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O-Ton Joachim Löw national coach “I'm personally very grateful for this time too, of course. I am very grateful to my employer, the DFB. "
After a total of 17 years, the German national soccer team has to do without Joachim Löw after the European Championship.
On Thursday, the national coach answered journalists' questions for the first time after his bang.
Unexcited, as one is used to with him.
Interview by Peter Ahrens DER SPIEGEL »I had the feeling that he was determined. So, as far as this upcoming tournament is concerned. In the end, of course, he was already as Löw as you know him, I would say. Well, of course, I've already had a lot of press conferences with him, and there wasn't so much difference between this appearance and what we knew about him before. "
With his early resignation, one year before the end of his contract, Löw remains true to his line: He determines his own actions. It is the successes that enable him to have this status.
Now he has decided not to lead his team to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. "
O-Ton Joachim Löw national coach »Where are we? Where am i? I would like to? How do I feel about the future? And I've really been doing that for the past few weeks. And then I came to the decision that for me personally now, after the summer and after this European Championship, it is the right time to pass the baton on to another coach. "
The public criticism that hit him after the disastrous 6-0 win against Spain last November did not play a role in his decision.
O-Ton Peter Ahrens DER SPIEGEL "I do believe that e
s
has been effective.
After that Spain game last November.
I think that got him pretty badly.
Also the reactions, the shitstorm, the whole resentment that then broke out over him.
In addition, I believe that pressure from the association was also felt and exerted on it.
He noticed that he no longer had full backing. "
Löw announced his retirement three months before the start of the European Championship.
Does the German Football Association have enough time for succession planning?
Did Löw put the DFB, with which he had never had that much in common, in dire straits?
O-Ton Peter Ahrens DER SPIEGEL »
I don't think that he at least caught the association off guard.
So Bierhoff and Keller also indicated that there had been conversations beforehand, that there were considerations, that one or the other is probably already in the drawer.
Bierhoff also said that it didn't hit him like lightning.
So it was like that, as a plan or as a mental game, it has probably been around in the association for a long time.
So I'm also sure that preliminary talks about successors, possible or maybe canceled, that they have already taken place.
That people have already been contacted. "
The current national coach continues to consider the upheaval that Löw initiated in 2019 to be on the right track.
O-Ton Joachim Löw “I know from my own experience that these players who are currently here in the national team, that is maybe a bit of experience here and there, but that these players all really have incredible potential . And that we have a very, very good quality. "
The young team will have peaked at the 2024 European Championship in their own country. Löw is certain of that. His players always stood behind him and appreciated his calm, liberal leadership style. Who will follow the 2014 world champion coach?
O-Ton Peter Ahrens DER SPIEGEL »The golden days at the DFB are a bit over. And that is also meant economically. The DFB is no longer so madly in bed, financially. So I could even imagine a solution to Stefan Kuntz, who is already in the association and who as, at least as far as the procedure is concerned, nobody would have to be ransomed, he would just move one up, more or less.
The big signal of departure would not be a solution with Stefan Kuntz.
For something new, coaches like Ralf Rangnick are more likely to stand.
DFB President Fritz Keller, who likes to portray himself as a reformer, would probably like Rangnick as Löw's successor.
The speculation will continue over the next few weeks.
Joachim Löw can look at it all calmly.
He himself is only thinking about the upcoming tournament now.
What comes after that will be seen in due course.
