Hamann highlights Germany midfield strength
Former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star Dietmar Hamann believes the midfield options available to Joachim Löw are Germany’s biggest strength this summer.
Die Mannschaft began Euro 2012 as joint favourites with holders Spain having not dropped a point during their qualifying campaign.
They are set to resume old rivalries with Holland on Wednesday in a game the Dutch have to win in order to avoid being knocked out of the tournament following their 1-0 defeat to Denmark.
Germany are currently joint top of Group B after beating Portugal 1-0, and although there is a debate over whether Mario Gomez or Miroslav Kloser should start up front, Hamann has pin-pointed the midfield as the position that will give Löw the biggest selection headache.
"I think that is probably his biggest task, to find a balanced team because these days you need to have the right mix between defence and offence," Hamann told Yahoo! when quizzed on finding the right balance in midfield.
"Most of the players are flair players which we haven’t had in the past 15 years.
"We’ve got [Mario] Götze, [Mesut] Özil, [Bastian] Schweinsteiger (pictured) and [Toni] Kroos, four players that all like to go forward and create things.
"I think it will be very important for Schweinsteiger to be on top form because he can be the one who dictates the pace in the middle of the park.
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"He’s been out for quite some time and though he is back now in recent weeks I feel he has looked a bit flat, he’ll be a major player if they want to be successful in the tournament."
Despite the 1-0 defeat to Denmark, Hamann believes Holland still possess enough quality to secure safe passage to the next round of the competition.
"They’ve got Robin van Persie - a standout player in Europe this year along with [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo," he added.
"Nigel de Jong will also have got a big lift winning the Premier League and [Mark] van Bommel is a very experienced player so they’ve got a very strong midfield and it’s a very physical team.
"In addition Wesley Sneijder and Van Persie are flair players so they’ve got a good mix, Holland will be a team that goes far in this tournament.”
For more insight from Dietmar Hamann and other leading managers, plus coverage of Euro 2012, visit yahoo.eurosport.com
Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.
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