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Germany sift through wreckage of World Cup debacle
VATUTINKI, Russia, June 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – World Cup holders Germany
returned home on Thursday desperately looking for answers following their
historic exit, with head coach Joachim Loew set to suffer the consequences of
a disastrous campaign.
In one of the competition’s biggest ever shocks, Germany failed to reach
the group stage of a World Cup for the first time for 80 years, but it was
the meek manner of their capitulation against South Korea in their final game
that really stung.
“We all made mistakes,” admitted defender Mats Hummels after the stunning
2-0 defeat left them bottom of Group F — and he meant the players, Loew and
team director Oliver Bierhoff.
After 12 golden years in charge crowned by the 2014 World Cup win in
Brazil, Loew is considering his future after getting his tactics so badly
wrong and placing faith in former stars past their prime.
The sight of Mexico pouring through a porous German midfield during the
first half of the defeat in the opener against Mexico was the clearest
example.
Hardly anyone in the German setup leaves Russia with any credit.
Bierhoff, for example, is blamed for choosing the isolated base camp at
Vatutinki, southwest of Moscow, which caused unhappiness among the players.
“You didn’t get the feeling that we were playing at a World Cup,” was
captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s damning appraisal.
Germany even had the shame of having to suspend two of their team
officials for over-exuberant celebrations in front of Sweden manager Janne
Andersson after the 2-1 win that appeared to have saved their skins.
After Italy in 1950, Brazil in 1966, France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and
Spain in 2014, Germany join an infamous club of reigning champions knocked
out in the group stage at the next World Cup.
“We’re all stunned — we’re shocked,” said Thomas Mueller, the pillar of
the 2014 team who seemed strangely unable to influence events this time.
Loew said he took responsibility for the failure, yet just 12 months ago
he could do no wrong.
He won the 2017 Confederations Cup, the World Cup warmup, with an
inexperienced squad and seemed to be ready to make a spirited defence of
their global title.
Only last month, Loew signed a contract extension with the German
Football Association (DFB) until 2022, but there are already calls for him to
resign.
If he goes, the 58-year-old’s misguided loyalty in senior players like
Mueller, Hummels, Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos and Jerome Boateng
will have been a key factor in his downfall.
All were shadows of their usual selves. If he stays, Loew will need to
have a clearout and a rethink on how to nurture a new team.
From the next generation of Germany starlets he unearthed at the
Confederations Cup, only Timo Werner and Joshua Kimmich were rewarded with
regular spots in the senior team.
Loew only gave rising stars like Julian Brandt, Leon Goretzka, Sebastian
Rudy and Niklas Suele first-team place when his 2014 winners were struggling,
suspended or injured.
Leroy Sane, the forward who shone for Manchester City last season, was
cut from the final squad.
Germany have stagnated, lacking tactical direction as Loew often toyed
with different systems.
Arrogance, something Loew was determined to keep out of his squad’s
mindset, crept in.
As German pundit Ralph Honigstein put it, “many players come across as
one-man brand ambassadors”, more interested in gathering social media
followers than focusing on football.
A fierce debate in Germany over the divided loyalty of players did
nothing to help cohesion after Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan — who have Turkish
roots — met with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who Gundogan called
“my president”.
Germany pride themselves on being “a tournament team”, which knows how to
rise to the occasion, but that notion was blown apart in Russia.
Having sailed through qualification with a perfect 10 wins, the writing
was on the wall with just one victory in six pre-World Cup friendlies, and
even then a shaky 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in the days before flying to
Russia.
“The last time we played well was autumn 2017,” admitted Hummels,
referring to the 5-1 crushing of minnows Azerbaijan in October. The first
chance to make amends is on September 6 against France in Munich in the new
Nations League, but it shows how far Germany have fallen that if they win it
will be only their third victory in 10 games.
Loew refutes suggestions German football is about to enter a dark phase,
insisting “there are enough young players, who are very talented and ready to
develop”.
“We have to draw the right conclusions and do better,” Loew said.
For now however, Germany have to get used to the unaccustomed taste of
failure.
BSS/AFP/SG/ARS/1638 hrs