End of an Era for Die Mannschaft?
During the recently concluded World Cup, Philipp Lahm got the opportunity to lead the Germans due to Ballack's injury. Germans performed remarkably well beating Aussies 4-0 in their opener, England 4-1, demolishing much fancied Argentina 4-0 before losing to Spain.
After Michael Ballack's signing with Leverkusen he said that he wants to be the German captain once again. But Lahm opposed the idea and said that since his team did well at the World Cup, he should continue as the captain. His statements may not be professional but he has a point.
Michael Ballack is arguably the best German player of the last decade. But the decade is over. His importance to the team was immense in that time as much as Xavi's importance to Spain in recent times. He was the key player along with Oliver Kahn that brought Germans to the final of the World Cup 2002.
He was the best box to box midfielder in that time. But now, he has lost his pace, fitness and agility due to the age and is certainly not MB13 we had in 2002. His regular inclusion in the last season's Chelsea squad was mainly due to Michael Essien's injury.
Sami Khedira was Ballack's replacement at the world cup. Even though he does not have the goal scoring touch Ballack had in his prime, he played exceptionally well and was one of the unsung heroes of the world cup. His timed forward runs, showed immense composure in defending and his high work rate impressed many neutral viewers.
Now after the World Cup is over, we have Ballack out of injury. Who would you chose? Ballack or Khedira? Would you name Lahm as the captain? By looking at the new born Germany, it is certain that the current free flowing style favours Khedira over Ballack by a country mile, but one cannot forget the leadership qualities of Ballack.
He was always the go to man when Die Mannschaft was in difficult situations. His presence in the midfield gave the strength to the German outfit that looked weak at least on paper. His set piece intelligence saved them from many defeats. He was also one of the best spot kick takers of his era.
There is no doubt that Lahm is a world class player, although most people underrate him. He will be important to the team in the next few tournaments in the years to follow as he is the only world class player in The Team except their promising youngsters. But by looking at what the name Michael Ballack meant to the German team, I think that Ballack should be given at least a decent farewell rather than get him axed out of the team.
Source
I know this has been around for some time now, but this article in particular made me want to cry.