Ex-DFB coach Joachim Löw admits mistakes with Hummels, Müller & Boateng

Nagelsmann a “very good choice”

Former national coach Joachim Löw says he regrets the circumstances in which he announced in March 2019 that world champions Mats Hummels (34), Thomas Müller (34) and Jérôme Boateng (35) were leaving the national team. “Of course it wasn’t the fine English way,” said the 63-year-old in the podcast “Spielmacher – The EM Talk”. The morning at FC Bayern in a room upstairs “wasn’t good either,” the 2014 world champion coach remembered.

They were such deserving players, “they gave me so much,” Löw continued. “I still love them for what they have done for Germany. It was really unbelievable with the commitment and euphoria with which they played the tournaments.”

In 2019, Löw justified the decision to forego the three Bayern professionals at the time with the restart of the national team. At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the three players were part of the German squad that was eliminated in the preliminary round. Löw admitted that he himself should have resigned after the tournament to pave the way for a complete restart.

Only one weaker than Flick: All national coaches based on average points

11 Erich Ribbeck – 1.50 points per game

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24 international matches (October 10, 1998 to June 20, 2000) as of September 10, 2023

10 Hansi Flick – 1.72 points per game

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25 international matches (August 1, 2021 to September 10, 2023)

9 Rudi Völler – 1.85 points per game

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53 international matches (July 2, 2000 to June 24, 2004)

8 Sepp Herberger – 1.86 points per game

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169 international matches (January 1, 1936 to June 7, 1964

7 Franz Beckenbauer – 1.89 points per game

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66 international matches (September 12, 1984 to July 8, 1990)

6 Otto Nerz – 1.91 points per game

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68 international matches (July 1, 1926 to August 8, 1936)

5 Jürgen Klinsmann – 2.06 points per game

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34 international matches (July 26, 2004 to July 11, 2006)

3 Helmut Schön – 2.09 points per game

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139 international matches (November 4, 1964 to June 21, 1978)

3 Joachim Löw – 2.09 points per game

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198 international matches (July 12, 2006 to June 29, 2021)

2 Jupp Derwall – 2.18 points per game

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66 international matches (July 1, 1978 to June 20, 1984)

1 Berti Vogts – 2.20 points per game

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102 international matches (08/09/1990 to 09/07/1998)

Before the pan-European EM 2021, Löw brought Müller and Hummels back into the DFB team. The 34-year-old Müller remains part of the national team squad, which will be coached by Julian Nagelsmann in the future. Löw described the new national coach as a “very good choice”. The 36-year-old’s predecessor emphasized: “I know his way of thinking. You don’t need to give him much advice now.”

Löw: New DFB coach Nagelsmann “already knows what to expect”

During his own time as national coach, he repeatedly had to deal with Nagelsmann, explained Löw. Nagelsmann had coached TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig before his DFB appointment as the successor to Hansi Flick and his engagement at FC Bayern, where he also followed Flick, which ended prematurely.

Nagelsmann is supposed to rebuild the DFB team after the embarrassments at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which resulted in the elimination in the preliminary round and the European Championship in between, when the round of 16 ended, and lead them to a successful home European Championship next year. “He already knows what to expect,” said Löw, “and how effective a national team is.”

UEFA is renaming some venues: the stadiums for the 2024 European Championship in Germany

Olympic Stadium in Berlin (intl. spectators: 70,000)

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Name remains

Arena in Munich (intl. spectators: 67,000)

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Allianz Arena becomes Munich Football Arena

Arena in Dortmund (intl. spectators: 66,000)

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Signal-Iduna-Park becomes BVB Stadium Dortmund

Arena in Stuttgart (intl. spectators: 54,000)

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The Mercedes-Benz Arena becomes the Stuttgart Arena

Arena in Gelsenkirchen (intl. spectators: 50,000)

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Veltins Arena becomes Arena AufSchalke

Arena in Hamburg (intl. spectators: 50,000)

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Volksparkstadion becomes Volksparkstadion Hamburg

Arena in Düsseldorf (intl. spectators: 47,000)

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The Merkur Game Arena becomes the Düsseldorf Arena

Arena in Cologne (intl. spectators: 47,000)

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The Rhein-Energie-Stadion becomes the Cologne Stadium

Arena in Frankfurt (intl. spectators: 46,000)

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Deutsche Bank Park becomes Frankfurt Arena

Arena in Leipzig (intl. spectators: 42,000)

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The Red Bull Arena becomes the Leipzig Stadium

Löw considers Nagelsmann to be a trainer with great expertise despite his young age. “And that is incredibly important for a team and for players, that a coach is also able to give a team solutions. He will definitely use the lever there. And that’s exactly the right thing to do at this moment,” emphasized Löw.

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