Lets fire Low now!!!

Löw has been criticized throughout his tenure. It started in 2006 when he took over and was belittled by some. In 2008 the media pretended as if he wasn't in control, that the move to the double-6 in central midfield was down to Ballack forcing his will upon him. In 2010 he was criticized for being out maneuvered by Spain. And then came the disaster against Italy in 2012.

He just never was the media's (read Bild's) darling. The criticism in 2012 was of course justified, but other than that, he has done a pretty good job. Yes, he does experiment a lot, but that's a good thing. Also, he has done a great job of bringing in young players at the right pace, not overly hastening things, but also making sure that the pressure on the established players is up. And now he has the World Cup to show for. It cannot be denied that his managing played a pivotal role...the way he adapted the team to different opponents, how he dealt with France one way and with Brazil very differently, how he changed the flow of the games with his substitutions and how he dealt with injuries and players who were not fully fit.

 

I might be wrong but i think Low kind of became the epitome of 'having nothing to lose' type of coach. He was clearly going to get his arse canned if he would have not won it all and that helped him manage on the loose.

 

I doubt it. Had he not reached the semis, he might have gotten under a lot of pressure by the media, but after that, he was basically safe.
And even so, I think the WorldCup itself was motivation enough...plus, it's not as if he needs the job, he could arguably earn quite a bit more taking over a Premier League side.

 

plus he already extended his contract with the DFB before the world cup and it didnt matter what was the results.

 

Agree with a lot of this.

I too was not sure if we won because of Low or despite him. In the end I think he has grown significantly throughout this tournament and I am giving him the credit. Like MatthausSammer said, winning a WC is hard. In truth his tenure may have been the greatest 'On the Job Training' excercise in history. His obsession with Podolski seems to have faded after he finally realised Podolski was effectively useless to this team. He placed greater emphasis on defence and found and stuck with a great central defensive pairing. He stuck with Ozil despite the criticisms the player was recieving by people who don't understand football, etc. He proved somewhat correct with the Howedes at LB, although I'm not sold on whether it was a good idea or we just got lucky, e.g., no red card in the final for the bad tackle.

However it's difficult to forget that Low was the guy who in the midst of a defensive collapse against Sweden forgoes sending on an additional defender or defensive midfielder and instead sends on Podolski.

We have to wait and see if he has really learnt all his lessons. One of my greatest fears is that with the retirement of Lahm and the return of Badstuber (a fav of his), he will push Boateng out to RB and go for the Hummels & Badtsuber CD pairing. This could be a calamitous error.

 

When we are back in Europe.. I don't want to see howedes at LB ever again

The fullbacks need to be.....fullbacks.

Also a trio of muller/Reus/gotze is a must.

Then bastian one final tournament, then fight for a spot between Kroos/ozil

Then a bender or gundogan beside bastian.

 

While we're at this, I have something to add......

1. Marcello Lippi was hailed as a master tactician when Italy with its golden generation players won the WC in 2006. Yet, it's the same Lippi who failed to take Italy out of group stage in 2010 with almost the same set of players.

2. Luiz Felipe Scolari was highly praised when Brazil won WC in 2002 with some of the best players they ever had... Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, etc. Yet, it's the same Scolari, who in WC 2014, faced the 7-1 humiliation followed by a 3-0 drubbing in their own home ground where they were unbeaten for 39 years.

3. Vincent Del Bosque was acknowledged when he won the WC 2010 and EC 2012 with Spain's greatest generation. Yet, it's the same Del Bosque who failed miserably in WC 2014 when Spain failed to make out of group with its seasoned players.

4. Joachim Low, on the other hand, has never made anything less than semifinal in four attempts (two finals among them) he made with Germany in the tournaments during his tenure of 8 years and on. Yet, I see some people refusing to give Low the deserved credit and acknowledgement, even after winning the WC this time.

If someone criticizes Low for losing WC 2010 or EC 2008 against a Spain team which was going through arguably one of the best footballing generations we have ever witnessed, then that person needs to reconstruct his views on football in general.

Low's biggest (and probably the only major one) failure was against Italy in EC 2012 which has been widely criticized and discussed for all the right reasons. Low was rightly crucified and scrutinized for that particular failure. Even I hated him for that. And yes, despite winning the WC this time, Low still continued to make baffling decisions in the process (one of them is including and playing Mustafi which I still don't understand till now), but at the same time, it looks like he learned from his past mistakes and somewhat agreed to compromise with his stubbornness (such as not playing Podolski and Mertersacker as starters anymore during the later stages of the recently ended WC).

The point is that every coach makes mistake in one way or another. However, while people praise coaches like Lippi, Scolari, and Del Bosque and put them on a pedestal while conveniently discounting their massive failures, Low unfortunately has always been a subject of criticism where even winning a World Cup and making to semifinals every time are not considered enough to give him a break.

Having said that, not giving Low enough credit for what he has done for Germany over the period of 8 years, especially after winning the WC 2014, is purely biased and prejudiced.

 

But but but.. this is a golden generation. We should have won all the past four major tournaments without conceding a goal.

 

but but but ... howedes and mustafi.

 

Tribute?

 

Ohhhhh lord sweet Mustafi how do i forget him....any ideas what would have been like if he didn't get injured....some rumours around that he was more like acting and in favour of the NE decided to sit this one out ...not a bad deal he still went home with championship ranks!
LOL

 

Mustafi aint even mad

 

Well said.

 

I just wish that Löw wouldn't have started with Gomez and Poldi in the game against Italy.. But what's done is done and we can't change that.

 

I thought Greece were very poor in that game. Greece looked afraid of Germany and we were fortunate not to have suffered a similar fate Brazil had suffered two years later in the World Cup. Ninis and Maniatis were particularly poor, but so too Katsouranis and Makos. The goalkeeper, Sifakis, tends to get a lot of flack in that game, some criticism being deserving, but I felt he was largely faultless on all the goals, even on the play which saw Klose put Germany 3-1 up.

I thought Jogi Low shaking things up in attack was a major reason why Greece froze in fear and it was clever maneuver. Greece didn't know what hit them because they were expecting Gomez. When Gomez finally did enter the match Sokratis was able to keep him on a firm leash and Germany were somewhat disinterested by that time with the match well in the bag.

Germany's loss to Italy was owed to the fact that Pirlo was that game's most dominant player and perhaps the tournament's most dominant outfielder. Germany were reactive as a consequence; however, Kroos wasn't experienced nor gifted enough to contain him and Schweinsteiger was clearly unfit. Ozil was forced wide where he looked less comfortable and boxed in. The Italian defense were extremely well organized and unafraid of Germany. This made it difficult for Gomez and I think the criticism he was enduring from the likes of Scholl didn't help his confidence going into the match. Balotelli was full of confidence, the exact opposite of Gomez, and that further buoyed Italy. Germany were made to pay for Hummels' arrogance towards Cassano on the first goal, Lahm's positioning, and the fact that neither Lahm and Badstuber were any match for Balotelli's physicality and athleticism.

Still if not for Buffon Italy would have found themselves playing extra-time and I think Germany demonstrated they had some grit about them, but they lacked the ruthlessness they displayed in the 2010 World Cup. I also felt the ghosts of recent finals defeats to Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010, who by then were confirmed finalists, weighed on German fears and I think Germany played themselves into that fear. It's hard to say because Italy at the time possessed so much quality and they appeared to be the only team capable of beating Spain at Euro 2012.

 

You stay with the hot hand in major tournaments. Greece barely qualified and I'm still quite confused about why Loew would be so petrified about freaking Greece

 

its that time of the year... lets fire low

 

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yes. always.