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Hats off to the French, who after beating the World Champions will be confident of overcoming Portugal to lift the Henri Delaunay Trophy.
As an ardent German and Australian supporter, I can’t help but notice a clear similarity in the primary issue facing both countries.
While many have praised Germany’s overhaul of their academies following the team’s failure at Euro 2000, the emphasis on technical skills and the passing game has led to a proliferation of quality midfielders arguably at the expense of the traditional number nine.
In adopting a strategic program based around a 4-3-3 formation, the FFA has followed the same route with similar results.
Ange’s current crop of Socceroos present debatably the most technically gifted midfield I have seen in the 20 years I have followed the national team. Where Germany has Julian Draxler, Thomas Muller, Mario Goetze and Mesut Ozil Australia has Tom Rogic, Robbie Kruse, Aaron Mooy and Tim Cahill. Under Ange, Australia has on more than one occasion dominated possession against far superior sides but come up short in the final touch.
Die Mannschaft’s reliance on Mario Gomez up front was telling in their toothless performance against France and to a lesser extent the Ukraine, leaving many commentators to argue that they have failed to adequately address the retirement of Miroslav Klose.
From Australia’s perspective, I don’t believe that we have put enough effort in to find the next Mark Viduka.
No doubt there will be a review of die Mannschaft’s performance at DFB headquarters following this tournament where Joachim Low and Co. will identify this weakness and begin scouring the country before the next World Cup.
Given the relative success of the DFB to learn from previous mistakes, Australia could do worse than study the response by Germany following this tournament.
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