After Germany’s 0-0 draw with Poland in their second EURO 2016 group game, Joachim Löw was pleased with the performance in defence but saw room for improvement in attack. Moreover, Löw looked ahead to the final group game on Tuesday (18:00 CEST) in Paris against Northern Ireland.
Question: How do you rate the draw with Poland?
Joachim Löw: Overall, the draw is a fair result. Basically, I’m not satisfied but we have to live with one point.
Question: You replaced Shkodran Mustafi with Mats Hummels in the back four. How pleased were you with his performance?
Löw: We played well in defence and hardly allowed them any chances to counter. I was very pleased with Mats. It was his first game and he put in an excellent performance. I was happy with both central defenders.
Question: Two games now played at the tournament and neither Mario Götze nor Mario Gomez have scored yet. What do you make of your team’s attack?
Löw: We’re missing that final ball, we have to do better there. Today we carved out hardly any chances and had few solutions or ideas. But Poland also defended well. In the last third, we haven’t picked up the pace, rather slowed the tempo down. I wasn’t too pleased with that. We didn’t live up to expectations in attack.
Question: What were your reasons behind having Mario Götze lead the line again?
After Germany’s 0-0 draw with Poland in their second EURO 2016 group game, Joachim Löw was pleased with the performance in defence but saw room for improvement in attack. Moreover, Löw looked ahead to the final group game on Tuesday (18:00 CEST) in Paris against Northern Ireland.
Question: How do you rate the draw with Poland?
Joachim Löw: Overall, the draw is a fair result. Basically, I’m not satisfied but we have to live with one point.
Question: You replaced Shkodran Mustafi with Mats Hummels in the back four. How pleased were you with his performance?
Löw: We played well in defence and hardly allowed them any chances to counter. I was very pleased with Mats. It was his first game and he put in an excellent performance. I was happy with both central defenders.
Question: Two games now played at the tournament and neither Mario Götze nor Mario Gomez have scored yet. What do you make of your team’s attack?
Löw: We’re missing that final ball, we have to do better there. Today we carved out hardly any chances and had few solutions or ideas. But Poland also defended well. In the last third, we haven’t picked up the pace, rather slowed the tempo down. I wasn’t too pleased with that. We didn’t live up to expectations in attack.
Question: What were your reasons behind having Mario Götze lead the line again?
Löw: Our strategy was to combat Poland’s tall defence with a technically sound striker. We’re a team which generally keeps the ball on the ground. We just weren’t able to assert ourselves against Poland.
Question: How come Germany have only won one of their second group games at a tournament since you've been in charge?
Löw: I don’t know. Poland were simply good today, that has nothing to do with it being the second game. I already said before the tournament that there are lots of hard-fought games in the group stage because teams are generally much more defensive whereas they need to take more risks in the knockouts.
Question: Thomas Müller and Mesut Özil are not being as influential as normal. Does that concern you?
Löw: That does not worry me. Both players are always capable of introducing new approaches or impetus. Both have outstanding qualities. They did a lot of running against Poland but were a bit unlucky. I’m convinced that it will change.
Question: Does the draw against Poland impact on preparation for the final group game against Northern Ireland?
Löw: No. We’re top of the group and can still finish in this position. We’ll do exactly what we set out to do against Northern Ireland.
Question: What’s the programme for the next few days?
Löw: We have a day longer until the next game and will use this to work on certain aspects, especially in attack.
Recorded from SID
