Löw: "We will get better"

Germany tasted defeat for the first time in 22 matches on Tuesday as they went down 1-0 to Brazil in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Head coach Joachim Löw admitted there was still work to do before his team defend their World Cup title in Russia in two and a half months time. Speakng to DFB, Löw saw the result as fair but drew the positives going forward.

Question: Joachim Löw, how did you rate your side’s final big game before the World Cup?

Joachim Löw: It just wasn’t our day. As a result of the changes we made our link up play wasn't quite as sharp as it normally is. We found them very tough to break down when they didn’t have the ball. Our body language wasn’t always good enough to put up a fight against the dominance, the aura, safety and feeling of responsibility. We deserved to go behind, didn’t put enough pressure on them going forwad and then did not move the ball quickly enough.

Will that all get sorted out?

Löw: Of course, you never want to lose games like that, even when I say we have already put the result behind us. We lost, but I can still sleep easy at night. It is clear we have to work on three or four aspects quite hard. The 14-day training camp will be important for us so that we can iron out certain things.

Brazil got their revenge.....

Löw: If Brazilian souls have now been set free then that’s absolutly okay. It was to be expected that they would go into the game more motivated, but perhaps also with a bit of fear of losing again. Therefore I hoped we would have started in a way that pushed them back a bit. But we did not make use of the space we got and we had too many players behind the ball.

How come Kevin Trapp ended up playing the second half as well?

Löw: I said I would make the change at half time if the game allowed it. We had the feeling at half time that we should keep things as they were because there might be some uncertainty there. He did give the ball away with his feet a few times, but he was also left alone on a few occasions too. We normally have a bit more desire to play the ball out from the back.

Is one of your conclusions to draw: There is a clear first XI?

Löw: It should not be a case of just having one first XI. At a major tournament it’s about making changes at the right time at that is a lot easier if players can be in an overall structure. Guys like Hummels, Özil, Müller and Khedira can direct others in difficult situations.

The last three games have seen the team fall behind. Is that something you’re worried about?

Löw: No I am not worried about that. Things like that do not concern me because I know how strong the team are. I know what we can do, how we can play and what type of mentality we have. So no I am not worried. In 2014 and 2010 we also lost in March and we were really poor against Chile. You can be sure of this: We will get better.

Could it be you take no positives from the game?

Löw: No no. In the second half there were a few positive things – we got forward better and got stuck in to more challenges. We wanted to turn the game, not lose and our body language was better. In the first half that wasn’t good enough from some of them from my perspective.

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