Few teams could pull off holding their pre-match press conference in a sponsor’s car showroom while retaining their sense of superiority; but then, it helps when you’re the world champions and the company in question is a high-end brand that sells itself on its reliability.
The firm ran an ad campaign a few years back in which a cheating husband is caught out due to the implausibility of a claim that his car broke down. This German team’s most recent results seem about as likely, and the fear is that it will be Ireland who are on the receiving end of a slap to the face.
It’s questionable whether there is a good time to play Joachim Löw’s side. Choosing between a period of successive wins and maximum momentum or two defeats in three (they also lost to Argentina down the road in Düsseldorf last month) and an urge to reassert themselves doesn’t feel like much of a choice at all for an opposing manager. It’s not so surprising, then, that Martin O’Neill was far happier to dwell on where his own players are just now, with Ireland coming to Gelsenkirchen off the back of two strong performances and with six points from six. It is solid rather than inspiring stuff given the quality of the opposition, but it’s as much as the northerner could have hoped for five weeks ago when the campaign was kicking off in Georgia.
Big calls
O’Neill has some big calls to make this afternoon as he finalises his team selection, and his decision to bring
Robbie Keane
to his pre-match press conference at the Veltins Arena at least suggested a firm line of thinking in relation to one.
Stephen Quinn and Glenn Whelan, he strongly hinted at the weekend, will return at the expense of Wes Hoolahan and Jeff Hendrick as O'Neill looks to get back towards something like the side that battled their way to a win in Tbilisi.
The biggest question mark, though, is whether he retains James McClean in one of the wide positions or hands Jon Walters a recall. O’Neill seems to have a special regard for the Wigan winger whose two goals on Saturday can’t have harmed his cause, but with David Meyler expected to stand in again at right back, Walters’s work rate may decide the day as the manager looks to offer a little more protection against the driving runs of, amongst others, Chelsea’s André Schürrle, who caused Ireland so many problems when they came to Cologne and lost 3-0 a year ago.
Frank assessment
As ever, O’Neill brushed off any questions relating to his team selection but he was frank in his assessment of the challenge that awaits and the attitude his players should have as they prepare to face up to it.
When asked about the home side's collective state of mind in the wake of Saturday's surprise defeat in Warsaw, he said: "I think Germany have a history of roaring back from whatever setbacks they have suffered before. People are talking about the retirements they have had but I think they will be pretty formidable.
“For our part, I’m hoping for a similar mindset [to Saturday] even if the approach might be a bit different. In a sense, we had to go out and attack from the first minute of the game against Gibraltar. They let us control the game and Robbie had his hat-trick within 16 or 17 minutes. I don’t think the Germans are going to allow us the same space to play in.
“Let’s not beat around the bush, they’re top quality. My own personal viewpoint is that with 10 games played Germany will find themselves in front – they usually do and they’re the best team in the group. But we are going into this with some confidence and a game-plan that we hope will work to our advantage. Obviously we’re delighted to be here but we’ve come to perform.”
They'll have to. The Germans may have lost to the Poles but they created 22 scoring chances to the home side's four and had close to two-thirds of the possession. Löw remained upbeat about the performance, and suggested that while his players are a bit put out by the slip-up, the confidence of so many World Cup winners has not been dented. Somewhat ominously, he remarked, they are "really determined" to take all three points this time.
Same starting 11
The coach gave the firm impression, in any case, that he will stick with much the same starting eleven. Christoph Kramer is ruled out by an upset stomach which could prompt a re-jig and the return of local favourite
Julian Draxler
or a more straightforward replacement with Hoffenheim Sebastian Rudy, who played at full-back against the Scots last month.
Dortmund’s Erik Durm and Stuttgart’s Antonio Rudiger are likely to be back tonight and both are capable players but, by the lofty standards of this German side, still potential weaknesses, and it’s probably no coincidence that Löw spoke of the dangers Aiden McGeady and James McClean might pose this evening from wide positions.
Ireland will have to pose some threat from somewhere or it will be a very long and difficult night indeed. Even then, the visitors have vulnerabilities all across a back line that will be led by John O’Shea who makes his 100th appearance – or 99th if, like Fifa, you disregard the friendly in Hungary two years ago on the basis of an unregistered linesman.
You can imagine Roy Keane hearing that one, can't you?
