i think the back four should be set at lahm, metzelder, mertesacker, fritz. jansen as woeful defensively.
the problem really is the shocking form of both klose and gomez - in particular gomez who has been awful in both games.
how about playing more of a 4-3-3 with borowski ballack and frings then klose, gomez and podolski up front?. i still say give kuranyi a chance because gomez has been nothing short of shabby.
The problem with this back four is that we need Lahm and Fritz on offense. In fact, we could need 2-3 Lahm clones. Fritz is not as good as Lahm, but he has his strengths and gives 100%. Gomez couldnīt play any worse. Heīs a beast in the league, but heīs also the focal point of Stuttgartīs offense. I agree that Kuranyi is probably an upgrade, but Podolski even more so, imo. Klose is still handicapped by an injury, heīs not at full strength.
I have
Lahm - Metzelder - Mertesacker - Friedrich
Trochowski - Frings - Ballack - Borowski
Klose - Podolski
as my personal lineup
Trochowski has excellent ball control amd is very creative, and after Schweinsteigerīs red card, itīs him or Jansen, who seems to be in a slump. Iīm kind of happy about the red card. This way, Schweinsteiger canīt mess up anything, at least...
With Holland - France, I think it comes down to France` vets. If theyīre hungry enough, France will beat them. If not, Holland is favoured. With vets, you just never know how motivated they are, and France relies heavily on their vets...