Germany Euro 2016 Squad

Germany has always been one of the best national teams in the world, winning 4 times gold, 4 times silver and 4 times bronze at the World Cup and winning 3 times gold, 3 times silver and 2 times bronze at the Euros. Joachim Low has announced his team for the upcoming Euro 2016 in France. Germany’s defence has always been strong, the 3 goalkeepers in the squad are Bundesliga stars Manuel Neuer and Bernd Leno and Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Top seed to be in the starting XI is Manuel Neuer, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world with 116 saves this season in 54 games although he is trumped for most saves by Bernd Leno with 135 saves even though he played 7 games less then Neuer. Ter Stegen made 77 saves in 32 games. Battling it out for a place in the back four are defenders, Jerome Boateng, Emre Can, Jonas Hector, Benedikt Howedes, Mats Hummels, Shkodran Mustafi and Antonio Rudiger. Hector is the stand out full back in this selection, centre-backs Hummels and Boateng are incredible players and it is highly likely they will be teammates at Bayern Munich next year as there is speculation over Hummels going back to Bavaria. Germany’s midfield has been a dominant force in world football with the likes of Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller within their ranks. I think Joachim Low will go with a 4–4‑2 diamond formation, fighting for a place in the lineup along with the above mentioned are Julian Draxler, Sami Khedira, Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sane, Bastien Schweinsteiger and Julian Weigl. Schweinsteiger, Weigl and Kimmich haven’t had many goals or assists for their clubs (senior team). Ozil and Muller are definitely in the starting lineup with Ozil scoring 9 and assisting 20 others in a very successful campaign for Arsenal this season, Muller has scored an incredible 32 goals and assisted 10 others in 49 games for the Bavarians. On the left and right are Julian Draxler and Leroy Sane respectively with Draxler scoring 9 and assisting 7 and Sane scoring 12 and assisting 8. Real Madrid star Toni Kroos will be first off the bench with a goal and 12 assists with Sami Khedira bringing up the rear with 5 goals and 4 assists. Attacking options aren’t plentiful with Mario Gotze having a disappointing season, Lukas Podolski only playing 8 games and Mario Gomez only playing 10. Andre Schurrle having a slightly better season with 12 goals and 3 assists. Although there is always the option to play Muller up front and drop Gotze back to centre attacking mid. Conclusion: Joachim Low has made a huge mistake in omitting wingers Marco Reus and Karim Bellarabi, in my opinion they would do way better on the wings then Draxler and Sane, Reus has scored 20 goals and gotten 8 assists and Bellarabi also had an amazing season scoring 11 and assisting 14. But, Germany still have a spectacular team heading into the Euros and in my opinion they have the best defence in the entire competition. With Muller and Ozil top contenders for most assists and most goals this summer in France, Germany could do remarkably well in the 15th edition of the European Cup. Predicted Finish: Top 3