The Summer Of ‘06 Was Oh So Long Ago

October 23rd, 2008 | by: chris | Comments(2)

Italy were champions, but the talk of town heading out was the home team done good, with the promise to do better. A German outfit not yet ripe dazzled the home crowd and made it to the semifinals, only to be heartbroken by Fabio Grosso’s moment of moments in Dortmund. Their coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, mirrored their squad: young, gifted, determined and rising. The tactical mastermind, Jogi Loew, lurking behind the curtain would only have to live in Jurgen’s shadow for a few rotations of the hourglass before his time would come. Their team and tacticians, the future of football. Oh how times have changed.

If you haven’t been cleaning your ears, eating your vegetables and paying attention to your Bundesligas, might I refer you to the current table standings in Germany. One year off their “return” they have, well, returned. Someone gave them the wrong address to the revolution (it’s in Hoffenheim, not Munich, silly) and now this supposed new-look, vibrant Bayern, another instance where Jurgen’s team shoulda woulda coulda mirrored himself, has been forced out to the garage, looking for original parts removed in the summer. Their start, disastrous by Bayern standards, has somewhat dispersed the Klinsmann mystique. Club is, as has been warned time and time again, a far different animal than country.

Jogi, on the other hand, has seemingly retained his reputation. After thoroughly dominating Euro qualifying (+35 for those keeping score at home – with much love to San Marino), then sweeping aside both co-hosts in pre-tournament friendlies without even a passing glace, Germany went in as favorites and, predictably, found themselves playing for a really big trophy on the last day. Though the aura of invincibility was long gone by the opening chirp of the whistle in Vienna, perhaps replacing it a sliver of doubt regarding Loew’s genius, it was but a lone brain fart provided by Philipp Lahm which sent Germany onto their sword. Clearly Spain was best in show throughout the competition and undeniably the deserved winner, but Germany hardly embarrassed themselves by falling short of lofty expectations.

But it appears just two months into World Cup qualifying, someone has opened a bag of manure and is currently searching frantically for a fan. On the pitch matters aren’t really the problem, though the draw with Finland left a bitter taste in some mouths, the worries lie behind closed doors.

Kevin Kuranyi walked out on the team, frustrated and angry at not being afforded opportunity; brushed off by nearly everyone as simply a good player battling very good for pitch time. Not exactly a rare occurrence in the world of elite sport, and not quite a concern. Until now.

Torsten Frings voiced his displeasure with the proceedings in Die Mannschaft last week, specifically targeting Loew’s lack of “support, trust and respect”, and has found himself contemplating international retirement. Siding with him the most important pair of lungs on the national team, captain Michael Ballack, whose no-holds diatribe is pretty alarming considering his status (not that Michael has a restrained tongue, of course). Loew’s reputation intact, yes, but perhaps showing the slightest hint of fracture.

Ballack:

“Respect and loyalty are the least one can expect as a veteran national player,” the Germany captain told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Ballack went on to name other examples of players he felt were squeezed out of the team without being given a fair chance. At the head of his list was former national goalkeeper Ollie Kahn, who was demoted by Loew’s predecessor, Juergen Klinsmann.

“A competition with Jens Lehmann was proclaimed that, to my eyes, he couldn’t win,” Ballack said. “The same was true with [defender] Christian Woerns who, in contrast to Christoph Metzelder, stayed true to one team and wasn’t sitting on the bench.”

Ballack even defended striker Kevin Kuranyi, whom Loew booted out of the squad entirely after Kuranyi abandoned the team in response to not being nominated.

“[Kuranyi] saw that it was going to be very difficult for him, even though he plays year in, year out in the Champions League and has been a regular starter for a top Bundesliga club for quite some time,” Ballack said.

“Those are important criteria for the national team,” the Germany captain added. “Where will we end up if things like that no longer count?”

A firm thumbs down on Jogi’s squad selection, and some thinly-veiled critique for Christoph Metzelder’s choice of residence in particular. Obviously the non-competition between Kahn & Lehmann and the Woerns-Metzelder battle were under Klinsmann, but Loew was an integral part of these decisions as assistant manager and thus shoulders some of the blame, according to Michael.

Technically, the German team is just fine with plenty to build on (though the fact that Ballack’s rant may lead to non-playing consequences is quite worrying – and he’s taking plenty of heat from the German elders), but only a fool can’t see there’s some sort of divide between the coaching hierarchy and at least a handful of players within the squad. Who is right or wrong is inconsequential, as a rift is a rift; a dangerous proposition for any team, club or country. There also seems to be a divide in Munich, though not between the coach and players, but between what Jurgen wants to do and what Jurgen can do.

Both teams will be fine. Both will get over their rough spots. Everybody will love everybody again. But the aura of impending greatness for all involved with Die Mannschaft in the summer of ‘06 is gone, leaving the rest of us with a clear, sweeping message: don’t believe the hype.