Michael Ballack sceptical of Joachim Low experiment

Former Germany captain Michael Ballack has insisted that Joachim Low should not attempt to copy Barcelona's model of playing with a 'false nine'.

Low has tinkered with the idea in recent friendly internationals, using Mario Gotze and Marco Reus in a withdrawn role similar to the model used to deadly effect by the Catalan giants and Lionel Messi.

Ballack believes that Low should concentrate on building a team around the conventional marksman already at his disposal, such as Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose.

He told ZDF: "I'm still a fan of real strikers. The likes of Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose are needed.

"The game is fluid but when the ball comes into the box, you need a centre-forward. I doubt it (false nine) is a model for the future.

"But we can be happy that the team is able to play in such a system," he continued. "This shows how many outstanding players we have and all of their potential. That was not the case in the past."

Germany lead nearest Group C rivals Sweden by five points after beating Kazakhstan 3-0 in their latest World Cup qualifying match on Friday.