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Will Germany dominate international football like Spain?

According to Rio Ferdinand, the BBC's distinguished pundit expert, Germany are going to dominate the international scene for the next decade.

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yes.
By "domination" does it mean they won't crash out in the group stage of the next World Cup? (like France and Spain)
Reply 3
I don't think any international side will dominate the next few years. I think it's bound to be more open. I can see France winning the Euros on home soil to be honest, and then 2018 is anybody's guess.
It's hard enough to win trophies at the best of times. I doubt they will top what Spain achieved but they are a very good team and far more likeable than Spain ever were.
Reply 5
No because I still don't think Germany are that good. It's hard to dominate without a top striker and their defence is questionable.
Original post by pane123
No because I still don't think Germany are that good. It's hard to dominate without a top striker and their defence is questionable.


On the other hand, their squad is younger than Spain's was at the beginning of their domination and relies less on a rigid style so they can evolve easier I think and not end up like Spain, with the aimless negative passing.
Reply 7
Original post by Zürich
On the other hand, their squad is younger than Spain's was at the beginning of their domination and relies less on a rigid style so they can evolve easier I think and not end up like Spain, with the aimless negative passing.


Agreed, but Spain have quality players that should be able to adapt to a less vulnerable system. Germany are a good side, but a period of domination would surprise me, as I just don't see them as being much better than everyone else.
Don't think so. France should really win Euro 2016.
Original post by pane123
No because I still don't think Germany are that good. It's hard to dominate without a top striker and their defence is questionable.

How is the defence questionable? Neuer has been fantastic, as shown by him winning the Golden Glove; Hummels and Boateng have also been solid, with only a few lapses in concentration throughout the whole tournament; Lahm has been as fantastic as ever going forward and defensively and Höwedes has been played out of position, but he has still been decent. Add Schweinsteiger and Khedira in defensive midfield and you have a very solid defence.

On the other hand, it's true that they don't have a top striker: but neither did Spain at Euro 2012. I think the fact that they have so many goalscoring attacking midfielders will help to mask that, with the likes of Draxler, Müller, Götze, Reus and Schürrle all capable of chipping in with goals.
Original post by pane123
Agreed, but Spain have quality players that should be able to adapt to a less vulnerable system. Germany are a good side, but a period of domination would surprise me, as I just don't see them as being much better than everyone else.


Well, a period of domination would surprise anyone no matter what team it is. I'm sure everyone was surprised that Spain could win 3 titles in a row.
Original post by pane123
No because I still don't think Germany are that good. It's hard to dominate without a top striker and their defence is questionable.


I don't think the defence is really questionable. They have the best goalkeeper, the best full back (Lahm) and one of the best centre backs with Hummels. Boateng had a great tournament too. The only weak point imo is the left back, but that's also been the case with Spain. They've been having different players playing there over the last 6 years and has also been their weakest part of the team. Badstuber is also expected to be back soon and if he returns to his form, he'll be one of the world's best

The midfield is just so outstanding for Germany and one needs to see that Reus, Gundogan, and Bender were missing and Gotze, Schurrle, Draxler & Co have their best times still to come.
Germany, Spain, France and Belgium should be the favourites for the Euros.
Original post by muffingg
Well, a period of domination would surprise anyone no matter what team it is. I'm sure everyone was surprised that Spain could win 3 titles in a row.


Really? Barcelona were the dominant force in Europe over the same period and made up a huge part of the Spanish national team.
No chance lol, Spain won 3 major international tournaments in a row because they were miles above anyone else in that period, Germany won't replicate that record because they aren't that much better than the other best teams around
Don't think so. They didn't dominate in the same way Spain did; Both the France game and the Argentina game were fairly even, with both teams looking like they could get through their defence fairly often (as did Brazil in the second half. Manuel Neuer is a great keeper although he should have been off in the final.
Its like this, if Bayern Munich dominates Europe, Germany will also dominate. Just like how Barcalona were dominating then Spain also dominated. Interesting enough, Barcalona had a poor season and look what happened to Spain. Munich dominated the league, won the domestic cup, won CL the season before and super cup, Germany thus win the WC (ignoring the thrashing from Real Madrid but thats what happens when you have Bale, Ronaldo and Di Maria counter attacking a high line :P)
Original post by muffingg
I don't think the defence is really questionable. They have the best goalkeeper, the best full back (Lahm) and one of the best centre backs with Hummels. Boateng had a great tournament too. The only weak point imo is the left back, but that's also been the case with Spain. They've been having different players playing there over the last 6 years and has also been their weakest part of the team. Badstuber is also expected to be back soon and if he returns to his form, he'll be one of the world's best

The midfield is just so outstanding for Germany and one needs to see that Reus, Gundogan, and Bender were missing and Gotze, Schurrle, Draxler & Co have their best times still to come.


The defence is questionable to an extent as it is vulnerable to counter attacking, it doesn't matter how good individually the back 4 are because of the high line, the Di Marias, Messi's, and other pacey players can break through. The Algeria, Ghana and Argentina games were perfect examples of how the high line defence was penetrated, so its not just one bad day at the office for the defence, it was three games that this happened so you can see why people have question marks. I expect the defence to improve from this tournament but high lines will always carry a risk and be vulnerable to quick counter attacking teams, there are many example of this, the Real Madrid thrashing of Bayern Munich being one.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 18
They're better placed than most if not all other countries. Their depth in the midfield is scary. As someone else said the likes of Reus, Gundogan, Bender, Draxler and Gotze hardly kicked a ball between them. They just develop good footballers. Even players like Gnabry who aren't on the scene .. if he was English he might have had a debut by now.

Spain will take some time to form a new identity again but on paper they look good too. However Alonso, Xavi, Villa, Torres etc all coming to an end ... they will take some time to find their rhythym again.

I'm surprised someone said France to win Euros 2016. Everyone expected Brazil for this tournament and they were mullered. I don't see how France can be compared to Germany tbh.

The only thing Germany need to find is a top young striker but perhaps Muller might end up being that man.
Original post by Procrastin8R
How is the defence questionable? Neuer has been fantastic, as shown by him winning the Golden Glove; Hummels and Boateng have also been solid, with only a few lapses in concentration throughout the whole tournament; Lahm has been as fantastic as ever going forward and defensively and Höwedes has been played out of position, but he has still been decent. Add Schweinsteiger and Khedira in defensive midfield and you have a very solid defence.


Schweinsteiger and Khedira aren't very effective as defensive mids.

There were several occasions in which the Germany defence looked vulnerable. There is a severe lack of pace at the back, which is why we saw it being mixed up as the tournament progressed. Germany didn't look anything special in the run up to the World Cup and were conceding goals to the likes of Cameroon.

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