Dhe submission of the television reporter was gladly accepted by Thomas Müller: “If you can already say that …” In fact, there had been a lot to praise after the national team’s 1-1 draw against Denmark. But more than the performance of the team itself, something else seemed to have grown: the willingness of the audience to see it that way.
Viewed in this way, Joachim Löw’s decision to bring Müller and Mats Hummels back for his last mission with the national team was at least once the PR coup of the year: roll backwards, mood turned.
After the great joy of seeing each other again, which was shown with at least as much pleasure in the picture by the national team, it was not yet possible to see what will come of it in the end. In any case, games in which she dominates the action, but seems to consider goals to be an unnecessary luxury and then unsorted by surprise in a counterattack, Löw’s team has managed all on their own in the past.
The return campaign was overdue
There was no doubt about the need for more experience and, above all, communication, especially for the latter, Hummels and Müller contributed the expected part, their presence was visible and audible on Wednesday evening. In this respect, Löw’s return campaign was correct, but it was also overdue.
The renunciation of inviting the two to the three international matches in March joins other cases of wasted time and resources that Löw believes he has been able to afford for a long time. In any case, you can hear the clock ticking relentlessly until the first European Championship game on June 15th, then against world champions France.
Only then will it be seen whether Müller can still be a similarly formative figure in the national jersey as in that of FC Bayern. There, we just need to remind you once more that part of the secret of success lies in the symbiotic relationship with Robert Lewandowski. On the one hand, he is a grateful addressee of Müller’s legwork, a target player that the national team does not have, at the same time, with his own presence, he creates freedom from which Müller benefits.
Hummel’s personality is also not without doubt, as the Danes’ equalization illustrated. Although the disaster began with Niklas Süle’s withdrawal behavior, it was Hummels who lost sight of Yussuf Poulsen.
All this says little about the value that the returnees can have in the end, as the whole team in Innsbruck came across as unfinished hatching. But one thing is clear: if the worst comes to the worst, putting Hummels and Müller back on the bank – Löw could hardly afford to do that without de facto ending the project, given the history for which he is responsible.
A coach is strong when he is free in all directions to make decisions based on form alone. Löw talks a lot about it these days, but after a long time he didn’t act.
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