greeks have gotten past the first phase was 2004, when they won the tournament against hosts Portugal.

Reputable sources (not just Bild) are reporting that Germany will go with Miroslav Klose, Andre Schürrle, and Marco Reus, in place of Mario Gómez, Lukas Podolski, and Thomas Müller. Radical switches by Löw if true -- and they have been confirmed.

Lineups

Germany (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng; Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger; Andre Schürrle, Mesut Özil, Marco Reus; Miroslav Klose

Bench: Tim Wiese, Ron-Robert Zieler, Marcel Schmelzer, Benedikt Höwedes, Per Mertesacker, Ilkay Gündogan, Thomas Müller, Lars Bender, Toni Kroos, Mario Götze, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gómez.

Greece (4-4-2?): Michalis Sifakis; Vasilis Torosidis, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Sokratis Papastathopolous, Giorgios Tzavellas; Grigoris Makos, Ioannis Maniatis, Kostas Katsouranis, Sotiris Ninis; Dimitris Salpingidis, Georgios Samaras.

Bench: Kostas Chalkias, Alexandros Tzorvas, Stelios Malezas, Georgios Fotakis, Kostas Fortounis, Giannis Fetfatzidis, Nikos Liberopoulos, Kostas Mirtroglou, Theofanis Gekas

May the nation with the best balance of trade win.

Champions League Final: FC Bayern Munich vs Chelsea FC: Live Match Thread

Bostjan Cernensek — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:05:16 -0000

Sure, this is a FC Barcelona blog and FC Barcelona, sadly, didn't make it to the Champions League final, thanks to a spirited performance by Chelsea. But football fans will be football fans! Even though their favourite team isn't in the final Culés will still watch this final played at the Allianz Arena, though, I'm sure some Barça fans will be too depressed to watch this match.

Enjoy the game Cules (and all neutral football fans who want to read comments on a neutral (more or less - at least in this game) football blog)!

Line-ups:

FC Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Jérôme Boateng, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Diego Contento; Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos; Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller, Franck Ribéry, Mario Gomez

Substitutions: Hans-Jörg Butt, Daniel Van Buyten, Rafinha, Danijel Pranjić, Nils Petersen, Takashi Usami, Ivica Olić

Chelsea FC (4-2-3-1): Petr Čech; José Bosingwa, David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole; John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard; Salomon Kalou, Juan Mata, Ryan Bertrand; Didier Drogba

Substitutions: Ross Turnbull, Paulo Ferreira, Florent Malouda, Oriol Romeu, Michael Essien, Fernando Torres, Daniel Sturridge

If you wish to read views from blogs of the two teams playing in the final check out Bayern Munich's blog Bavarian Football Works and/or Chelsea's blog We Ain't Got no History.

So... What If Ryan Bertrand Starts?

Graham MacAree — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:40:07 -0000

The internets are currently abuzz with the rumour that Roberto di Matteo might do something crazy and start Ryan Bertrand at left wing against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. With Florent Malouda looking likely to miss out thanks to the injury he picked up last weekend and Ramires suspended, Chelsea have just one defensive winger option - Salomon Kalou, who will start on one of the flanks.

That's a problem, because Bayern are exceptionally dangerous out on the flanks, and with two offensive fullbacks plus the Franck Ribery-Arjen Robben duo on the wings, Chelsea are likely to be doing quite a of defending out there. Neither Daniel Sturridge nor Fernando Torres* will be particularly helpful in that regard. I thought that we were basically going to be out of luck in that regard.

*Remember his performance at left back against Barcelona?

Bertrand was always an option at left wing, of course, but I was under the impression that di Matteo wasn't particularly likely to hand a 23-year-old his Champions League debut in the final. But maybe he will! It's certainly worth talking about, at any rate.

Why would we play Bertrand up top? Well, as a left back, he can defend - he'd be much better at tracking back than either Sturridge or Drogba, and that will help Chelsea avoid getting murdered by Bayern's overlapping fullbacks. Secondly, he's actually a reasonably competent attacking wide player. We got to see this during the Blackburn Rovers game last weekend - Bertrand started as the left back but moved forward when Malouda went off with an injury in the 43rd minute. As you'd expect, he provided great width and good crossing, and while his play wasn't all there, it was impressive for a first performance.

What will Chelsea need from their left winger for the final? First of all, they'll have to deal with Philipp Lahm on both the sides of the ball, tracking him when he goes forward and then trying to get past him when Chelsea are on the ball. We'd normally be looking for our wide players to cut inside and cause trouble, but with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk likely to be unable to deal with Didier Drogba's aerial threat, the ability to stay wide and cross could be extremely useful.

I see Bertrand as being capable of dealing with Lahm defensively and certainly capable of staying wide and crossing, but I have serious doubts about his ability to take on Lahm one on one. In his defence, I'd have serious doubts about anyone on this team being able to do that except Ramires (or possibly Juan Mata), so it's not like it's a serious failing. That's probably enough to get him in the frame for an emergency start, although I'm still not convinced that di Matteo will actually do it.

I suspect the primary reason Bertrand's being talked about right now is because of his second-half position against Blackburn, which rather gave the impression that his cameo out wide was planned. It's not clear that it really was, though - it was a change forced by an injury rather than an obviously premeditated one. The lineup Chelsea deployed last Sunday should probably treated as essentially the opposite of the starting eleven di Matteo plans to use in the final.

So, no, I don't really buy the rumour. But it is intriguing nonetheless, and I certainly wouldn't mind it being tried out.