Germany coach Joachim Loew faces the biggest crisis of his
14-year reign after his side crashed to a historic defeat to Spain, with former
players and the media questioning Wednesday whether he should lead the team
into next year’s European championship finals.
The 6-0 drubbing in Seville on Tuesday was Germany’s
heaviest defeat for 89 years as Spain completely dominated the Nations League
match.
The Bild daily was blunt, headlining its coverage:
“Loew should offer to resign.”
“Just seven months before the Euro, the German FA has
to answer the question whether Joachim Loew is still the right man for the
tournament,” the paper said.
Ferran Torres scored a brilliant hat-trick as Spain attacked
at will with Loew’s Germany side offering little resistance as they slumped to
their heaviest defeat since losing 6-0 in Berlin against Austria in 1931.
Loew batted off questions about his future in the post-match
press conference.
“You have to ask others. I can’t answer that
spontaneously,” he replied when asked if he was worried about his job.
According to reports, Loew and his coaching team held crisis
talks in Munich on Wednesday with German FA president Fritz Keller, but the
head coach is likely to keep his job.
Loew led Germany to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but the
credit from that triumph was largely dissipated by the debacle at the 2018
finals in Russia when Germany crashed out in the group phase.
His contract with the German Football Association runs until
the 2022 World Cup and Loew still appears to have the support of Germany team
director Oliver Bierhoff.
“The confidence is completely there,” Bierhoff
insisted in the wake of the drubbing, but promised a “hard analysis”.
Bierhoff pointed to a lineup on Tuesday containing veteran
players Manuel Neuer, Ilkay Gundogan and Toni Kroos as proof that “lack of
experience of the players is no excuse”.
Bierhoff though said he intended to be in his job next year,
telling FAZ newspaper: “The path that the national coach has taken, I will
follow up to and including the European Championship.”
Bastian Schweinsteiger, who won the 2014 World Cup under
Loew, was horrified by the performance.
“It did not feel like a team — there were no
commands” in the German ranks, said the 36-year-old former Bayern Munich
and Manchester United midfielder, who is now a media pundit.
“You only heard the Spanish talking. You have to change
something. The German national team can’t play like that.
“There are certain values, which I didn’t see on the
pitch.”
Munich-based newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the
humiliation in Spain begs the questions “How much longer with Jogi
Loew?”.
Magazine Sports Bild reported the German FA are toying with
the idea of Bayern coach Hansi Flick replacing Loew, but that is unlikely to
happen before the Euro 2020 finals.
Schweinsteiger reignited the debate about whether three
other veteran players who Loew has sidelined from the national team — Mats
Hummels and Bayern’s Champions League-winning pair Jerome Boateng and Thomas
Mueller — should be reinstated.
Loew told all three in 2019 that their Germany careers were
over, yet the trio is all currently in great form for their clubs.
“This is the German team, it has to bring together the
best players,” Schweinsteiger said, adding that Mueller and Boateng would
be in his team for Euro 2020 if he were the coach.
Arsenal’s German midfielder Mesut Ozil — another player who
has not featured since the 2018 World Cup slump — agreed, tweeting: “Time
to take @JeromeBoateng back.”
However, ex-Germany and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann
warned that the louder the calls to recall the trio, the less likely Loew is to
listen.
“I have the feeling, the more calls there are for them
to return, the less he wants to do it,” Hamann told Sky Sports. “He
seems to be very stubborn about it.”
Time is running out for Loew to prove he can turn things
around before the Euro 2020 finals, postponed from last year, kick-off in June
with Germany in a tough group including reigning champions Portugal and World
Cup holders France.
