Joachim Löw has admitted for the first time that he resigned as national coach too late. He should have made room for a successor after the failed 2018 World Cup in Russia. “At that moment you would normally have to clear the way, especially if you have been a coach for as long as I have. And to give a new coach the opportunity to give new impulses,” said Löw, 63, in the podcast “Playmaker – The European Championship Talk by Sebastian Hellmann and 360Media”, which is to be published this Thursday.
The World Cup in Russia, to which Germany entered as defending champions, was an embarrassment for the German national team. Löw failed with the team after the preliminary round in a group with Sweden, Mexico and South Korea as bottom of the table. The World Cup quarters in Watutinki, a former sanatorium that had been converted into a wellness oasis, exuded the spare charm of a socialist rural youth home 40 kilometers from the gates of Moscow. Watutinki became synonymous with failure.
Nevertheless, Löw did not bring himself to give up his job as national coach after the World Cup. Russia was a tournament in which they were poor in all areas and did not live up to expectations. But he and manager Oliver Bierhoff wanted to “get this ship running again,” said Löw. “We wanted to make up for that at the next tournament.” At the 2021 European Championship, Germany failed again early on, this time in the round of 16 to England. Löw confirmed from today’s perspective: “In hindsight it would probably have been better or right for me to say in 2018: OK, new forces have to be brought in again.”
Löw also spoke about the time after the 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil. He had self-doubt. He “somehow felt a certain emptiness in me because I had worked towards a goal for so long and achieved it.” He asked himself what still drives him after winning the title, what motivates him and how he can further improve the team. That was difficult to answer. “That gave me at least a certain amount of self-doubt at that time. I’ve never had that before in eight years.”
Löw found words of praise for the appointment of his successor Julian Nagelsmann. He is a “very good choice” and he knows his way of thinking. “You don’t have to give him much advice now,” said Löw. Despite his young age, Nagelsmann has great competence: “And that is incredibly important for a team and for players, that a coach is also able to give a team solutions. He will certainly apply the lever there. And “That’s exactly the right thing to do at this moment,” emphasized Löw.
Source: DPA
