German Revolution

Ahead of England's match with Germany on Tuesday, David Bowers examines Joachim Low's squad.

After Germany's group stage elimination in Euro 2000 the German Football Association (DFB) began an intensive investigation into their state of affairs. After increasing the number of domestic coaches and focusing on the nurturing of home-grown youth players, next year's World Cup will determine the success of their blueprint. Germany coach Joachim Low has suggested that England should follow their model if they want to become a major international force. It's hard to argue against such a sentiment when you examine the German squad, blessed with frightening strength in depth. David Bowers assesses an impressive talent pool and Germany's quest to achieve World Cup glory for the first time since East and West united. Goalkeepers Germany have an outstanding group of goalkeepers at their disposal, arguably the most talented group in international football. Put into perspective, Barcelona target Marc-Andre ter Stegen and UEFA Champions League finalist Roman Weidenfeller have just three caps between them, with the latter receiving his first call-up last week at the age of 33. Ter Stegen and Weidenfeller are battling it out with Hannover's highly-rated Ron-Robert Zieler and Hamburg's Rene Adler for a place in the squad, never mind the number one jersey. They'd be accused of having delusions of grandeur if they think they have a remote chance of toppling the immovable Manuel Neuer. Neuer was drafted into the squad after the tragic passing of Robert Enke, who was number two behind Adler. After a series of impressive performances, Neuer was chosen to guard the German posts in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Neuer's goal at Bayern Munich has remained unblemished throughout his tenure, but internationally he has been sitting in front of a defence that has been recognised as Germany's weak link. In World Cup qualifying they conceded as many goals as Group C rivals Austria. However, after Oliver Kahn comfortably occupied the gloves for eleven years, the fierce goalkeeping competition is ensuring that Germany's goal will remain unscathed for years to come, providing they can plug a relatively leaky defence. Defenders "Of course we want to improve defensively and it is something we will be working on," said Low after conceding three goals to Sweden last month. During that game, centre-backs Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels were criticised for a lack of defensive discipline, with Sweden's opening two goals coming after the duo's somewhat erratic defensive line was sliced open by two simple passes through the middle. Low's side are fortunate to have an abundance of top-class attacking players, as they eventually ran out 5-3 winners. However, the rest of the world took notice. Germany has a weak link. It may not be as weak as it once was and it's certainly not a back four who would likely concede five to England, but compared to the rest of the team it's an area that is not blessed with an array of talent. Captain Philipp Lahm remains a world-class right back and pivotal figure, accompanied by a pair of respected left-backs in Dortmund's Marcel Schmelzer and Hamburg's Marcell Jansen. Recognised for their attacking tendencies, it's vital that Low sticks by his promise to improve a slightly-faltering centre-half partnership if he wants to give his full-backs a licence roam. As a partnership Per Mertesacker and Benedikt