Ballack has to be fuming right?

I'm not going to sit here and bad mouth one of my all-time boys Michael Ballack. He is unquestionably a German legend and one of the 10 greatest players of his generation in my opinion leading the Fatherland to multiple international finals - 2002 World Cup, 2008 Euro.

That being said here comes the BUT, but Ballack is no longer the inspirational central midfielder that he was eight years ago. In fact you could see the slip in Euro 08 despite the fact he helped lead Germany to the final, he was slower and more marauding, and as a result Spain was able to practically run circles around Germany.

Ask Chelsea supporters like Mr. Slate about Ballack's contributions the past couple of seasons to the London club and they'll tell you Ballack was not one of the key cogs of that team. He was a player who almost took up space behind Lampard almost in a defensive role as a destroyer, but that's never been Ballack's strong suit, he's an attacker whose skills have diminished. Jon Obi-Mikel and Michael Essien simply got better than Ballack at that position, which is why he was not offered a contract after it expired last season and was allowed to leave on free transfer.

I said before the World Cup it would be a good thing that Ballack was injured and could not play for Germany because the team had young talent behind Bastian Schweinsteiger that was ready to replace him and move on. It was almost a classic case of Bill Simmons' Ewing Theory.

That definitely happened. Schweinsteiger filled in for Ballack at his position and was simply sublime partnered alongside Sami Khedira in the middle with Mesut Ozil roaming just in front of them and Thomas Muller and Lukas Poldoski tearing down the wings.

Simply stated this group is better equipped now without Ballack, who would clog up the middle and slow down Germany's most explosive weapon - its speed on the counter attack.

So I am very happy that German coach Jogy Lowe has shown some moxie by not including him in the team's first Euro qualifier against Azerbaijan. Lowe stated he wants Ballack to return to full fitness before he calls on him for the team.

Do I believe that? Well there may be some shades of grey in that statement by Lowe, and he may even have some plans to use Ballack at some point, but no I don't believe that is the real reasoning.

I think this is a calculated and ingenious move by a terrific coach brimming with confidence that knows he has the backing of his federation after heading up a second phenomenal campaign in an international tournament - Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup. Lowe has done a magnificent job with Germany.

I think he knows the writing is on the wall for Ballack, and one of the other little controversies with Ballack is that he wants to return as captain. Well Philipp Lahm did a great job in that role at the World Cup and is not ready to give it up. For me as I've said this is no longer Ballack's team, and I think Lahm or Schweinsteiger needs to go on as captain, which I believe is what Lowe is doing here. He's going to go to Michael at some point in the near future and let him know if he wants any role with Germany, it won't be as captain. It's a sticky situation as England found out with David Beckham.

To me if Ballack wants to continue to play with Germany he needs to follow the path of another German legend - Lothar Matthaus. Matthaus was the attacking midfielder for Germany when they won the 1990 World Cup but was at the end of his rope, so he switched positions to sweeper to be able to continue. I see that as something Ballack would be capable of, but I'm not sure he will do it.

Unfortunately I see this shaping up as a messy divorce for a man just doesn't have much to give his country anymore after having poured his blood, sweat, and tears into this team for years. But that's typically the case with the greats, they don't know when there time is up until it's passed them by.