Who would have thought a few years back that the fans of the German National Team would be dubious about their qualification to the first knockout stage of the Euros coming up at the beginning of the third trimester of this year? Well, it’s certainly disheartening even for a neutral football (soccer) enthusiast to witness how the mighty have fallen. The once most feared and revered German side is in shambles at the moment with Joachim Löw the coach of the national team being on the suffering end of all the criticism. Joachim Löw who had a stupendous record until the 2018 FIFA World Cup as the manager of the national team is seeing the fans and supporters of the team growing impatient to see his departure after the European Championship later this year.
But how did we come to this? Let’s not go too back in the time and look at how things have progressed since their triumph in Brazil that made them lift the most coveted FIFA World Cup after 24 years.
Post-2014 World Cup:
It won’t be wrong to say that Germany looked infallible throughout the tournament apart from one game in which they were held to a 0–0 draw against Ghana. They outclassed every team that they faced with their most pronounced victory coming against the hosts in which they handed them a humiliating 7–0 defeat before ending Argentina’s hope of winning the title in the final.
Löw earned the feat of being one of the most venerated coaches around the globe.
The next major competition that came for Germany was Euro 2016. Having lost the experience of players such as Philip Lahm, Per Mertesacker, and Miroslav Klose they still entered the tournament as one of the favorites. After defeating Italy in the quarterfinal stage which marked their first victory over the Azzurri in a major tournament, they were beaten by France in the semi-final round. It also meant that it was the first time in 58 years that they had lost a competitive game against the French side.
One month post the tournament, the supporters saw captain Bastain Schweinsteiger retiring as a legend and Manuel Neuer succeeding him. Considering the fact that four of the team regulars had retired, Joachim Löw and Manuel Neuer had a lot to think about in order to find suitable replacements for them. But the growth of young talents certainly did mitigate their apprehension and made the national team as strong as any of their competitors.
Having won the FIFA Confederation Cup in 2017, Germany were irrefutably one of the favorites to lift the World Cup for the second time in a row in the year 2018. But no one even had the slightest of hints of what was about to unfold.
For the first time since 1982, Germany lost their opening game against Mexico after conceding a goal from Hirving Lozano in the first half. Experts around the world still backed the team and believed that this was a small bump in the road and expected a strong comeback against Sweden.
After going down again while playing Sweden, it caught many eyes and a shock exit was on the cards. But goals from Marco Reus and Toni Kroos in the second half with the latter one’s turning out to be the last kick of the game, helped them escape from a critical situation and keep their hopes alive. The joy of survival was short-lived though as the side suffered a shock defeat against South Korea in their third game of the group stage. A win that did not seem imperative for Germany when the game began became vital for them to stay in the tournament as Sweden stunned an in-form Mexico team. Löw’s men had 28 shots without even one of them being fruitful during the entire course of the game. They eventually succumbed to the pressure while desperately searching for the winning goal and ended up giving away two goals while compromising on their defense. This was their first-ever group stage elimination in the competition since the introduction of the format in 1950 and also meant that the winner’s curse had been stretched to 12 years.
But the heartbreak in Russia was just the beginning of the misery that was on the way. The aftermath of the 2018 FIFA World Cup saw an infuriated and exasperated Löw giving the likes of Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels, and Jerome Boateng a sack from the national team and stating that he is ready to plan out the future of the team without them. This raised many eyebrows as the exclusion of the above-mentioned players was unprecedented as they had been the key elements in the success of the team in the past tournaments.
But the world cup winning coach was adamant about sticking to his decision and refused to reverse it. The decision turned out to be a bizarre one though as Germany failed to get a win in the first edition of the newly introduced UEFA Nations League and had to wait until the 20th of October, 2020 to get their first-ever victory in this format.
The happiness was short-lived for the fans though as their team failed to make it to the semi-final stage yet again after falling to an ignominious 6–0 defeat at hands of Spain. The statistics of the game were worrying as Germany failed to get a shot on target in the whole game compared to Spain’s 23 and held only 30% possession. But what was worse was Löw’s demeanor throughout the game which was totally apathetic.
Löw faced as many say a deserved denunciation from the fans and media after the exit and there were serious questions raised regarding his squad selection policy. Many believed that it was the lack of experience and maturity in Germany’s play that has led to the downfall. Not to forget, the resignation of Mesut Özil whose career ended in acrimony rather than commendation in 2018 had weakened them too.
Not so long back, Löw announced that he would step down from his duties after the end of the upcoming edition of Euro.
My take:
After dissecting the whole story, I can deduce that there are mainly two things that I feel made the difference and have exacerbated the situation for the German National Team after the 2018 World Cup.
The unnecessary exclusion of Muller, Hummels, and Boateng from the selection radar turned out to be a blunder from Löw. The 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign was inarguably disastrous for Germany. But did it really mean that above mentioned dependable players deserved a sack? The numbers don’t suggest so. Muller and Boateng have found solace at Munich after the nightmare of 2018. Not only have they stayed as the regular starters but their performances have been exemplary at paramount times. Hummels too has been solid at Borussia Dortmund and is currently a key part of their proceedings. Admirable jobs from these players at their respective clubs have left the fans perplexed and they haven’t gone easy on Löw. Moreover, constant appraisals received by the veterans from the current playing team have just aggravated the scene for the manager. In my opinion, the results of the World Cup barely suggest what really happened in the games. Apart from scoring goals, Germany dominated all of their games and overpowered all their opponents in every single aspect. Clinical finishing ended up being the missing element. The decision to take such a major step was haphazard, and instead of releasing three world-class players, lessons could have been taken out of the campaign and the team should have moved on.
Joachim Löw’s lack of enthusiasm and complacency demonstrated by the team has done them no good. In a large chunk of games played after the World Cup, Germany have not been able to hold on to their leads with most of their possible victories snatched away from their hands. Löw’s dull and lethargic approach was most conspicuous during their last outing in Spain as the players hardly put up a fight and showed no intent.
With the manager getting closer to his departure, it would be intriguing to find out if he really acts upon his recent statements that have hinted at the opening of doors for the old-timers or not. Germany face a tough challenge at the Euro as they have been placed in the same group as the current world champions France and the defending champions Portugal. Löw has a colossal task on his hands and to be frank I believe that he should really consider the selection of Muller, Hummels, and Boateng to prevent his farewell tournament from being referred to as an infamous one in the future.