Loew's post match interview and England.

[teok]

It's been discussed to death on here but worth bringing up once again. St George's park was proposed in 2001 and has only just opened.




"I think this title will give us a push for the future, we don't have many players in the squad above 30," Loew said.

"Look at Gotze, (Thomas) Muller, (Mesut) Ozil and (Marco) Reus, who wasn't here - there are a lot of players who can still achieve a lot in their careers.

"The Bundesliga has a huge influence on the team and the training the young players get; we had an extremely young team in South Africa in 2010.

"In 2000 and 2004, German football was down and out, we went out in the group phases so we took decisive steps and invested more in the players' education.

"It wasn't enough just to rely on German virtues, we had to get better on the pitch.

"We created centres of excellence and I am grateful for the clubs who did that, this World Cup victory is a product of the excellent education and training in Germany."

Loew also revealed he took Gotze aside during the break of extra-time and the 22-year-old, who had come off the bench, scored a brilliant volley to break Argentinian hearts.

Loew said of Gotze: "He is a miracle boy, a boy wonder - he can play in any position. I know he is always able to decide a match and he's scored a great winner.

"I said to him, 'okay shown to the world that you are better than Messi and that you can decide the World Cup'.

"I had a good feeling about him."

Gotze hailed the World Cup victory as "absolutely sensational".

 

[chinaman]

Loew is very thorough and also low profile. Happy for him for his success. England should follow the example and install a rather youngish manager and let him develop the squad instead of listening to the garbage media and change the man at the helm so often.

At this moment in time, I cannot see a better option than Hoddle. Perhaps he should be given 8 years to turn things around.

 

[Lufti]

Loew is very thorough and also low profile. Happy for him for his success. England should follow the example and install a rather youngish manager and let him develop the squad instead of listening to the garbage media and change the man at the helm so often.

At this moment in time, I cannot see a better option than Hoddle. Perhaps he should be given 8 years to turn things around.

It'll take more than a young manager for England to have success. England needs to restructure pretty much everything from parent pressure at a young age to the number of Englishmen in teams in the premiership

 

[beats1]

It'll take more than a young manager for England to have success. England needs to restructure pretty much everything from parent pressure at a young age to the number of Englishmen in teams in the premiership

I was flicking through the channels and was watching time of our lives for a bit and the players from the 60's highlighted even then the number of english players was low as they were alot of players from Ireland, NI, Scotland and Wales in the English league as well as some foreign imports. Looking back at our 61 team and our arguably our best players were foreign Blanchflower(Northern Ireland), Mackay(Scotland), Jones(Wales) and White(Scotland)

I don't think the number of english is the issue, the issue lies in the culture of clubs. There is a good generation about to come through but I think they will only make it hopefully us, Fulham, Liverpool and couple others.

The english players given a chance tend to be physically strong and not weaker more talented players, we need to change that.

At the moment the two countries with the strongest pool is Spain and Germany.

Also need tactics that aren't from Italy in the National team. This was Roy Hodgson:
"You can organise a pub team not to let in six goals against Manchester United," Hodgson, in Portugal preparing for the World Cup with England, told World Soccer magazine. "Give me six months and I'd organise them, if they had a half-decent goalkeeper and a couple of centre halves who can get in the way of the ball.

"I consider myself to be in the same position as a lawyer. I studied to be a professional. I like to think that I'm good at my profession. Just as if I was to go to a lawyer, I'd go to someone who was good and really knows his job, even if I have to pay more.

"It's nice for people to believe some managers are born with a magical quality to transform bad into good. I don't. It's about leadership, practice, repetition and bloody hard work."

Funny how he couldn't organise some good players to defend against pretty much a two man attack in the Italy match

 

[Lufti]

I was flicking through the channels and was watching time of our lives for a bit and the players from the 60's highlighted even then the number of english players was low as they were alot of players from Ireland, NI, Scotland and Wales in the English league as well as some foreign imports. Looking back at our 61 team and our arguably our best players were foreign Blanchflower(Northern Ireland), Mackay(Scotland), Jones(Wales) and White(Scotland)

I don't think the number of english is the issue, the issue lies in the culture of clubs. There is a good generation about to come through but I think they will only make it hopefully us, Fulham, Liverpool and couple others.

The english players given a chance tend to be physically strong and not weaker more talented players, we need to change that.

At the moment the two countries with the strongest pool is Spain and Germany.

Also need tactics that aren't from Italy in the National team. This was Roy Hodgson:
"You can organise a pub team not to let in six goals against Manchester United," Hodgson, in Portugal preparing for the World Cup with England, told World Soccer magazine. "Give me six months and I'd organise them, if they had a half-decent goalkeeper and a couple of centre halves who can get in the way of the ball.

"I consider myself to be in the same position as a lawyer. I studied to be a professional. I like to think that I'm good at my profession. Just as if I was to go to a lawyer, I'd go to someone who was good and really knows his job, even if I have to pay more.

"It's nice for people to believe some managers are born with a magical quality to transform bad into good. I don't. It's about leadership, practice, repetition and bloody hard work."

Funny how he couldn't organise some good players to defend against pretty much a two man attack in the Italy match

Well, I don't think it's necessarily a clause in the league which needs to be put in place, as we've already seen that if you make teams include English players, they'll just fill their reserves with them. The bigger change needs to be the clubs themsleves, who need to be willing to give young players a shot rather than just importing foreigners. The other side of it, as you highlighted, is the grass roots stage, where in England for a long time players would get rejected if they were not of the right stature etc. I think we're probably starting to see more of a change to that though. Looking at the recent pools of English youngsters, Sterling, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere and Shaw aren't particularly big, so there's some signs of progression. I think Tottenham are making a concious effort to get and train youngsters with good technical ability, with a focus on technique, passing, agility and control as more of a basis rather than just stature and speed. Bentaleb (though not English), Pritchard, Carroll, and even some other foreign lads like Falque and McEvoy are testament to that.

There are many problems though, namely the way money dominates the premier league, and also England's reluctance to finally wash their hands of the previous 'golden generation'. Still takes a lot of fixing, but it'll be interesting to see how Southgate does with the u21s. If he can get them playing good football and finishing highly in tournaments, the whole team (or a large part of it) should be promoted together.

Look at the above, that's the u21 team who won the European championship in 2009. Five of those players played in yesterday's final, while one of them would have had it not been for a warm up injury.

 

[LSUY]

The problem isn't just with the clubs though it's also the players. How many young English players development has stalled because they've opted for the bench and lots of money at a big club rather than play regular football for a smaller side? Its nearly been two years since Jack Rodwell moved to Man City and he's made 16 appearances.

 

[hashmander]

funny thing is fabian johnson (bottom right corner) who switched to the USA was more than good enough to be their LB this world cup. i bet he's kicking himself right now for not keeping the faith.

 

[yankspurs]

It started from the ground up. This was a project started by Klinsmann when he took over Germany. Now he is currently undertaking the same thing here in the States.

 

[yankspurs]

funny thing is fabian johnson (bottom right corner) who switched to the USA was more than good enough to be their LB this world cup. i bet he's kicking himself right now for not keeping the faith.

There is no guarantee Johnson would have made the German squad.

 

[nidge]

Oh the irony of the German FA seeking out Howard Wilkinson to talk about the report he did for the English FA towards the end of the 90's that the English FA completely ignored.

 

[Shanks]

The problem with England is two fold, the sheer arrogance and them the premier league.

Seems a bit simple, but we will never be able to follow the German programme of international success at that level, because of those two issues I've highlighted (there are many more).

We have this arrogance about us, that we deserve to be recognised as the best... this is untrue, you can see it in the fact that we send the biggest entourage in any world cup team, ranging from FA members, to journalists - it's bullshit.

We pick the 'big name' players and try and fit them into a formation that doesn't actually work.


The germans used their club teams to develop centres of excellence to train and educate their youth players, they also have football affordable to watch, so many, many people take more of an interest in football - it's very much a culture of respect, and going to a football match is more focused as a family event, rather than a loutish affair (which can often be the case in england).

I'm not tarring everyone with that brush, but taking my kids to english games isn't a great experience with what you have to put up with either on the way to football (twats fighting, drunk or acting yobbish), or in the game with the swearing, fierce language etc etc.

Whilst I'm not saying that doesn't happen in Germany, as a majority it's more family orientated - most games have a great atmosphere throughout, with emphasis on their own players rather than imports.

Our clubs are money driven, will go for foreign players over english - this could be due to the talent available, but more centre of excellence's need to be provided, and it needs to be easier for young kids with potential to get more opportunities.

It just won't happen in england, we will continue to pick big names, clubs won't change their attitudes towards the national game either, and thats quite a shame to be honest with you.

Never thought I'd support the germans, but I actually felt proud of them in what they have achieved and wanted them to win.

 

[ItsBoris]

For me the problem, as always for England, is the manager. To win the world cup you probably need the best players, but the manager is still vitally important. Louis van Gaal, for instance, can take a decent at best Holland through a tough group with Spain and Chile, and finish 3rd in the tournament and unbeaten. Then you have a crap manager like Woy with a pretty decent set of players and we don't win a game.

If England had a good manager they could have gone a decent length in the tournament.

 

[Shanks]

I also agree with that Boris.

I actually believe Redknapp would have taken us to at least the 2nd round, maybe the qtr finals with his gung ho style, but we need a proper manager who isn't a yes man and isn't afraid to make an unpopular decision for the good of the team.

 

[Riandor]

Whilst i don't out and out disagree about the manager, Loew had very minor credentials.
What he and Germany have done goes beyond the normal club mentality. It is about identity, pride and togetherness. Those players to a man put it on the line for their German colleagues. Every tournament is planned with team ethic in mind, including all the preparations, the jollies and the work they do whilst in the host nation.

This is on top of a German league that wants to see success at the national level.

Don't get me wrong, I love Spurs to bits... but there is something fundamentally wrong with the Premier league and the skewed introvert look. We cannot have it both ways. Either we want some national pride and success or we only care about our clubs and we should just send the youth teams.

You cannot copy wholesale the German approach and things are happening, players are coming through, but there is MORE we should be doing, including ensuring players play tournament football at the U21 level. You want to play for your country? Represent it when asked, not when you feel like it.

The attitudes are night and day apart. I live in Germany, I live and breathe the Euphoria created by a national team playing well, with pride and wanting good things for Germany. No idea when we lost that drive in England, but it is sorely sorely lacking.

 

[van_Pommel]

Interesting to hear differing view on why England are so shite. I agree with most of them.

A key reason for Germany doing so well is the players that have come through the clubs as Loew says. If English clubs develop better English players then England will be better. I do think that's starting to happen and Spurs are a good example of that. It still needs more focus on coaching though, and they need a competitive arena to test them as they grow which is the idea behind the B team league (not saying I agree with that idea, but the area is necessary).

I also agree somewhat with the manager point. I don't think we had a hope in hell of winning the WC, but I do think we could have got out of that group. As long as I can remember the England team has been so tactically stubborn. I look at what Rodgers did with Liverpool this season, I see that half the England team plays for Liverpool, and I think well there's a no brainer. Play as system simlar, if not a carbon copy, of Liverpools 4312 with Sterling behind Sturridge and Rooney. When you look at the squad it would have made sense in every way. But we are England and its 442 or a variation of until the end of time because we're too stubborn or stupid to change.

 

[Ionman34]

The problem with England is two fold, the sheer arrogance and them the premier league.

Seems a bit simple, but we will never be able to follow the German programme of international success at that level, because of those two issues I've highlighted (there are many more).

We have this arrogance about us, that we deserve to be recognised as the best... this is untrue, you can see it in the fact that we send the biggest entourage in any world cup team, ranging from FA members, to journalists - it's bullshit.

We pick the 'big name' players and try and fit them into a formation that doesn't actually work.


The germans used their club teams to develop centres of excellence to train and educate their youth players, they also have football affordable to watch, so many, many people take more of an interest in football - it's very much a culture of respect, and going to a football match is more focused as a family event, rather than a loutish affair (which can often be the case in england).

I'm not tarring everyone with that brush, but taking my kids to english games isn't a great experience with what you have to put up with either on the way to football (twats fighting, drunk or acting yobbish), or in the game with the swearing, fierce language etc etc.

Whilst I'm not saying that doesn't happen in Germany, as a majority it's more family orientated - most games have a great atmosphere throughout, with emphasis on their own players rather than imports.

Our clubs are money driven, will go for foreign players over english - this could be due to the talent available, but more centre of excellence's need to be provided, and it needs to be easier for young kids with potential to get more opportunities.

It just won't happen in england, we will continue to pick big names, clubs won't change their attitudes towards the national game either, and thats quite a shame to be honest with you.

Never thought I'd support the germans, but I actually felt proud of them in what they have achieved and wanted them to win.

It's not really a surprise though, that the clubs are not interested, how many are owned by Englishmen?

Why would they give a shit about our National prospects?

 

[Shanks]

It's not really a surprise though, that the clubs are not interested, how many are owned by Englishmen?

Why would they give a shit about our National prospects?

DOn't have the answer to that, but probably to do with money!

 

[nidge]

England's chances of winning major tournaments died when the FA ceded control of England's top division to the clubs themselves in the form of the Premier League. Now the FA has no power to enforce any of the changes needed to help produce the sorts of players that Germany have in the last 14 years.

 

[Lufti]

It's not really a surprise though, that the clubs are not interested, how many are owned by Englishmen?

Why would they give a shit about our National prospects?

That's a good point and is a part of it actually. In Germany, you have to be German to own a club. Makes a difference to be honest!

 

[Lufti]

funny thing is fabian johnson (bottom right corner) who switched to the USA was more than good enough to be their LB this world cup. i bet he's kicking himself right now for not keeping the faith.

Nah, he wouldn't have been. Schmelzer didn't make the squad despite being fit, and Löw chose Höwedes over Durm for the left back spot. Both Schmelzer and Durm are better than Johnson, and if Löw is going to choose Höwedes over them, he's going to choose Höwedes over Johnson too

It started from the ground up. This was a project started by Klinsmann when he took over Germany. Now he is currently undertaking the same thing here in the States.

That's just not true though is it..

Klinsmann was the manager during the time, but it was a nationwide effort, drawn up and executed by the FA. Klinsmann was an important part of it, of course, given he was the national team manager, but it happened at a much younger level than he was a part of. Out of all the players who won the cup yesterday, only Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, Klose and Podolski even played under Klinsmann.

The USMNT for the WC was actually a pretty old squad. They only had 5 players under 23. In fact, when I just searched 'USMNT' to check if my suspicions about ages were correct, an article came up called '2014 World Cup: USMNT Not On The Same Path As Germany'

http://www.rantsports.com/soccer/2014/07/14/2014-world-cup-usmnt-not-on-the-same-path-as-germany/

I'll let the article do the talking, but the US has a looooong way to go to get anything close to the German's system. If it was that easy to just create young world class players, I suspect every country would be doing it.