After Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp dismissed the Nations League as 'senseless', Joachim Löw has leapt to the defense of the new competition. The Germany boss says his team relish games against high-profile opponents.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Roland
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With Germany training in front of 5,000 fans in Berlin on Tuesday, ahead of Nations League trips to the Netherlands and France, Löw sang the praises of UEFA's new format.
"For us, for me as national coach, the Nations League is a good invention," he said Tuesday in Germany's capital.
"Because we play against top nations, because it's for something. It is a competition. That is sometimes preferable to me in this phase than to play against the really small countries."
Löw was reacting after Klopp revealed his disdain for the tournament, which he called "the most senseless competition in the world."
The additional competition, introduced this year, replaces several friendly games but the fact that games are genuinely competetive further burdens national team players, according to Liverpool's German boss: "We have to begin to think of the players," Klopp said.
But the World Cup winning coach, who came under severe pressure after Germany's wretched tite defense in 2018, suggested Klopp's comments were motivated more by personal and professional interest than player welfare concerns.
"The club coaches sometimes don't like such international breaks," Löw said. "Because many players from Liverpool, Bayern Munich or Manchester City are away. Coaches then don't have the possibility to train normally."
Germany trail League A Group 1 leaders France by three points with a game in hand going into the away double-header in Amsterdam and Paris.
"These are definitely two important games for us," Löw said. "We are naturally aware of the difficulty of matches, we are playing away. But we're confident. We have every chance even when a few players have called off."
mp/jt (DPA,SID)
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.
