World Cup: Group E: Germany vs. Cote d'Ivoire, 6/20/2026

[J Roc Baby]

Amen.

I try to tell people all the time that strong coffee made properly is NOT bitter. BAD coffee is bitter.

Absolutely not. It is the richest and most decadent flavor I've ever experienced. I can kind of understand if people went to war over it. Sugar and all that stuff does not necessarily ruin for me as much as it comes with something watered down. I'm not hard to please. Like, I'll drink the socially engineered Starbucks latte if you offer it to me because I need a caffeine boost. But if I have to be at work at 4am to conduct physical inventory, I want that vodka coffee that makes me twitch. And if I had my choice, it's all I'd drink if I could afford it.

It's gonna take 4 of those damn socially engineered coffees to come close to the 1 I'd have by choice and it's not worth it

 

[cgf]

Excited for the game, kinda feeling this ends up more a more cagey 2-2, even though a 4-2 seems like the smarter bet given that we should dominate the midfield battle but their talent & speed on the counter should take advantage of our lack of speed and inconsistent counter defense.

Curious if both teams wouldn't be content with a draw, us banking on them not beating Curacao by 6 and them banking on Ecuador holding us to a draw / backing themselves to shred Curacao.

 

[Summer Rose]

Amen.

I try to tell people all the time that strong coffee made properly is NOT bitter. BAD coffee is bitter.

Funny, because I normally like things that taste bitter.

 

[cgf]

IF Sane was the player that we thought he would be 5-10 years ago then this wouldn't be a discussion we have because his qualities would be obvious. The problem is that I think some people love the ideal of what Sane could bring to the table so much they forget what he actually does. Yes Sane adds in theory a quality that others don't have but that Sane ain't suddenly going to walk through the door at age 30.

Sure, but he's not the player we hoped he could be when complaining about Jogi not integrating him into the NT, so there is a discussion to be had, and unfortunately it's not just fantasy. Both Nagelsmann and Tuchel got excellent production out of Leroy at Bayern since the last WM. That's what keeps suckering them in.

Like I've said multiple times, I wouldn't have brought him in the first place & would be perfectly content with starting Leweling in that spot, before bringing Undav on around the hour mark for whichever front 4 guy looked least fresh. With Woltemade and Beier as more situational alternatives.

But if you're going to bring Sane along, then this is the time to see if you can get any use out of him the way we did against the USA, where he kept Robinson busy all day & was tracking back to help neuter their counters, before the american talked enough s*** for Leroy to score.

 

[vaspa]

Sure, but he's not the player we hoped he could be when complaining about Jogi not integrating him into the NT, so there is a discussion to be had, and unfortunately it's not just fantasy. Both Nagelsmann and Tuchel got excellent production out of Leroy at Bayern since the last WM. That's what keeps suckering them in.

Like I've said multiple times, I wouldn't have brought him in the first place & would be perfectly content with starting Leweling in that spot, before bringing Undav on around the hour mark for whichever front 4 guy looked least fresh. With Woltemade and Beier as more situational alternatives.

But if you're going to bring Sane along, then this is the time to see if you can get any use out of him the way we did against the USA, where he kept Robinson busy all day & was tracking back to help neuter their counters, before the american talked enough s*** for Leroy to score.

I'd say that even the misfiring Sane can have good value in a tournament. Nobody can beat his man in the German squad like Sane can (or maybe Musiala can) and that is valuable in a national team tournament where teams aren't as gelled as club sides are and usually struggle to reliably break low blocks because of that. In that context the chaos that beating a your marker in the final third causes is a clear positive for the team even if the final ball might be lacking.

For me with Sane the question is whether you play him from the start or give him 25 minutes against a tired defense.

 

[cgf]

I'd say that even the misfiring Sane can have good value in a tournament. Nobody can beat his man in the German squad like Sane can (or maybe Musiala can) and that is valuable in a national team tournament where teams aren't as gelled as club sides are and usually struggle to reliably break low blocks because of that. In that context the chaos that beating a your marker in the final third causes is a clear positive for the team even if the final ball might be lacking.

For me with Sane the question is whether you play him from the start or give him 25 minutes against a tired defense.

Ja'ein. Leroy doesn't need to put up numbers to be helpful, but he has to gel more with the rest of the attack because against Curacao, he was where our possessions went to die; despite some beautiful passes that he did very well to latch onto.

...which is the dilemma, Leroy's explosiveness lets him make runs that nobody else on the team even tries and his first touch lets him receive tough passes in stride when he makes those runs. If he combines that with diligent tracking back to protect Kimmich, we don't need him to score. But we do need him to stop giving the ball up so cheaply & squandering his team-mates hard work.

That's why I would have no qualms replacing him with Leweling moving forward. Jamie isn't quite as explosive and his touch isn't qiute as good, but he's much smarter and he works harder. He could provide us with width & runs in behind without making us play 10-on-11 in the final third, while providing Kimmich with more reliable cover.

If we need more of a spark in the final third than Leweling can provide, Havertz or Musiala can shift over to the right so we can bring Undav on for his Stuttgart colleague, and Deniz is the perfect joker, who already has great chemistry with Kai & Flo.

That's why Leroy is a gamble, we do have alternatives.

 

[adsfan]

You don't need to have the ball much to score on us if we're not a lot sharper than we were against Curacao or the US lol

...especially if Leroy is out there killing our attacks *sigh*

I thought that Germany looked strong against Curacao. Led in the first half, then scored 90 seconds into the second half to put the game away.

Sometimes you get outnumbered or out positioned and give up a goal.

 

[luiginb]

First game I´m genuinely excited about watching this WC

 

[kabidjan18]

We are starting Kossounou and Singo at RB.

Germany is definitely hitting the over. This is a very defensively suspect lineup.

 

[cgf]

I thought that Germany looked strong against Curacao. Led in the first half, then scored 90 seconds into the second half to put the game away.

Sometimes you get outnumbered or out positioned and give up a goal.

Yeah, but it was Curacao. Even with all of their eredivise recruits, we had better look strong against them. I got some optimism from the team conceding a goal to tie it up and responding with 6 goals + better counter defense in the final 3 quarters.

...but the fact that we conceded to Curacao because we got lazy & sloppy, like the fact that Leroy couldn't look good in a 7-1, are legitamite causes for concern...

I'm weirdly both very optimistic about what this team could do if things continue to gel and we can bring our A-game for the knockouts...and very pessimistic about our potential to f*** that up against teams that can sit deep & counter us.

 

[kabidjan18]

Now that I think about it more, going back to 3 midfielders, Singo on the wing. We may...may defend slightly better. Despite the fact that if Germany has done any homework they'll just attack Odilon Kossounou over and over again and score goals on him, the rest of the lineup is more defensive, but then will we score? I guess we'll see. I'm excited to see Bonny start.

 

[vaspa]

I'm very excited about this game.

 

[gary69]

Now that I think about it more, going back to 3 midfielders, Singo on the wing. We may...may defend slightly better. Despite the fact that if Germany has done any homework they'll just attack Odilon Kossounou over and over again and score goals on him, the rest of the lineup is more defensive, but then will we score? I guess we'll see. I'm excited to see Bonny start.

I don't remember Kossonou being particularly bad with Leverkusen. Maybe he has picked bad habits with Atalanta? Is he even fully fit yet? Anyway, this isn't a must win match for Ivory Coast yet.

 

[cgf]

Did anyone else feel like that camera held on Sane sarcastically during our anthem? Everyone else gets drifted by but for leroy they stop and move in on his face like "and then there's this ***hole"

 

[Jack Straw]

Germany does have one of the nicest anthems, I guess you get that with Haydn.

 

[cgf]

I don't remember Kossonou being particularly bad with Leverkusen. Maybe he has picked bad habits with Atlanta? Is he even fully fit yet? Anyway, this isn't a must win match for Ivory Coast yet.

He seems to have, I've seen both CIV nt fans and serie A fans ripping on his defending...which is weird because I don't think he was much worse for the pill pushers than Hincapie was.

 

[Live in the Now]

Did anyone else feel like that camera held on Sane sarcastically during our anthem? Everyone else gets drifted by but for leroy they stop and move in on his face like "and then there's this ***hole"

I have a bet with him taking more than two shots. Let’s go selfish Sane

 

[Summer Rose]

Germany does have one of the nicest anthems, I guess you get that with Haydn.

It's also normally in "heroic" E-flat major, which is a nice key.

My church's hymnal has a hymn with the same melody and it has a nice descant in the final verse that I get to sing. Although on the occasions that it's one of our hymns on Sunday, I get the lyrics to the German anthem stuck in my head.

 

[Live in the Now]

Have to defend better than that.

 

[cgf]

I have a bet with him taking more than two shots. Let’s go selfish Sane

I'm here for it. If he's hitting the net that means he's not giving it away for Diomande & co. to burn us on the counter

 

[Karterthadon]

So I've noticed at this tournament that at kickoff, the team that starts with the ball relinquinshes possession by hoofing it down field immediately, is this a new trend?

 

[Takeahnase]

Oh no, my lawyer made sure that if they asked me anything along those lines I knew that my answer would be “I love America! uSA #1!!!!”

The fact that you had a lawyer for this should make you a citizen by default. More lawyers than roaches in this country and harder to get rid of.

 

[Live in the Now]

So I've noticed at this tournament that at kickoff, the team that starts with the ball relinquinshes possession by hoofing it down field immediately, is this a new trend?

Yes. They want to pressure the other team deep in their own defensive phase early in the half when nobody’s focused.

 

[Summer Rose]

The shade of orange on the Ivorian shirts is not visually offensive like the Dutch shirts from the last match and the white numbers are much easier to read.

 

[luiginb]

Germany starting with 8 midfielders tonight