BERLIN: Germany coach Joachim Loew faces the biggest crisis of his 14-year reign after his side crashed to a historic defeat to Spain, with former players and the media questioning Wednesday whether he should lead the team into next year’s European championship finals.
The 6-0 drubbing in Seville on Tuesday was Germany’s heaviest defeat for 89 years as Spain completely dominated the Nations League match.
The Bild daily was blunt, headlining its coverage: “Loew should offer to resign.”
“Just seven months before the Euro, the German FA has to answer the question whether Joachim Loew is still the right man for the tournament,” the paper said.
Ferran Torres scored a brilliant hat-trick as Spain attacked at will with Loew’s Germany side offering little resistance as they slumped to their heaviest defeat since losing 6-0 in Berlin against Austria in 1931.
Loew batted off questions about his future in the post-match press conference.
“You have to ask others. I can’t answer that spontaneously,” he replied when asked if he was worried about his job.
Loew led Germany to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but the credit from that triumph was largely dissipated by the debacle at the 2018 finals in Russia when Germany crashed out in the group phase.
His contract with the German Football Association runs until the 2022 World Cup and Loew still appears to have the support of Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff.
“The confidence is completely there,” Bierhoff insisted in the wake of the drubbing, but promised a “hard analysis.”
Bierhoff pointed to a lineup on Tuesday containing veteran players Manuel Neuer, Ilkay Gundogan and Toni Kroos as proof that “lack of experience of the players is no excuse.”
Bierhoff though said he intended to be in his job next year, telling FAZ newspaper: “The path that the national coach has taken, I will follow up to and including the European Championship.”
Bastian Schweinsteiger, who won the 2014 World Cup under Loew, was horrified by the performance.
“It did not feel like a team — there were no commands” in the German ranks, said the 36-year-old former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder, who is now a media pundit.
“You only heard the Spanish talking. You have to change something. The German national team can’t play like that.
“There are certain values, which I didn’t see on the pitch.”
Munich-based newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the humiliation in Spain begs the questions “How much longer with Jogi Loew?.”
Magazine Sport Bild reported the German FA are toying with the idea of Bayern coach Hansi Flick replacing Loew, but that is unlikely to happen before the Euro 2020 finals.
Schweinsteiger reignited the debate about whether three other veteran players who Loew has sidelined from the national team — Mats Hummels and Bayern’s Champions League-winning pair Jerome Boateng and Thomas Mueller — should be reinstated.
Loew told all three in 2019 that their Germany careers were over, yet the trio are all currently in great form for their clubs.
“This is the German team, it has to bring together the best players,” Schweinsteiger said, adding that Mueller and Boateng would be in his team for Euro 2020 if he were coach.
Arsenal’s German midfielder Mesut Ozil — another player who has not featured since the 2018 World Cup slump — agreed, tweeting: “Time to take @JeromeBoateng back.”
However, ex-Germany and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann warned that the louder the calls to recall the trio, the less likely Loew is to listen.
“I have the feeling, the more calls there are for them to return, the less he wants to do it,” Hamann told Sky Sports. “He seems to be very stubborn about it.”
Time is running out for Loew to prove he can turn things around before the Euro 2020 finals, postponed from last year, kick off in June with Germany in a tough group including reigning champions Portugal and World Cup holders France.
Germany turns on coach Loew after Spain debacle
https://arab.news/gxax9
Germany turns on coach Loew after Spain debacle
- The 6-0 drubbing in Seville on Tuesday was Germany’s heaviest defeat for 89 years as Spain completely dominated the Nations League match
- Loew led Germany to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but the credit from that triumph was largely dissipated by the debacle at the 2018 finals in Russia
Teams on edge as F1 reset faces litmus test in Australia
- Formula One’s new era faces first test in Melbourne
MELBOURNE: Formula One’s new era starts at this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where teams will leap into the unknown and grapple with sweeping technical changes under race conditions for the first time.
F1 has simultaneously overhauled chassis and power unit regulations for the first time in decades, posing a challenge for drivers and engineers alike while raising concerns about the quality of racing.
With near-parity between electrical and combustion engines and cars running on 100 percent advanced sustainable fuel, drivers gained some insight into the changes during winter testing. But all are in the dark about how the reset will play out when going wheel-to-wheel on race-day.
“I’m certainly more comfortable now than I was a couple of months ago, with how to drive these cars and how to try and get the most out of them,” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri told reporters on Wednesday.
“But I think there’s still the saying of, ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’”
Australian Piastri said McLaren thought they had the cars worked out two months ago, only to find they had “a whole bunch of stuff” they did not understand during winter testing.
With more power generated by electricity than last year’s engines, there is more emphasis on drivers needing to be tactical with energy deployment and regeneration.
The old drag reduction system has been replaced by a new overtake mode giving extra power for overtaking.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen described the changes as “like Formula E on steroids” and “anti-racing.”
Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali defended them and assured fans there will still be plenty of thrills.
‘Unnatural’ driving
The changes may have different effects at different circuits, leaving all teams to learn on the fly, week by week.
Piastri said Sunday’s race at Albert Park would probably showcase the more “unnatural” parts of driving.
“You know, a lot more lift and coast, a lot more kind of just driving to maximize the power unit,” he said.
“You’ve got power units that are reducing in power down the straights at different points. And there’s a lot of unknowns, a lot of challenges in there.”
The new regulations raised hopes of a more open championship and the prospect of a disruptor team emerging to force change at the top.
But pre-season testing in Bahrain hinted at a familiar top four, with Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren all performing.
Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley said the gap between the “best and the rest” might only widen.
“I think it’s going to be a very different year in terms of the competitiveness in the sport,” he told Reuters. “We’re already seeing the gap between the fastest teams and the slowest teams, but larger than it’s been in the last few years.”
Whatever the pecking order, F1 race tracks will be more crowded with the addition of the new Cadillac team although there may be more breathing room at Albert Park given Aston Martin’s pre-season troubles.
Despite the technical guidance of Adrian Newey, who joined from Red Bull, the Honda-powered team completed few laps during winter testing and have reliability problems.
The AMR26 cars will be in Australia — something of a relief for F1 management — but may only race for a few laps before retiring.
