World Cup 2018: Joachim Low admits arrogance played part in Germany’s downfall

The Germany manager Joachim Löw admitted that arrogance had played its part as Germany went out of the World Cup in the first round since 1938. He refused to confirm, meanwhile, whether he would still be in charge of Germany for the European Championship campaign that begins in the autumn.

The problem, Löw insisted, had not been against Sweden or even here, where Germany were undone as they were forced to chase the game. What had undone them was the 1-0 defeat to Mexico. “We had a good training camp,” Löw said. “The team worked well, players were training really well. But the two friendly matches, against Austria and Saudi Arabia, were not good. Maybe we thought at the push of a button we could shift gears, but we lost against Mexico. If we had taken a point it would have been different. We couldn’t flip that switch. We were convinced once tournament started we would be able to play well but it didn’t happen.”

Marco Reus said even after that game that he was being rested for “more important” matches, while Germany were almost recklessly attacking, pushing forward from full-back on both flanks, leaving only Sami Khedira to protect the defence. The chaotic nature of that defeat led to a major rethink, such that only Mathias Ginter of the 20 outfield players in the squad remained unused.

“Because of a number of bans and injuries we had to make some changes to the line-up,” he said, “and back in 2014 that was the case as well. A team will only begin to gel in the later stages, so it makes sense to bring players in and take others out. It was not just Mesut Ozil today who was not displaying the performance he usually would. In that sense I bear responsibility and I stand up to that.”

Low signed a contract extension in May to extend his time in charge of the national side form 2006, when he replaced Jurgen Klinsmann, to 2022, but he acknowledged he is considering his future. “It is too early for me to answer that question," he said. "We need a couple of hours to see things clearly. The disappointment is deep inside me. I couldn't imagine that we would lose to South Korea. I’m shocked because we didn’t pull it off today. It was my impression I spoke to the team that they were under pressure and they wanted to move ahead. It’s premature for me to say something, I’m incredibly disappointed. Where we go from here… we will have to take some time and talk about it calmly.”

If he does leave, Low is certain he is leaving German football in a healthy position, denying a suggestion that “dark times” lie ahead. “Until quite recently we were probably the most constant in terms of performance in past 10, 12 years. We were always in the final four for a long period including the 2014 and 2017 wins in the World Cup and the Confederations Cup. This is a case of absolute sadness and disappointment. We have young players who are very talented and still have the potential to go forward. This has happened to other nations before. We just have to draw the right conclusions.”