Jogi Löw Extends Contract to 2012

On the whole, a good thing. Tactically he's very good. Motivationally, mostly so. For me, the test will come with the Euro 2012 tournament. Unless Germany win it all, or lose a well-played final to a better-playing side, I would argue his next 2 years to be a failure. He has too much talent at his disposal, and it's up to him to get them together with a single mindset of ultimate success being the only acceptable outcome. Until he gets the big tournament win, he'll only be a good coach. Greatness demands championship results.

RGD is a petty little d-bag. Who cares what he-she likes or doesnt like.
As far as Löw & GmbH… Im happy with it. Hopefully he can learn from the mistake he made against Spain tactically. I think we played a lot better this WM than in 2006 regardless of the same finish. Plus it was a lot more fun to watch… especially going against England and Argentina. We should have the personnel to take home the Euro'12 championship. After that it should be interesting to see what happens between then and 2014.

I am glad he i staying on but I am also glad that it is a two-year extension rather than four….

Warning: RDG Jogi Löw idiot rants ahead

“The power struggle between Lahm and Ballack is already in full swing.

Despite showing Spain far too much respect in the semis, there's no doubt that the petty feud between Ballack and Lahm clouded the team's mental state going into their most important match of the World Cup. While Lahm certainly overstepped his boundaries by insisting on keeping the captain's band, both he and Ballack need to stop their selfish bickering and help the team succeed in its upcoming qualifiers.

Philipp Lahm's statements and timing were stupid of course, but IMHO at this stage the team could care less about what happens after the World Cup. If at all, it would have been a minor distraction I think.

awesome news!!!!

I completely disagree, no offense. But the way I look at it, being severely competitive as well, is that Lahm had all the right in the world to say that he wants to keep the arm band as well as Ballack has all the right in the world to say that he still is captn. There is NOTHING wrong with this. This shows that both men are capable of being leader and both will fight for that privledge. Both comments werent stupid and neither was the timing. It is what it is.
As far as this being the cause of our loss to Spain. No way. That was all Jogi's fault for not implementing the right plan. Twice. Once at the beginning and the other after HT. But hey, its a mistake and hopefully he learns from it. Hes a good trainer and hopefully he will improve.

“Lahm had all the right in the world to say that he wants to keep the arm band”

The problem is, that footballers communicate with each other, their coaches, managers and clubs through third parties nowadays – be it their agents or in this case the media. And that's a recipe for conflict.

This was something that caught everyone by surprise and his message and intentions were transported through the media alone. The media was happy to transport the message and ask everybody and their mom about their opinions and create unnecessary noise.

The other thing is, that this isn't merely about the captaincy. I've now read two separate interviews with Lahm and in both cases, when asked about Michael Ballack's position in the team he gave rather cryptic answers, that basically suggest that he deems him surplus to requirements. Lahm attacked Ballack's captaincy and questions Ballack's future inclusion in the national team. That's not competitiveness but playing Bundestrainer.

I'll see if I can find those interviews again for a post.

Like I said before its a sign of aggression to lead the team and both are capable to do it so I see no harm in that. However I havent read anything regarding your last statement. If thats true, then this is a different kettle of fish… no offense to the northern Germans! If there are words written or said about each others ability and/or performance, thats a completely different issue and should not be tolerated in the least! That is the quickest way to break down a team and corrupt it.
Id be very interested in reading what you found Jan.

Oh THANK the flying Spaghetti Monster for him staying with die Mannschaft. I would have hated to see Sammer on that spot.

Lahm's timing was stupid, but folks – he wouldn't have become the NT captain in the first place, if he would give it away easily or without a fight. If I would have a captain on my team that would gladly give away the captains role after such a World Cup… THEN something would be fucked up.

All of this crap talk about “internal struggles” is absolute bullshit. That's a story made up by the media because they haven't had any b/s stories to report for at least three months. It's called Sommerloch – silly season.

Ballack is all great and such and he will be an enrichment for the team. But now, he's the old fart so he better starts performing at Leverkusen. I would support any kinda decision by Löw. Ballack somewhat deserves the captain's role if he plays in shape, and Lahm also deserves it. It's a Win-Win, not a Lose-Lose for German fans and the NT.

This is football, not Sparta. He's got a talented crew and great veterans (in 2012). From the quarterfinals on, crazy shit can happen even to the best team in the world. That's not an excuse for failure, but why should anything be wrong with Löw after reaching 3 semis (and one final) in a row? You can lose football games on the big stage. It simply happens. Disappointing would be not qualifying or crashing out in the group stage – what happened to decent coaches like Völler before.

“he wouldn't have become the NT captain in the first place, if he would give it away easily or without a fight.”

Well, except that he said exactly that prior to the World Cup, that he's just a stand-in and expects MB to be captain again after the WC. That was during the “ohhh-we-are-doomed-without-ballack” shock of course. Then, during the WC when all was fine and 4-1 and 4-0, he announced his intentions to stay captain. Bad timing we say. Good timing for him, as there were already debates going on a la “Ballack's injury is a blessing in disguise for Germany”, so he was riding the wave.

True, it's Sommerloch time but the way Ballack and Lahm have now begun to talk about each other in interviews is rather real – backhanded compliments from both sides all around. The two probably won't become best friends anymore. They don't need to be. But I also don't need this crap potentially disrupting the team.

Maybe it's as you and tomas suggest, just positive competitiveness and aggressiveness from both players and a win-win.

It does look like a lose-lose situation for Ballack though. Let's see how Löw handles the situation…

This “blessing in disguise” argument is also utter bullcrap. Ballack's individual class is reknown and to be honest, it's not all about speed-speed-speed today. Sometimes, you simply need a playmaker who calms everbody down, controlling and handling the ball. There is plenty of speed in Ballack, too. It's not as if the team has to dumb down to get used to Ballack's pace.

Löw made the youngsters work, and from now on, it'll be the young-stars plus a veteran star.

I wouldn't be too surprised to see shitty games with a whole lot of cramping and choking during the EURO qualification, but that's because you can't play your NT gung-ho like during a World Cup with 2 to 3 days of preparation. But I can't barely wait for the complaints to come in that 1:2 road victory against Turkey, Austria or Belgium was pain in the ass to look at. A is the toughest group, together with E.

After the past three tournaments, I'm not a blind believer, I am a realistic fan as I've always been. And this team is one of the best in the world. Even is this means only a 2:0 against Azerbaijan. At least they almost always get the job done.

I hear you, I guess I'm still disappointed by their play against Spain in this last semifinal. I don't mind that they lost to Spain, I think Spain had the best team in the tournament. I do mind that they didn't play like they were prepared to win, when they had the talent to do so. I don't know if it was poor preparation by the coaches, or they team was individually, and therefore collectively, worried about Spain to the point it negatively affected their play. IMO, only Holland and Spain showed the will to reach the final. Minus the violence, had Germany pressed Spain in the midfield they way Holland did, those same break opportunities Holland saw would have fallen to Germany, maybe more so, and probably would have resulted in a goal or two based on what Germany had shown earlier. All hindsight speculation, I know. I'm just saying that until I see that will out of Germany, I fear they will continue as a an excellent team that comes up just short. Always a bridesmaid and never a bride. Granted, there were some very young, first-time WC players on our side. I fully expect those players to raise their game the next time. There's no questioning the consistency of their quality in major tournaments, but you can question their ability to close the deal. In the end, keeping Jogi was a no-brainer. He's done a solid job with the squad, and I see no one else as a viable alternative at this point.

I agree with Bense… the speed Schweinsteiger had to 'slow-down-to' for a lack of a better phrase, in order to stay back and create while Khedira went up, wasnt slow and was definitely in the realm of how Ballack plays. So this whole 'Ballack will slow down our play' is complete crap. Just replace Schweinsteiger will Ballack and Khedira with Schweinsteiger and you would basically have the same midfield.

But I have to reiterate, even though I like to see both players, Ballack and Lahm, be assertive and aggressive regarding the armband… if they are resorting to backhanded insults thats going over the line and Jogi needs to put a stop to that. Like Jan said, regardless of if they are best friends or not is no matter, but creating tension within the team dynamics cant be tolerated. This is a prime example of 'no one is bigger than the club'. And respect has to be give to Ballack for what he has accomplished regardless of whether he will wear the armband or not.

Jogi would be wise to meet with both Lahm and Ballack together, the sooner the better, and decide who the team captain is and get that out into the media. Call a presser, including both players, and have everyone show a team face. As was stated, Ballack is no longer a requirement for German success, so he'd better see the writing on the wall and show that he still belongs, not only as a starter but as captain. I agree that he is a plus and not a minus to the side, and would make a great holding MF in their current line-up. Lastly, I do think Lahm could have expressed himself a bit more tactfully, and it certainly could have waited until after the cup, but it's water under the bridge at this point.

Well I would like to see Lahm as captn, if not now then soon. But for me, I would like to know if Ballack is capable to play productively for 90'? If he cant then we should switch back to Lahm as captn. I dont think it looks good for a captn to be constantly subbed out at the 67' due to exhaustion. I look at Ballack's latest performances for Chelsea regarding the minutes he's played and then I look at Lahm's minutes… who hasnt missed one match or was subbed out last season, I could be wrong but I cant remember him coming off the pitch. He went throught the whole season, Champions League and then WM and missed the 3rd place match. Thats some serious minutes and dedication to both club and country. Granted Ballack is in, or should I say was in, a different situation at Chelsea (since Bayern has no capable replacement for Lahm) and it may be unfair to use this as a scale but still, the dedication from Lahm is there and Ballack cant ignore that fact. For me, both Ballack and Lahm are solid captns. Whatever the decision it wont be easy for Jogi and the team better cope with his decision.

I think Loew has done a brilliant job. His costly mistake in the world cup was subbing Trochs for Mueller instead of Kroos. He needs to get over the idea that Kroos is simply a back up 6 for Schweinsteiger and Khedira.

He isn't. He doesn't have the destroyer half to his game that those two do, the half that in addition to their ability going forward allows them to serve as the dual engine for the 4-2-3-1.

Instead, Kroos is a play making #10 that can float on a wing, like Mesut Oezil. I think he has more potential than Podolski does, and if he predictably passes Lukas within the next 2-4 years I hope Loew has the courage to bench one of his standard bearers since 2006.

If they all blossom to their potential, there isn't a more formidable forward trio than Toni Kroos, Mesut Oezil, and Thomas Mueller. Those are the types of talents that win you championships and bring the adulation of the world in doing so.

Now we just need to find a striker. Maybe Kiessling for Euro, hopefully someone emerges for WC 2014. Wagner, Felix Kroos, or Peniel Mlapa maybe.

what it is it with everyone ballack is 33 and past his best, by the time finals of euro12 are here hell be 35 so its the right time to move on fron the ballack legacy

so…. no blog about the friendly?