Germany coach Joachim Loew has said he is eager to experiment with both tactics and different players during the forthcoming friendlies against Ukraine and the Netherlands.
Germany play Ukraine tomorrow at Kiev’s Olympic Stadium, which will host the Euro 2012 final on July 1 next year, before tackling the Dutch in Hamburg four days later.
Loew has rested captain Philipp Lahm for both games, while vice captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is out with a broken collarbone.
Photo: AFP
Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder Marco Reus is rated as doubtful after the 22-year-old informed Loew on Monday he is suffering from stomach flu and will not be able to meet up with the team in Hamburg on Tuesday.
A medical examination by the ’Gladbach club doctor was set to determine whether he is fit to play tomorrow.
Hannover 96 goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler is expected to make his debut in at least one of the games, while Real Madrid’s playmaker Mesut Ozil is likely to link up with Borussia Dortmund’s teenage star Mario Goetze in midfield.
Loew is also toying with the idea of playing strikers Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, a change from his usual pattern of playing with a lone striker, but that will have to wait until the Dutch test.
Klose has been ruled out of tomorrow’s match with an inflammation of a tendon in his left knee, which requires him to rest for a few days, but he will join up with the squad on Saturday.
The last time Loew played with two strikers was in a 2-2 draw with the Ivory Coast in November 2009.
“The beginning of the main preparations for Euro 2012 are still a long way off, but we only have three games left before that,” said Loew, with Germany also set to host France in a friendly next February. “We will certainly experiment with tactics and players, but some things are now as automatic for us as a comfortable pair of sneakers. For all the ambition we have in terms of getting good results, what I’ll find out after these experiments will be very important. I’m planning to make a tactical change in one of the games.”
Both Marcel Schmelzer of Borussia Dortmund and Hamburg SV’s Dennis Aogo are competing for the leftback position vacated by Lahm, while Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos may be asked to play as the only defensive midfielder.
Germany were the first team to book their place at Euro 2012 through the qualifying groups and they finished their campaign with a perfect record of 10 victories from 10 matches.
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