Die Mannschaft kicked off 2016 with a 3-2 home defeat to England, despite holding a 2-0 lead an hour into the game. With the European Championship just two-and-a-half months away, Germany are already preparing for their next friendly – Tuesday’s classic encounter against Italy in Munich.
In this interview, head coach coach Joachim Löw talks about the insights from the England defeat, Mario Gomez’s performance and Jonathan Tah’s debut.
Question: Mr. Löw, your team lost 3-2 to England despite taking a 2-0 lead – unlucky or deserved?
Joachim Löw: On the one hand, it’s agonising to lose the game after being two goals up. On the other hand it has to be said that England deserved to win the game. There were signs in the game that this would be the outcome. Even after we were 2-0 up we weren’t able to fully control the game. In that regard it was a good lesson for the team.
Question: Prior to the game you said that the insights gained from this game would be the most important aspect for you. Did you get any?
Löw: Definitely. We know what we still have to work on after games like this.
Question: What areas do you mean specifically?
Löw: We allowed them a lot of chances and we didn’t build our attacks the way we usually do. We had problems with our build-up game throughout the entire match and consequently didn’t create many opportunities of our own. Our combinations and our movement didn’t go as planned. Our organisation and compact positioning was lacking, especially in the second half. We allowed England an crazy amount of space, despite holding a lead. We can’t allow that to happen. We also didn’t manage to execute our counter attacks effectively.
Die Mannschaft kicked off 2016 with a 3-2 home defeat to England, despite holding a 2-0 lead an hour into the game. With the European Championship just two-and-a-half months away, Germany are already preparing for their next friendly – Tuesday’s classic encounter against Italy in Munich.
In this interview, head coach coach Joachim Löw talks about the insights from the England defeat, Mario Gomez’s performance and Jonathan Tah’s debut.
Question: Mr. Löw, your team lost 3-2 to England despite taking a 2-0 lead – unlucky or deserved?
Joachim Löw: On the one hand, it’s agonising to lose the game after being two goals up. On the other hand it has to be said that England deserved to win the game. There were signs in the game that this would be the outcome. Even after we were 2-0 up we weren’t able to fully control the game. In that regard it was a good lesson for the team.
Question: Prior to the game you said that the insights gained from this game would be the most important aspect for you. Did you get any?
Löw: Definitely. We know what we still have to work on after games like this.
Question: What areas do you mean specifically?
Löw: We allowed them a lot of chances and we didn’t build our attacks the way we usually do. We had problems with our build-up game throughout the entire match and consequently didn’t create many opportunities of our own. Our combinations and our movement didn’t go as planned. Our organisation and compact positioning was lacking, especially in the second half. We allowed England an crazy amount of space, despite holding a lead. We can’t allow that to happen. We also didn’t manage to execute our counter attacks effectively.
Question: That’s quite a lot. Are there any positives to be taken from the game? Mario Gomez’s performance for example?
Löw: He certainly underlined the fact that when he is given a chance, he has the confidence to seize it. It wasn’t an easy game for a striker, because we didn’t create many chances – but I’m satisfied with the way Mario played. It was already noticeable in training that he was more dynamic and confident. He's regained his scoring touch.
Question: What did you think about Jonathan Tah’s debut?
Löw: It was difficult for him, but he played well in the 45 minutes he was on the pitch. We shouldn’t make the mistake to only criticise the centre backs for the goals we conceded. There were other reasons for those goals.
Question: To what extent are Germany still favourites going into the European Championship?
Löw: The World Champions are automatically among the favourites. But so are France, Belgium, Italy and Spain. They all have the ambition to win the title. We weren’t always convincing during our qualifying campaign and we need to learn from that. We have to improve before the EUROs in the summer.
