Who’s gonna score a goal?

With a decent performance against the world champion, Joachim Löw has taken a breather. However, the fact that a narrow defeat is considered a success shows that the team’s course is falling.

There is a favourite set for the national team. On Tuesday evening after the 1:2 defeat in Paris, almost everyone had him in their mouths, coaches, players, even the DFB president. It’s the sentence: „We didn’t reward ourselves.“

The sentence is basically wafting through the entire DFB international year and should say about as much: We play well, we have chances, but in the end we lose. With this set, the team has already talked itself into many a defeat in this damned international year, but against the French he had his justification for a change.

The national coach had after the game, „many good reasons to be encouraged“. And one of the reasons might be from his personal point of view that after such a close defeat with the world champion his job is not discussed as intensively as before the game. Some media had even written about Löw’s endgame. But that would probably only have been conceivable if the DFB selection had got themselves a terrible gossip.

The Jungpund faction used its chance

It didn’t – also because Löw had changed the team on numerous positions compared to the disastrous Netherlands game on Saturday, contrary to his habits. Five changes in the starting eleven, and that in at least one relatively relevant compulsory game – Löw would hardly have been expected to take such a step.

Finally, it has to be said, City attacker Leroy Sané got his chance to start. Serge Gnabry and Thilo Kehrer, two other representatives of the young pound faction, were also allowed to play right from the start – and all three personal details initially paid off.

The first half was at least one of the best they had seen for a long time. „The team took their heart in their hands,“ said Löw. Quick counterattacks, a stable cover formation and safe combinations from the midfield – there was no such thing as a feeling of eternity. However, one problem remained unsolved: Who should score a goal in this team?

Timo Werner and Leroy Sané are no goal scorers, that became all too clear on the evening of Paris. The counterattacks were sloppily finished, in the penalty area the glory was mostly over. So already a controversial penalty kick had to be used for the lead. Toni Kroos trembled him into the goal for the lead.

The team scored nine goals in eleven games this year, in the six compulsory games of the year the team remained four times without goals. If this continues only in the beginning, the sentence „We haven’t rewarded ourselves“ will still be woven into the DFB club logo.

Leroy Sané Honours

Manchester City

• Premier League: 2017–18
• EFL Cup: 2017–18
• FA Community Shield: 2018

Individual

• PFA Young Player of the Year: 2017–18
• Premier League Player of the Month: October 2017

Separated from the habits we have grown fond of

A defeat against the French is already regarded as a success. This can be taken as an indication of how much the national team’s share price has fallen from world champion to a possible relegation to the national league within four months. On the other hand, this evening after the Amsterdam performance was at least a sporting advance. Dove Slots is all about thrilling games, big jackpots and generous promotions.

A progress that Löw also achieved by jumping over his shadow. He left Thomas Müller and Jonas Hector outside, two proven regulars who, however, contribute little to the team’s success. Löw is known to find it difficult to break up with the faithful members of the team. But now it was also about his job. He also has to leave habits he had grown fond of behind him.

„We were no worse than the French,“ Gnabry said after the game, and captain Manuel Neuer said the team had the game under control. That may be true for the first half. In the second half, however, we also saw what this team lacked. When the Équipe Tricolore increased the pressure, the DFB team became timid, more fearful and more anxious, it was all about preventing goals as much as possible. And the status of this team at the moment is such that it doesn’t succeed either. Antoine Griezmann turned the game around with his goals – the fact that the winning goal also fell through a penalty that not every referee whistles closed the circle of this game.

Löw now has four weeks until the last international match cycle of the year. It is already the worst DFB year in its history with six defeats. The discussions about the course of this team, about the coach and the right personnel have ebbed away a bit since Tuesday. They are far from over.