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Oliver Bierhoff supports Joachim Löw in everything
Photo: Marius Becker / dpa
Oliver Bierhoff has something to clarify at the beginning.
"I'm not speaking here as a mouthpiece for Joachim Löw," says the national team director.
He may suspect that this sentence is necessary.
Because what then follows at Bierhoff's press conference is a single declaration of honor for the ailing national coach.
You could also call it a clean bill of health.
The German Football Association has been in the storm since Seville's 6-0 defeat of Spain, the national coach was counted more than in a long time, President Fritz Keller was heavily criticized for his administration, but Oliver Bierhoff sums up 2020 with the sentence: »It was a great result that the national coach achieved under these conditions this year. "
Bierhoff tries to prove this with various flipcharts and graphics with headings such as "Spielstil Aktiv" and "Spielstil Schnell", according to which the national team, contrary to the general perception, has developed positively since the failed World Cup in Russia two years ago During this time, he "consistently tackled the upheaval" and ultimately "achieved great things".
Bierhoff sees Corona as responsible
The fact that the public took this very differently in large parts is mainly due to »this absolutely exceptional year«, said Bierhoff.
A year in which "the national team did not get together for ten months, and after that the players came either from vacation or from constant stress."
Corona therefore had its main part in the fact that there was no progress, Joachim Löw was at least to blame for it: "The national coach could not drive any development in 2020." Even if he had wanted to.
Löw was given four goals in 2018: successful European Championship qualification, relegation in the Nations League, reaching the first lottery pot for the 2022 World Cup and building a young team.
For Bierhoff, the national coach fulfilled all of these goals.
"Hook behind it."
And even for the disaster in Seville, which Löw followed largely frozen in the dugout, the manager absolved him of responsibility.
Löw did not seem apathetic during the half-time break, "he spoke of courage and aggressiveness in his speech."
Nothing of that could be seen with his team in the second half of Sevilla either, but that wasn't because of Löw either: "We all know games in which, as a coach, you no longer have access to the players." Bierhoff called it 4: 4 of the DFB-Elf against Sweden after a 4-0 lead from 2012 as an example.
Even then, Löw was already the coach.
The return of the rejected is far away
The ongoing topic of the return of Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels and Thomas Müller, who were sorted out by Löw in 2019, has been smoldering for weeks, and Bierhoff also leaves it at hints.
Bierhoff tries to assure that the national coach is "not stubborn about the subject, that is not the stubbornness of Jogi".
Instead, it was always Löw's strength to "withstand public pressure".
None of this sounds like the trio's comeback is just around the corner.
But they have "not really talked about the subject either."
The subject that has been debated in public for weeks, months.
Bierhoff also played down the differences between Keller and Löw, which had leaked into the media in the past few days.
"On the one hand you want transparency and openness, on the other hand it cannot be that internals leak out." From a heated argument between Keller and Löw "I don't know", "also wrong things" were reported : "We look at America with amusement, but we have to be careful that we don't do it that way here."
The weariness with which large parts of the public now react to Löw does not seem to play a role for the DFB director Bierhoff.
He asked himself "how to deal with people who have made a name for themselves in this country," and that was clearly aimed at Löw as a person.
Bierhoff presents it all in a shirt without a tie, with his sleeves rolled up.
Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe a deliberate signal, after all, Bierhoff is not necessarily known for not thinking about the effect of public appearances.
It is significant that, as DFB director, he has to report on the current state of affairs and that the Löw and Keller, who have recently been on fire, appear in front of the press.
Even if DFB press spokesman Jens Grittner hurries to point out that the "President and the national coach will have their say before the end of the year, that goes without saying."
Of course, that's not at all, especially if you know Löw.
The manager hardly allows himself to say that the crisis surrounding the national team encompasses much more than purely sporting aspects and is also linked to Bierhoff's work.
The idea was to get closer to the fans again "pulled through with all consistency", the fan closeness project was "virtually implemented in the best possible way" even under Corona conditions.
He also says: "Our market surveys also confirm that." Perhaps this sentence also describes the whole problem.
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