Team chemistry separated World Champions Germany from the rest (Comment: On The Ball)

The last two editions of the FIFA World Cup (2010 and 2014) have clearly brought one key message to the fore -- team cohesion and chemistry.

The 2010 winners Spain were predominantly made up of two sides -- Barcelona and Real Madrid -- with more than half the team being constituted of Catalan players. This meant that most of these players were already used to playing with each other, increasing cohesion and chemistry.

Barcelona players like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Jordi Alba and Cesc Fabregas were present this year as well meaning that the cohesion was still there but something else was missing as the defending champions were dumped out in the group stages.

Spain's biggest problem was age and probably a shot of overconfidence. Most of their top players are on their last legs with their club career also winding down.

Xavi, Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres and Andrea Iniesta have without any doubt played their last World Cup and their fitness or lack of it was there to see in the Brazilian heat.

The newly crowned 2014 champions Germany, who edged Argentina 1-0 in the final Sunday, had a similar recipe for World Cup glory.

Six of Germany's starters in the final at the Maracana stadium came from the Bavarian club Bayern Munich. Substitute Mario Goetze, who netted the winner late into extra time, also plays for Bayern.

When a national team has almost seven members of the club playing at one time it becomes a huge advantage.

Football is a sport that runs on players forming connections on and off the field. That is why the main focus of national coaches is team building and increasing the chemistry within the squad.

Players are called up early for tournaments such as the World Cup so that they could spend as much time together. The main focus is not training as most of these players have already come from a gruelling season of club football and need the rest to get their energy levels up.

See original here:
Team chemistry separated World Champions Germany from the rest (Comment: On The Ball)