The third qualifying game awaits the German national team tomorrow night in Hannover (20:45 CEST), when they take on Northern Ireland in Group C. Head coach Joachim Löw and world champion Mats Hummels were at the press conference to discuss the challenge posed by the Northern Irish side. DFB.de reports on the views ahead of the match.
JOACHIM LÖW ON...
... THE CURRENT OUTLOOK: Part one of the October international period is now behind us, but obviously I’ll only be happy if we’ve won both games. We want to build on the performance from the Czech Republic match, even if this will be a completely different game. The Czechs took an attacking approach and pressed high up the pitch, which I’m sure Northern Ireland won’t do. But we’ll have to find the right solutions against more defensive opponents as well.
... THE GERMAN STYLE OF PLAY WITH LONG BALLS: We never used to play as many long balls as we do at the moment, but our style of play has changed. I’d like to keep seeing a good passing game coming out from the back, going through players like Toni Kroos or Ilkay Gündogan, but that doesn’t always have to be the way. Against the Czech Republic, there was a lot of space on the wings and in behind the defence, so it was good to work our way through with more long passes.
... THE CONDITION OF THE SQUAD: Jerome Boateng and Jonas Hector have picked up some slight knocks, so I may not exert them fully in training. But I’m working with the assumption that all of the players will be ready to play against Northern Ireland. I haven’t reached a final decision yet regarding the starting eleven, and it’s possible that there may be one or two changes.
... THE PROSPECTS IN QUALIFICATION: We want to keep improving throughout the qualifying campaign and maintain the right level of concentration through to the end. Obviously we’ve already had to have a couple of discussions about the logistics of Russia - especially with the Confederations Cup being only next year - but our qualification is by no means secured. There’s a long way to go before we can think about that.
... HIS RECORD WITH THE GERMANY TEAM: Generally speaking, statistics don’t mean a lot to me, and it’s not that important exactly how many wins, draws and defeats the team gets under my leadership. I don’t count things like that.
... MARIO GÖTZE: He played well against the Czech Republic. Mario worked incredibly hard and worked one or two chances for himself, or created them for his team-mates. He’s got more confidence now than he did a couple of months ago, and every game he plays is helping him to rediscover his old form.
... THE INTERNATIONAL GAMES IN NOVEMBER: Of course we’ll be looking to try some new things in these matches. They offer us a good opportunity to have a look at some different players.
MATS HUMMELS ON…
…THE EURO 2016 GAME AGAINST NORTHERN IRELAND: It’s a different scenario, but the game is likely to be very similar to the one at EURO 2016. Northern Ireland sat quite deep in that game and we are expecting the same tomorrow.
…TOMORROW‘S GAME AGAINST NORTHERN IRELAND: Fixtures like these tend to quickly become a game of patience. It’s up to us to decide the game in our favour. If we stay compact again, like we did in the game against the Czech Republic, then I am confident that we will have a good game and come away with the win.
…THE GERMAN MOOD: We are highly motivated and will give everything we’ve got. Our recent performances are a reaction to the European Championships and the earlier European qualifiers. We have played extremely well since last summer’s tournament. We are one of the best teams in the world, but I personally don’t think there is a single best team.
…GERMANY’S ROLE AS FAVOURITES: We have been the favourites in nearly every game we have played for a few years now. We are not really bothered by the tag.
…THE OTHER GROUPS: It is definitely worth having a look at the other groups. Yesterday, for example, I saw the game between Serbia and Austria, as well as the game between Macedonia and Italy. There are some great groups, which we are obviously keeping an eye on.
…THE GERMAN FANS: It was a lot of fun playing in front of the fans in Hamburg. They helped us a lot and supported us brilliantly.
[mmc/vs]
The third qualifying game awaits the German national team tomorrow night in Hannover (20:45 CEST), when they take on Northern Ireland in Group C. Head coach Joachim Löw and world champion Mats Hummels were at the press conference to discuss the challenge posed by the Northern Irish side. DFB.de reports on the views ahead of the match.
JOACHIM LÖW ON...
... THE CURRENT OUTLOOK: Part one of the October international period is now behind us, but obviously I’ll only be happy if we’ve won both games. We want to build on the performance from the Czech Republic match, even if this will be a completely different game. The Czechs took an attacking approach and pressed high up the pitch, which I’m sure Northern Ireland won’t do. But we’ll have to find the right solutions against more defensive opponents as well.
... THE GERMAN STYLE OF PLAY WITH LONG BALLS: We never used to play as many long balls as we do at the moment, but our style of play has changed. I’d like to keep seeing a good passing game coming out from the back, going through players like Toni Kroos or Ilkay Gündogan, but that doesn’t always have to be the way. Against the Czech Republic, there was a lot of space on the wings and in behind the defence, so it was good to work our way through with more long passes.
... THE CONDITION OF THE SQUAD: Jerome Boateng and Jonas Hector have picked up some slight knocks, so I may not exert them fully in training. But I’m working with the assumption that all of the players will be ready to play against Northern Ireland. I haven’t reached a final decision yet regarding the starting eleven, and it’s possible that there may be one or two changes.
... THE PROSPECTS IN QUALIFICATION: We want to keep improving throughout the qualifying campaign and maintain the right level of concentration through to the end. Obviously we’ve already had to have a couple of discussions about the logistics of Russia - especially with the Confederations Cup being only next year - but our qualification is by no means secured. There’s a long way to go before we can think about that.
... HIS RECORD WITH THE GERMANY TEAM: Generally speaking, statistics don’t mean a lot to me, and it’s not that important exactly how many wins, draws and defeats the team gets under my leadership. I don’t count things like that.
... MARIO GÖTZE: He played well against the Czech Republic. Mario worked incredibly hard and worked one or two chances for himself, or created them for his team-mates. He’s got more confidence now than he did a couple of months ago, and every game he plays is helping him to rediscover his old form.
... THE INTERNATIONAL GAMES IN NOVEMBER: Of course we’ll be looking to try some new things in these matches. They offer us a good opportunity to have a look at some different players.
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MATS HUMMELS ON…
…THE EURO 2016 GAME AGAINST NORTHERN IRELAND: It’s a different scenario, but the game is likely to be very similar to the one at EURO 2016. Northern Ireland sat quite deep in that game and we are expecting the same tomorrow.
…TOMORROW‘S GAME AGAINST NORTHERN IRELAND: Fixtures like these tend to quickly become a game of patience. It’s up to us to decide the game in our favour. If we stay compact again, like we did in the game against the Czech Republic, then I am confident that we will have a good game and come away with the win.
…THE GERMAN MOOD: We are highly motivated and will give everything we’ve got. Our recent performances are a reaction to the European Championships and the earlier European qualifiers. We have played extremely well since last summer’s tournament. We are one of the best teams in the world, but I personally don’t think there is a single best team.
…GERMANY’S ROLE AS FAVOURITES: We have been the favourites in nearly every game we have played for a few years now. We are not really bothered by the tag.
…THE OTHER GROUPS: It is definitely worth having a look at the other groups. Yesterday, for example, I saw the game between Serbia and Austria, as well as the game between Macedonia and Italy. There are some great groups, which we are obviously keeping an eye on.
…THE GERMAN FANS: It was a lot of fun playing in front of the fans in Hamburg. They helped us a lot and supported us brilliantly.
