Spain 6-0 Germany: German media take aim at Joachim Low after historic defeat
Written by News on 18/11/2020
After Germany’s heaviest defeat in almost 90 years, the country’s media raised major questions over the future of head coach Joachim Low.
Six years ago, Low led Germany to their first World Cup victory since 1990, but now his 14-year spell in charge of the national team has been called into question after their 6-0 thumping by Spain on Tuesday.
Under Low’s recent leadership, Germany were eliminated in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup after defeat by South Korea. The 60-year-old held onto his position and led them to next summer’s European Championships with seven wins from eight games in qualifying – but questions about his future have never fully disappeared, and have only ramped up on the back of this historic loss.
On the back of a humiliating defeat in Seville, the country’s newspapers questioned whether the head coach’s tenure would “work any more”.
German newspapers take aim at Low
Bild, a leading German sports newspaper, led its reaction to the country’s humiliation by demanding the DFB, the German football association, “answer the question of whether Joachim Low is still the right man for [Euro 2020].”
“Not only the defence is helpless,” it added. “Midfield stars Toni Kroos and Leon Goretzka also never got the game under control. On the left, Philipp Max was played dizzy by Ferran Torres. The torpedoes Serge Gnabry, Timo Werner and Leroy Sane were complete blowouts in Seville.”
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Die Welt accused the national side of “embarrassing itself to the bone” and said Low “will have to answer many questions” on the back of the humbling defeat in Spain, quoting midfielder Toni Kroos as saying: “It hurt while watching. Spain showed us everything – we have a lot to do.”
“It won’t work any more,” was the plain message to the head coach from another national newspaper, Die Zeit.
“First the World Cup, now the historic defeat in Spain, but the DFB apparently sticks to Jogi Low,” it added. “The majority of fans long for a fresh start.”
Matthaus: Klopp the only candidate to succeed Low
Lothar Matthaus, who captained West Germany to the 1990 World Cup, told Sky in Germany even before Tuesday’s humbling loss that Low “deserved to be able to work in peace, at least until the European Championships”, but said there was only one candidate who could succeed him as national manager – and admitted even he may be out of reach.
“When you talk about possible candidates, there is only one person that everyone would want in the future and that is Jürgen Klopp,” he said. “Extremely successful, personable and popular with fans and media alike. But I think he’s far from finished in Liverpool and he still has time for the national team in a few years.
“Like all Germany fans, I keep my fingers crossed for Jogi. On the one hand we hope that the Euros will take place next year and ideally the champion is Germany. Then we will see Low with a high probability of staying on for the 2022 World Cup too.”
Low unsure over Germany future
Unsurprisingly, the Germany boss was asked about his future following Germany’s latest poor result, but told reporters the decision about whether he would lead his country into next summer’s European Championships was out of his hands.
“You have to ask others if I have to worry [about my job],” he said. “I can’t answer that here now.
“It was a pitch-black day when nothing actually worked. Neither the defence nor attack worked – you can’t rule out anyone.
“After the first goal, we gave up our whole gameplan. Now you have seen today that we are not yet as far forward as we thought. We have to question ourselves. Everything was bad in every respect, you can’t find anything beautiful or good.”
One of the others to be asked was national team director Oliver Bierhoff, who fronted up to the media in defence of his beleaguered coach to offer reassurance about his job prospects.
“This game changes nothing,” he told ARD TV. “We still trust Joachim Low, no doubt about that. With the national team, you have to think and analyse from tournament to tournament. We want to achieve the maximum at next year’s Euros.”
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Spain 6-0 Germany: German media take aim at Joachim Low after historic defeat
