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Berlin – Germany coach Joachim
Loew hope to prove his critics and open 2019 with a victory when his
new host team Serbia in a friendly match at Wolfsburg on Wednesday.
Loew,
who arrived in Wolfsburg later than expected due to a dental operation
this week, hopes to rebound after a painful year 2018, in which
Germany suffered an early exit from the World Cup and was relegated to the top
level of the UEFA Nations League.
Friendly match against Serbia is a warm-up for Sunday
prestigious opening of the Euro 2020 qualifier in the Netherlands with the
Germans in search of revenge after a 3-0 victory at the hands of
Oranje last October at the Amsterdam Arena.
Amid fears that the German
Football is in decline, Loew, 59, is under pressure to show
that he can build a new era of success around a younger generation of
players.
Yet he also faced strong criticism for his decision
will hit the World Cup winners Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and
Thomas Mueller of the national team fell out with his opponent.
Bayern Munich club underway.
The controversial call was seen as a bet, which increased the pressure before Wednesday's game.
"Loew is playing a game of poker big stakes," wrote Monday the German magazine Kicker.
Still, the German boss insisted that last year's failures helped draw the right conclusions.
"We've been thinking since the World Cup," he told
Friday. "We need to be faster, more ambitious and more dynamic.
all this at the World Cup and our game has become quite predictable. "
New guard
Loew gave three young players their first international call.
Hertha
Berlin defender Niklas Stark, 23, midfielder at Werder Bremen Maximilian
Eggestein and defender Lukas Klostermann, both 22, join the group.
team, which now only contains two winners of the winning World Cup
promotion 2014 at Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos.
Loew confirmed on
Friday that Neuer remains his first choice goalkeeper, despite calls for
him to promote the Barcelona cap Marc-André ter Stegen to the number
a role.
Yet he also called
young players such as Niklas Suele, 23, Leon Goretzka and Joshua
Kimmich, both 24, will play a leading role.
"Some players have to go to the next stage," he said. "Goretzka and Kimmich are guys with clear ideas, ambition and opinions."
"Suele must take responsibility, we expect more
him now, "said Loew. He must organize and direct the proceedings to the
return."
Suele will be the direct heir to the defensive duo Hummels and Boateng and will be the subject of special scrutiny from Serbia.
Klinsmann Review
A lot
have questioned Loew's decision to get rid of two equally experienced people
defenders, including his predecessor and former colleague Jurgen
Klinsmann, Germany coach at the third place of the 2006 World Cup with Loew
like his badistant.
"My personal hope is that the door remains open for Hummels, Boateng and Mueller," Klinsmann told AFP's affiliate, SID, this week.
"They are top players and it's important to have them at your disposal if you need them."
"It's obvious that the pressure on the team increases a bit when you make such a decision."
However, Klinsmann also warned that German football was in bad shape and that big decisions were needed to stop the rot.
"The results have been very disappointing in recent years," he said.
"The
The fact that there is no longer any team in the Champions League is a fiasco. I
can only hope that there is a reaction, a change in approach that
bring us back to the top. "
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