Klose: Germany's problem

Germany's Miroslav Klose will celebrate his 32nd birthday on Wednesday, June 9. If it will be a day to celebrate for the striker will have to be questioned. Germany's second most successful striker is in crisis and the timing couldn't have been worse.

Coach Joachim Loew has put a lot of faith and trust in Klose over the years and he would have hoped the striker would get back into form ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. But Klose has had a terrible season at Bayern Munich. Klose did play 38 matches in all competitions, but came on as a substitute in 20 of those games and overall only scored six goals. An abysmal figure for a striker of his class.

Klose as well as his German national team strike partner Mario Gomez are both in a difficult situation at their club. They just do not fit into the 4-2-3-1 system which coach Louis van Gaal prefers at Bayern Munich and now they face the same problem in the German national team as well as coach Joachim Loew now also prefers the system with only one striker. Both strikers prefer to play in an attack with two striker and good wingers on the side who can send in the crosses. This is something which the German team currently lacks besides not being able to utilise dead situations.

As per coach Joachim Loew's plans Klose was set to be Germany's no. 1 striker in the World Cup once more, but after Thursday's last preparatory game against Bosnia-Herzegovina Loew will have to reconsider his decision. Klose had very few touches on the ball, forget having any chances and he wasn't running after the ball or defenders as needed by a one man attack. But all this was done by substitute striker Cacau and he looks likely to start for Germany on Sunday next week against Australia.

Klose has been the German striker over the last couple of World Cup's. He scored five goals in both the 2002 Japan/Korea and 2006 Germany World Cup's, only the second player after Peru's Teófilo Cubillas to be able to score five goals or more in two separate World Cup's. And in the all time list of World Cup goal scorers for Germany he is joint third with Helmut Rahn with 10 goals behind Gerd Mueller (14 goals) and Juergen Klinsmann (11 goals).

So one would have hoped Klose would play a last impressive World Cup and as records are there to be broken, who knows what an inform Klose could have achieved. Still the tournament has not started, one does not know how far Germany will get and maybe one goal might change Miroslav Klose for good and the old somersault Klose is back. And then even Ronaldo's record of 15 goals in World Cup's could be equalled or even broken, but that would mean Klose was able to make the comeback of this summers World Cup.