Former World Cup stars express cautious support for Löw
August 30, 2018
Joachim Löw has received mixed reviews after he presented his analysis as to why Germany crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage. A number of former German stars have expressed cautious support for the coach.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
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Few, if any German media outlets were particularly impressed by the analysis of what went wrong for Germany at the 2018 World Cup in Russia presented by national team head coach Joachim Löw in Munich on Wednesday.
The mass circulation newspaper Bild described the self-criticism that Löw expressed at the press conference as "weak," the national broadsheet Die Welt wrote that the Germany coach "lacked the strength to act," while the news magazine Spiegel found that the results of the German Football Association's (DFB) analysis was "not worthy of two months of silence."
German football fans will be watching Löw like a hawk when the national team faces World Cup champions France in their first match in the inaugural UEFA Nations League next Thursday, before taking on Peru in an international friendly the following Sunday.
Löw takes the blame
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Self-criticism was 'absolutely necessary'
Among them will be many former World Cup winners, some of whom have expressed cautious support for the national team coach following Wednesday's presentation.
Guido Buchwald, a defender who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990, praised Löw for admitting that he had made mistakes that contributed to the national team being eliminated at the group stage in Russia.
"Now people should just trust him," Buchwald said. "The games against France and Peru will quickly show whether the players learned from the World Cup disgrace."
Rainer Bonhof, a member of the 1974 World Cup-winning side, also praised Löw for his self-criticism, saying it was "absolutely necessary for a rebuild." He added that by calling up Leroy Sané for the upcoming international break, Löw had acknowleged that he had "made a mistake" by not taking the Manchester City forward to Russia.
Thomas Hässler, a midfielder on the 1990 side, praised Löw for giving Kai Havertz, Thilo Kehrer and Nico Schulz their first national team call-ups, saying it was "right to inject fresh blood into the team."
However, another, Olaf Thon, criticized the fact that it had taken two months for Löw and his team to draw their conclusions from Germany's failure in Russia.
"After the World Cup, things were stretched out like chewing gum," the former Schalke and Bayern star said. "The national team coach now has the chance to prove whether we will see a different national team against a very strong opponent and World Cup champion."
Stefan Freund, a member of the German team that won Euro 96 said that while he too welcomed the injection of fresh blood into the national team, "the structural problems have not been addressed."
He also said that the analysis presented by Löw and Oliver Bierhoff, the national team general manager, was "exactly what was to be expected."
German national team: Winners and losers post-Russia 2018
Joachim Löw has named his first squad since the World Cup. DW looks at the winners and losers of the disaster that was Russia 2018, as well as the fresh start that the Germany coach is now attempting to embark upon.
His absence through anything but injury would have been unthinkable during Germany's run to the 2014 World Cup title. However, in recent months he has been out of form both for Juventus and Germany. Joachim Löw was right to leave him out of Germany's second group-stage game against Sweden. Now he's been left out of the squad for the latest international break.
Having been ommitted from Joachim Löw's final World Cup squad at the last minute, Leroy Sane has ironically ended up being one of the only German players to come out of the tournament looking good. The Manchester City winger is in Löw's squad for France and Peru and could be a key part of the rebuild.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Hassenstein
Winner: Julian Brandt
After hitting the post twice after coming off the bench in Russia, Julian Brandt is one of the few German players who can look back positively at his World Cup performances. The 22-year-old has become an essential part of Heiko Herrlich's Bayer Leverkusen side and now, with his eye for a decisive pass, he should be just as important for Joachim Löw and Germany.
Unlike his namesake in Leverkusen, Julian Draxler's progress in recent seasons has been less impressive. Having struggled to nail down a starting position with both Paris Saint Germain and Germany, the former Schalke forward has even been linked with a move to La Liga side Sevilla. Could a leading role in Joachim Löw's Germany rebuild help Draxler reignite his career?
Image: picture-alliance/GES/M. I. Güngör
Winner: Marco Reus
Marco Reus, on the other hand, is predestined to be a big part of the rebuild. Having missed both the World Cup in Brazil and Euro 2016 in France, the tournament in Russia was just the second major one of his career. The Dortmund captain still has time to win titles with Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/I. Fassbender
Loser: Sandro Wagner
After failing to make the 23-man squad for Russia, Sandro Wagner burned a lot of bridges as he retired from the national team, meaning a return is all but out of the question. That's too bad for Joachim Löw, as following the retirement of Mario Gomez, Germany could do with an out-and-out striker.
Image: picture-alliance/sampics/C. Pahnke
Winner: Thilo Kehrer
Joachim Löw has given the 21-year-old Paris Saint-Germain defender his first call-up to the national team for the current international break, and he could play a key role going forward. Last season, he was Schalke's second-best in terms of tackles won - behind the veteran central defender Naldo. Now Thomas Tuchel is aiming to turn this diamond-in-the-rough into a star.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
Winner: Nils Petersen
With Sandro Wagner and Mario Gomez no longer available for selection, Nils Petersen has been given another chance to take the No. 9 role. He may not be a candidate to start regularly for Germany, but at Freiburg he has also proved his effectiveness coming on as a sub.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Klamar
Loser: Sebastian Rudy
For the moment at least, Sebastian Rudy has to go down as one of the losers following Germany's disastrous World Cup. In the recent past he had been one of Joachim Löw's favorites, in part due to his versatility. However, the coach wants his team to be faster in the future, which may have been a factor that led to him leaving the newly signed Schalke midfielder out for France and Peru.
Image: picture-alliance/Bild-Pressehaus
Loser: Mario Götze
What a difference four years makes! Having scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final in Rio, it's been pretty much all downhill for his career ever since, particularly when it comes to the national team. At 26, there is still time for him to make a national team comeback - Joachim Löw has said as much - if he can rediscover his form of old for Dortmund.
