Löw: "I wouldn’t like to be without any of these players. I have faith in all of them."

Low: "We don't have a mental block against Italy"

…the players who haven’t made an appearance yet: The way that they have been holding themselves has shown great strength of character. They are doing their best and keeping the standard high in training. I wouldn’t like to be without any of these players. I have absolute faith in all of them. They have already given a lot for the team.

…Lukas Podolski: He is a role model for the young players, always gives his best and sets the tone. The team has a lot of respect for him and the youngsters look up to him. It was great to see how the fans reacted to him after the Slovakia game.

...captain Bastian Schweinsteiger’s role: Basti is very important. He speaks a lot with the young players. Currently he has been speaking a lot to Mario Götze to help him improve. Basti is very intuitive and valuable. Furthermore, he is now fit enough to be able to start. He has made a good impression.

…Sami Khedira: He obviously knows the Italians well from playing at Juventus. That is why I will definitely be talking to him. Sami does a lot of important jobs for our team and has a lot of quality. I have the feeling that he will become even more dynamic.

…Thomas Müller’s performances: Thomas is a winner. No matter what he does, he will always want to win. He has improved continuously since 2010 and is just in a phase where he isn’t scoring at the moment. I am nevertheless very happy with him because he is making runs that are causing our opponents trouble and giving us options. The running he does is valuable to us. Thomas works amazingly hard defensively as well, closing down the ball quickly, That is also an important quality.

…Possible changes to the starting XI: There can always be changes. It’s important for us to say flexible and to be able to adjust.

…squad news and medical team’s work: There has only been a few small knocks to deal with in the past few days, which were picked up by Same Khedira, Mats Hummels and Julian Draxler. However, they shouldn’t be a problem. Klaus Eder and Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt are doing an amazing job. They are an efficient team that works around the clock everyday and I have total faith in them. It’s amazing what they do. If it wasn’t for them, Jerome Boateng wouldn’t have been able to play against Slovakia.

As the team were enjoying their day off to recover after their strong performance in their 3-0 win over Slovakia, Joachim Löw was in a good mood as he planned for Germany’s quarterfinal clash against Italy on Saturday (21:00 CEST). Germany’s head coach spoke to DFB.de about the prestigious match against the EURO 2012 runners-up.

As the team were enjoying their day off to recover after their strong performance in their 3-0 win over Slovakia, Joachim Löw was in a good mood as he planned for Germany’s quarterfinal clash against Italy on Saturday (21:00 CEST). Germany’s head coach spoke to DFB.de about the prestigious match against the EURO 2012 runners-up.

Joachim Löw on…

…squad news and medical team’s work: There has only been a few small knocks to deal with in the past few days, which were picked up by Same Khedira, Mats Hummels and Julian Draxler. However, they shouldn’t be a problem. Klaus Eder and Dr Müller-Wohlfahrt are doing an amazing job. They are an efficient team that works around the clock everyday and I have total faith in them. It’s amazing what they do. If it wasn’t for them, Jerome Boateng wouldn’t have been able to play against Slovakia.

…Possible changes to the starting XI: There can always be changes. It’s important for us to say flexible and to be able to adjust.

…Thomas Müller’s performances: Thomas is a winner. No matter what he does, he will always want to win. He has improved continuously since 2010 and is just in a phase where he isn’t scoring at the moment. I am nevertheless very happy with him because he is making runs that are causing our opponents trouble and giving us options. The running he does is valuable to us. Thomas works amazingly hard defensively as well, closing down the ball quickly, That is also an important quality.

…Sami Khedira: He obviously knows the Italians well from playing at Juventus. That is why I will definitely be talking to him. Sami does a lot of important jobs for our team and has a lot of quality. I have the feeling that he will become even more dynamic.

...captain Bastian Schweinsteiger’s role: Basti is very important. He speaks a lot with the young players. Currently he has been speaking a lot to Mario Götze to help him improve. Basti is very intuitive and valuable. Furthermore, he is now fit enough to be able to start. He has made a good impression.

…Lukas Podolski: He is a role model for the young players, always gives his best and sets the tone. The team has a lot of respect for him and the youngsters look up to him. It was great to see how the fans reacted to him after the Slovakia game.

…the players who haven’t made an appearance yet: The way that they have been holding themselves has shown great strength of character. They are doing their best and keeping the standard high in training. I wouldn’t like to be without any of these players. I have absolute faith in all of them. They have already given a lot for the team.

…the spine of the team: It has been a massive advantage to us over the years. Neuer, Hummels, Boateng, Khedira, Kroos, Özil and Müller are eight very good players who have played together for a long time now. Therefore, we didn’t need too long during the preparation to grasp the system we wanted to play ahead of the tournament.

…the improved performance after the Poland match: Our balance between defence and attack was better. The attackers defended better. Kroos and Khedira did some great work.

…the euphoria after the Slovakia game: I think modesty and humility are the order of the day. We shouldn’t be overcome with euphoria, we need to stay grounded as the quarterfinals is just another step along the way. It would be wrong to put too much worth on the win over Slovakia. That was not the standard. Nevertheless we are in good spirits going into the weekend. We have to improve in all areas.

…the six day break before the quarterfinals: It is definitely not a disadvantage. It means that we have the chance to recover from a couple of small knocks. The players need that. The team will definitely be waiting with anticipation.

…the importance of the players’ fitness: I know that the youngest team in the tournament is taking on the oldest but the Italians had the advantage of being able to rest key players in their third group match. I don’t believe that the players’ fitness will be the decisive factor. Even the older Italian players such as Bonucci and Chiellini are in good physical shape.

…a possible semi-final against surprise package Iceland: We aren’t thinking that far ahead. It was a big surprise to me that Iceland beat England. They did really well, were very organised and their structure made them hard to play against.

…the 20-year anniversary of Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal: I’ll be happy when I can stop hearing about it. Our team coordinator talks about it more than enough. I’ll have to make sure that I avoid him today (laughs).

…the upcoming opponents Italy: I am incredibly excited about this match. They proved against Spain that this isn’t your usual Italy team. They don’t only concentrate on defending but also have quality in attack. It is a much better Italy side than the one we saw at EURO 2012.

…past encounters with the Squadra Azzurra: We don’t have a mental block against Italy. I don’t see the benefit in thinking about the past. It’s old news and I prefer to focus on the future. We will have to see how it all goes on Saturday.

…the Italians' defensive strength: They have defensive quality in their flesh and blood, they make the spaces very small. It’s something they are good at. They are able to chase a ball into the stands and still be smiling. The Italians enjoy it when they keep a clean sheet. We would rather play out a 3-3 draw.

…Italy’s strengths: The team has filled the gap left by Pirlo very well and has a clear system in place. Every team has their strengths. Buffon is in goal behind a well established back three. I also rate de Rossi highly. He plays very intelligently and gives them balance. They also have good players with power in attack like Pelle.

…Italy head coach Antonio Conte: He has done an excellent job and had already shaped a new era at Juventus. Conte recognised that you couldn’t win tournaments anymore with only the Catenaccio style of play.

…Conte’s impulsive style on the touchline: That is all down to emotion, which means that it can sometimes get heated. Our players cannot allow it to influence them negatively and put them off their game. They should be fully focused on the task at hand.

…memories from the EURO 2012 semi-final loss: Not all of our players put in their best possible performance that day. My plan also didn’t work out. The painful loss has helped me though. It was a lesson for me.