Youngsters need to feel our trust: Loew
Germany's young national team need to feel they have the complete trust of their manager to get the job done when they face Serbia in an international friendly tomorrow morning (Singapore time), before travelling to Holland for their first Euro 2020 qualifier next week.
Coach Joachim Loew has unexpectedly dropped Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Mueller - key players in their 2014 World Cup-winning team - opting to rejuvenate his squad after their first-round exit at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and their shock Nations League relegation.
"We are now facing a new time, a new challenge. I have to give the team the feeling that we fully trust them," Loew told a news conference yesterday.
"We have to give them the chance to develop, take over more responsibilities and also during a rough patch offer them solutions when they make mistakes, so they have the trust to go into the next months."
Eight of his 23-man squad are still eligible for national youth teams, including 19-year-old Kai Havertz, Loew said.
Only four have earned 30 caps or more, including the three 2014 World Cup winners left in his squad - goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Matthias Ginter and Toni Kroos.
One of Germany's rising stars, Serge Gnabry, will not be fit for the game against Serbia in Wolfsburg, but Loew said the Bayern Munich winger will be available for the match against Holland on Monday morning in Amsterdam.
The coach, under mounting pressure following Germany's worst World Cup result in 80 years, promised a faster team with better finishing - virtues that were missing last year.
"What is important is to have more tempo, more dynamism, more focus up front," he said.
"I know how to deal with pressure. I can feel what it means in the current position.
"We have learned from setbacks. We now need to have a completely different attitude from the year 2018."
Yet, he has also faced fierce criticism for his decision to axe World Cup veterans Hummels, Boateng and Mueller from the national team set-up, falling offside with their club Bayern Munich in the process.
Many have questioned Loew's decision to get rid of two experienced defenders, including his predecessor and former colleague Juergen Klinsmann, who coached Germany to third at the 2006 World Cup with Loew as his assistant.
"My personal hope is that the door remains open for Hummels, Boateng and Mueller," Klinsmann told AFP subsidiary SID this week.
"They are top players, and it's important to have them at your disposal if you need them." -REUTERS
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