Germany will have a brilliant start to their preparation for the European Championship in France when they take on England on Easter Saturday (20:45 CET) and Italy on Tuesday, 29th March (20:45 CET). In an interview with SID the national team’s head coach spoke about the two fixtures, new boy Jonathan Tah, the team’s chances at the EURO and his new second assistant coach Marcus Sorg.
Question: Joachim Löw, how much significance are you placing on the international friendlies against England and Italy?
Joachim Löw: This will be a taste of what we can expect at the EUROs. The opponents are both interesting and are two of the favourites to win the European Championship. It will be a good test.
Question: How important is it to you that all of the squad put in a good performance?
Löw: The battle for places in the squad is seriously beginning now - there are still eight weeks until the end of the season. We have selected a large squad in order to speak with the players about what we expect. We are looking their form and fitness as a whole.
Question: 26 players are in the squad, but Leroy Sané and his U21 team mates Joshua Kimmich, Julian Weigl and Mitchell Weiser are not a part of it. Can they hope to be a part of the team in France?
Löw: They can definitely have as much hope as any other player of making the squad. We have intensely observed the players in the last week, as there are a lot of young talents who have partially shown the quality they have on the international stage. We have deliberately left out some of the under-21s because they have two important qualifiers for their European Championship. However, the door is open; we will continue to watch these players intently because there could well be a few surprises when we announce the squad for the European Championship.
Question: There is a new face in the squad in the form of Jonathan Tah. Could he replace World Champions Jerome Boateng and Benedikt Höwedes who are currently injured?
Löw: If these players have to withdraw, which I don’t know at the moment, Jonathan Tah has shown in the Bundesliga that he can play consistently well and is an alternative. He has a very good defensive demeanour for his age. He is also tactically strong and a physical presence. He is still young and has the capacity to develop, very much like Jerome Boateng at his age. He has some things to learn still but he has a lot of very good qualities. I don’t want to expect too much of him right now or put too much pressure on him, but we are really excited about him.
Question: One of the team‘s big names, Sami Khedira, stated at the start of the year that Germany had no chance at the European Championship on current form. Is he right?
Löw: Sami Khedira isn’t entirely wrong. If we don’t improve our form ahead of tournament we will find it difficult. If you want to win a tournament you have to play at your best for six or seven games like we were in Brazil.
Question: What is giving you confidence?
Löw: Each of us knows that when the team is totally focused we can put in outstanding performances. When we begin our preparation every member of the squad will be working as hard as they can. At other times, the players are often playing in the Champions League, Bundesliga, for their clubs and the national side, but I know that when the European Championship begins we will be able to take it up a notch.
Question: Does that go for team captain Bastian Schweinsteiger as well or do you have the feeling that the EURO could be his last tournament? Is there perhaps an arrangement already in place?
Löw: No, there isn’t, as it isn’t something I would generally do before a tournament. For me this isn’t a question at the moment. Bastian Schweinsteiger has been injured lately, so obviously he will have to recover first, because at the moment he isn’t 100 percent and he there is no way he can be right now. However, there is still a relatively long time until the start of the tournament and he also didn’t really complete a full training session with the squad ahead of the 2014 World Cup, but he recovered well and was present for the important matches. He knows his body well and knows what he has to do. He is still highly ambitious and will continue to perform well.
Question: What is your view of the terror attacks that overshadowed the end of 2015? Has anything changed since the attacks?
Löw: What happened in Paris and in the weeks after wasn’t easy but we have come to terms with it. At any other time between internationals, we try to analyse and see how the match developed and what we have to do. We watch other leagues a lot as well and speak a lot with particular players and coaches. That is why we always have enough to do between games, as it is always good to step back and think outside of the box to be able to come up with strategies.
Question: How did the idea of having a second assistant in Marcus Sorg come about?
Löw: We spoke internally in 2014 about a similar idea. We barely ever have enough time to work intensively with particular members of the squad during international matches. However, at tournaments we have more group training and individualisation. That’s why it is good to have another coach with us, who can work with the players in smaller groups. Marcus Sorg already knows the DFB philosophy and won’t need any time to settle in, which is ideal. His opinion and analysis of the players is important to us. He will be able to help us during the tournament with his observations.
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Germany will have a brilliant start to their preparation for the European Championship in France when they take on England on Easter Saturday (20:45 CET) and Italy on Tuesday, 29th March (20:45 CET). In an interview with SID the national team’s head coach spoke about the two fixtures, new boy Jonathan Tah, the team’s chances at the EURO and his new second assistant coach Marcus Sorg.
Question: Joachim Löw, how much significance are you placing on the international friendlies against England and Italy?
Joachim Löw: This will be a taste of what we can expect at the EUROs. The opponents are both interesting and are two of the favourites to win the European Championship. It will be a good test.
Question: How important is it to you that all of the squad put in a good performance?
Löw: The battle for places in the squad is seriously beginning now - there are still eight weeks until the end of the season. We have selected a large squad in order to speak with the players about what we expect. We are looking their form and fitness as a whole.
Question: 26 players are in the squad, but Leroy Sané and his U21 team mates Joshua Kimmich, Julian Weigl and Mitchell Weiser are not a part of it. Can they hope to be a part of the team in France?
Löw: They can definitely have as much hope as any other player of making the squad. We have intensely observed the players in the last week, as there are a lot of young talents who have partially shown the quality they have on the international stage. We have deliberately left out some of the under-21s because they have two important qualifiers for their European Championship. However, the door is open; we will continue to watch these players intently because there could well be a few surprises when we announce the squad for the European Championship.
Question: There is a new face in the squad in the form of Jonathan Tah. Could he replace World Champions Jerome Boateng and Benedikt Höwedes who are currently injured?
Löw: If these players have to withdraw, which I don’t know at the moment, Jonathan Tah has shown in the Bundesliga that he can play consistently well and is an alternative. He has a very good defensive demeanour for his age. He is also tactically strong and a physical presence. He is still young and has the capacity to develop, very much like Jerome Boateng at his age. He has some things to learn still but he has a lot of very good qualities. I don’t want to expect too much of him right now or put too much pressure on him, but we are really excited about him.
Question: One of the team‘s big names, Sami Khedira, stated at the start of the year that Germany had no chance at the European Championship on current form. Is he right?
Löw: Sami Khedira isn’t entirely wrong. If we don’t improve our form ahead of tournament we will find it difficult. If you want to win a tournament you have to play at your best for six or seven games like we were in Brazil.
Question: What is giving you confidence?
Löw: Each of us knows that when the team is totally focused we can put in outstanding performances. When we begin our preparation every member of the squad will be working as hard as they can. At other times, the players are often playing in the Champions League, Bundesliga, for their clubs and the national side, but I know that when the European Championship begins we will be able to take it up a notch.
Question: Does that go for team captain Bastian Schweinsteiger as well or do you have the feeling that the EURO could be his last tournament? Is there perhaps an arrangement already in place?
Löw: No, there isn’t, as it isn’t something I would generally do before a tournament. For me this isn’t a question at the moment. Bastian Schweinsteiger has been injured lately, so obviously he will have to recover first, because at the moment he isn’t 100 percent and he there is no way he can be right now. However, there is still a relatively long time until the start of the tournament and he also didn’t really complete a full training session with the squad ahead of the 2014 World Cup, but he recovered well and was present for the important matches. He knows his body well and knows what he has to do. He is still highly ambitious and will continue to perform well.
Question: What is your view of the terror attacks that overshadowed the end of 2015? Has anything changed since the attacks?
Löw: What happened in Paris and in the weeks after wasn’t easy but we have come to terms with it. At any other time between internationals, we try to analyse and see how the match developed and what we have to do. We watch other leagues a lot as well and speak a lot with particular players and coaches. That is why we always have enough to do between games, as it is always good to step back and think outside of the box to be able to come up with strategies.
Question: How did the idea of having a second assistant in Marcus Sorg come about?
Löw: We spoke internally in 2014 about a similar idea. We barely ever have enough time to work intensively with particular members of the squad during international matches. However, at tournaments we have more group training and individualisation. That’s why it is good to have another coach with us, who can work with the players in smaller groups. Marcus Sorg already knows the DFB philosophy and won’t need any time to settle in, which is ideal. His opinion and analysis of the players is important to us. He will be able to help us during the tournament with his observations.
