Germany beat Latvia 7-1 in the final warm-up game ahead of the EUROS, which will begin this coming Friday. Six different players got their name on the scoresheet in front of 100 fans in Düsseldorf on Monday night. After the game, national team head coach Joachim Löw spoke about the lessons learned from the game, his line-ups, and the contents of his training sessions.
Question: Joachim Löw, how would you summaraise this 7-1 EURO dress-rehearsal win against Latvia?
Joachim Löw: We tried to correct a lot of things both at the back and up front – we focused on this and managed to do so. We showed that we can win balls early in defence. We turned our chances into goals and we made a lot of good runs. This was the result of several intense training sessions. I’m a bit annoyed about the goal we conceded – we need to be defending that high throw-in a lot better. Aside from that, the players did well, but there is still room for improvement.
Question: What did you make of Thomas Müller and Kai Havertz’s link-up play going forward?
Löw: The harmony between those two was good. On the whole there were a lot of runs in behind from us, that opened up a lot of space. We used the positions well, which is why we saw a lot of action in front of their goal.
Question: What persuaded you to play Joshua Kimmich on the right?
Löw: That’s what makes him so good, the ability to adapt to his tasks straight away. This was a test, I told him yesterday: This is what’s happening. Lukas Klostermann wasn’t able to play after all. And yeah, he did well.
Question: You said before the game that this would not be an indicator for France. Nevertheless, was this your starting eleven for the tournament?
Löw: I can’t confirm. We’ve got a completely different opponent ahead of us – in terms of flexibility, versatility and individual quality, they are on a whole other level. We want to keep the high intensity for a few more days, so that players are fighting for the positions. There are a few more considerations to be had.
Question: What kind of things do you want to address specifically with your team over the coming days in Herzogenaurach?
Löw: We will go into a bit more detail. The topics will remain the same: How can we improve in certain situations? How do we defend the spaces? How do we defend while pressing? What are the fifty-fifty challenges looking like? Those are the defensive questions. Using the space, creating and opening up the space – these will be the things to work on up front. There’s a distinct lack of space in modern football. We need to do this well, regardless of the formation. We need some fine-tuning here.
Question: How important is a 7-1 victory for the players’ confidence? What does this mean with a view to the France game?
Löw: Obviously it is an advantage. It is a good feeling when things that you work on in training and demonstrate using videos work on the pitch. But France are a completely different team. This win should not make us believe that the work is done. The work is only just beginning. If you switch off against France, it won’t take a lot. We need to keep working hard on this, we need fine-tuning. But the basics are good. France will be a different kind of opponent, putting us under a different kind of pressure – there’s no point comparing it to today’s game.
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Germany beat Latvia 7-1 in the final warm-up game ahead of the EUROS, which will begin this coming Friday. Six different players got their name on the scoresheet in front of 100 fans in Düsseldorf on Monday night. After the game, national team head coach Joachim Löw spoke about the lessons learned from the game, his line-ups, and the contents of his training sessions.
Question: Joachim Löw, how would you summaraise this 7-1 EURO dress-rehearsal win against Latvia?
Joachim Löw: We tried to correct a lot of things both at the back and up front – we focused on this and managed to do so. We showed that we can win balls early in defence. We turned our chances into goals and we made a lot of good runs. This was the result of several intense training sessions. I’m a bit annoyed about the goal we conceded – we need to be defending that high throw-in a lot better. Aside from that, the players did well, but there is still room for improvement.
Question: What did you make of Thomas Müller and Kai Havertz’s link-up play going forward?
Löw: The harmony between those two was good. On the whole there were a lot of runs in behind from us, that opened up a lot of space. We used the positions well, which is why we saw a lot of action in front of their goal.
Question: What persuaded you to play Joshua Kimmich on the right?
Löw: That’s what makes him so good, the ability to adapt to his tasks straight away. This was a test, I told him yesterday: This is what’s happening. Lukas Klostermann wasn’t able to play after all. And yeah, he did well.
Question: You said before the game that this would not be an indicator for France. Nevertheless, was this your starting eleven for the tournament?
Löw: I can’t confirm. We’ve got a completely different opponent ahead of us – in terms of flexibility, versatility and individual quality, they are on a whole other level. We want to keep the high intensity for a few more days, so that players are fighting for the positions. There are a few more considerations to be had.
Question: What kind of things do you want to address specifically with your team over the coming days in Herzogenaurach?
Löw: We will go into a bit more detail. The topics will remain the same: How can we improve in certain situations? How do we defend the spaces? How do we defend while pressing? What are the fifty-fifty challenges looking like? Those are the defensive questions. Using the space, creating and opening up the space – these will be the things to work on up front. There’s a distinct lack of space in modern football. We need to do this well, regardless of the formation. We need some fine-tuning here.
Question: How important is a 7-1 victory for the players’ confidence? What does this mean with a view to the France game?
Löw: Obviously it is an advantage. It is a good feeling when things that you work on in training and demonstrate using videos work on the pitch. But France are a completely different team. This win should not make us believe that the work is done. The work is only just beginning. If you switch off against France, it won’t take a lot. We need to keep working hard on this, we need fine-tuning. But the basics are good. France will be a different kind of opponent, putting us under a different kind of pressure – there’s no point comparing it to today’s game.
