Technique
Skill and application over strength and speed is a staple of organic Die Mannschaft strategy. By asserting this, I do not mean that skilful play or flair is suppressed. Quite the opposite. Germany were know as a team with aptitude even as they lost at Wembley to England in 1966’s cup final.
It is notable that German footballing weltanschauung or world-perception influenced the model which became the Dutch’s total football. In-turn, weltanschauung, along with total football and the South American-style, should be attributed to helping shape Spanish tiki-taka.
However, the addition of more overtly skilful players, for example World Cup winner Mesut Ozil, enhanced their outfit while regulating true to German dogma. Speed-demons like Leroy Sane are also evolving DFB-Elf’s (Deutscher Fußball-Bund – Eleven) style. Passing, movement, control, tackling, shooting and set pieces are still fundamentals.
Imperative to the continued developing state of German football was incorporation and diversifying. Turkish-Germans like Ozil adding flair while retaining or gaining German footballing philosophy.
Other noted footballers of Turkish heritage are, Ilkay Gundogan and Mehmet Scholl. Along with many excellent and well-known German-Poles. Miroslav Klose became Germany’s all time leading goalscorer with 71 strikes. Lukas Podolski is another fabled international straddling the border. Both men were born in Poland.
Unfortunately for the DFB this is both good and bad. Everton target-man Cenk Tosun was born in Germany yet opted to play for his parents’ native country, Turkey.