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The seemingly impossible has happened: defending champions Germany are out of the World Cup.
Given the recent history of defending champions being thrashed in the group stages of the World Cup (France in 2002, Italy in 2010, Spain in 2014), the German team led by the abominably bad Joachim Low failed to heed this trend and were deservedly dumped out of the tournament.
Despite winning the tournament in 2014, it has become clear over the last couple of years that there is something missing with Die Mannschaft as too many players have kept their places in the team based on reputation and not on form (ditto for former champions France, Italy and Spain).
The dynamism and inventiveness of the 2010-2014 group seem to have been replaced by a possession-heavy, slow and ponderous style of play that was eerily reminiscent of Spain's disastrous title defence under Vicente Del Bosque four years ago.
Despite the showing of the young group at last year's Confederations Cup, the 58-year-old Low failed to devise a new formation or evolve tactics to fit in these players despite the obvious need for a refresh show the need for the manager to be let go.
Given the talent available, here are 5 players in the current squad that should be left out of the national setup until their form improves:
#5 Mats Hummels
Hummels has been one of the best centre-backs in the world for the better part of the last decade. However, signs of a decline have begun to show in the 29-year-old's play for his club: Bayern Munich in the last couple of years.
The intelligence, aerial ability, and intelligence to read the game and study all around him are still there but the agility. pace and finely honed nose for danger have been looking pretty shaky for the better part of 2 seasons now.
While his case at the World Cup has not been helped by the absence of a defensive midfielder to help screen the opposition, his lack of pace has been shown up terribly in all the games Germany played at Russia 2018.
His loss of pace was severely exploited by all three group opponents: Mexico, Sweden and South Korea and he should be left out of the team until his club form picks up. With the likes of Kevin Vogt, Jonathan Tah, and Antonio Rudiger around, the next Die Mannschaft manager will not be short of options
#4 Manuel Neuer
Neuer has been the bedrock of Germany's success in the last 9 years and his abilities, reflexes, and leadership have provided the foundation for the team to build on.
The sweeper-keeper to end all sweeper keepers, he was over and above the best German player at the World Cup win in 2014 and has maintained his legendary level since then.
However, the season-long injury which kept him out for almost the entire season affected his play and he has not been at his sharpest in Russia. Though he cannot be blamed for South Korea's second goal which came at a desperate time for the team, the two goals conceded against Mexico and Sweden were moments he was culpable for.
The lack of defensive cover in midfield and the terrible antics of Hummels and Jerome Boateng have meant that the great man has had to face too many one-on-one situations and its a testament to his abilities that Germany did not concede more goals.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has shown more than enough to replace the Bayern number one and with other classy goalies (Bernd Leno, Timo Horn, Ralf Fahrmann and others) anxiously waiting their turn, dropping Neuer would not be a tragedy.
#3 Mesut Ozil
Disinterested, lazy and a genuinely sad player to watch, Ozil's performances have been shocking.
At club side Arsenal, it was always said that the quality of players around him were not good enough to get the best out of one of the best playmakers of the modern era. His performances for the national team has always been used to justify this point of view as he had always delivered for his team.
However, that excuse no longer works given Ozil's abject performances at the World Cup. In the two games, he featured against Mexico and South Korea, he had just one shot on goal in the entire tournament and was dispossessed at least three times per game.
He was a brooding passenger in all the games he featured in and should be given time off national duty to get back into the groove under new Arsenal manager Unai Emery.
The time has come for Germany to switch to the three-man midfield that has become the hallmark of the best club and national teams in world football and with Ozil out, a combination of Toni Kroos, a defensive midfielder and a box-to-box runner like Leon Goretzka would add a different dimension to the team's play.
#2 Thomas Müller
The arch-Raumdeuter (interpreter of space), Thomas Müller has been brilliant for Germany and Bayern Munich over the years. However, he has been nothing short of abysmal for the national side in the past two years and made the 23-man party to Russia based purely on past antecedents rather than present form.
Müller's position and role in the German team is one that has taken away one crucial element that made the team tick in the past: pace down the flanks.
With him in the team given the license to roam anywhere, he likes in the frontline (similar to Ozil's role as well), the team's shape has been distorted and the game slowed down so much that Germany has become easy to defend against. His presence has kept out players like Julian Brandt who could have offered the much-needed zing while also creating a problem for striker Timo Werner who had to keep switching to the flanks during Germany's ill-fated title defence.
Müller has not been pulling up trees at club level either and with Bayern's new manager, Niko Kovac looking set to implement a return to the fast-paced. wing-heavy attacking play that Bayern used to be known for, his game time at club level could be even more significantly reduced which should make his place in the national setup untenable for now.
#1 Sami Khedira
Khedira’s performance at the World Cup has to go down as one of the worst in recent history for a suposed top midfielder. The sad aspect is that it is actually nothing new as he has been beyond abysmal for Die Mannschaft in the last couple of years.
His lack of discipline to understand that in the German set-up, he is supposed to be the defensive midfielder have caused tons of problems for the side.
His amazing lack of positional awareness which sees him constantly going AWOL and leaving midfield partner Kroos alone to face the opposition attacks is one that various opponents have sought to exploit for a while now
Against Mexico, the midfield five behind Javier Hernandez had a field day constantly going past the overworked Kroos and the same thing happened against the speedy South Koreans.
This has been a recurring complaint about Khedira’s displays for the team since Bastien Schweinsteiger retired and while Low sought to counterbalance this by playing Leon Goretzka, a tactic which only made the team only more ponderous.
Sebastian Rudy and Julian Weigl are also two very good truly defensive midfielders currently available to the team and they would do a far better job than Khedira has done of late.
