Moscow: Germany coach Joachim Loew said Sunday there is no need for panic or radical change despite his team again looking defensively vulnerable in their shock 0-1 0 defeat to Mexico in the opening game of their World Cup defence.
Germany showed many of the fault lines that had been there for all to see in recent games, and Mexico had obviously been doing their homework as they exploited them again and again and should have scored more goals.
“In the first half we played very badly. We were not able to impose our usual way of playing,” Loew told a news conference. “But we will not just break apart now and become headless and do something completely different. There is no need to break out in panic just because we have lost a match.”
German defenders were at times caught napping by the pace of the Mexican counter-attacks as pointed out by Mats Hummels. “Our cover was often not good and we were left many times with just Jerome (Boateng) and myself in the back,” said centre-back Hummels, one of several Germans who will not want to watch a replay of Hirving Lozano’s 35th-minute goal.
I am at a loss as to what went wrong. We failed to impose ourselves and the Mexicans took advantage with their speed
Joachim Loew
“We were warned (in the warm-up games). We played exactly like we did against Saudi Arabia (when Germany won 2-1) only against a better opponent. That’s why the first half was like it was and Mexico obviously deserved to win it. If seven or eight players are attacking then it is clear that our attacking power is greater. But we need to close down our defence also,” added the defender.
Loew was at a loss to explain the problems. “We did not cover the spaces, we did not play our usual attacking game, we lost possession too often and so had to cover big distances, so the Mexicans had space to counter-attack,” Loew pointed out.
“When it came to passing, we were a bit negligent, which is quite unfamiliar when I look at this team. We simply have to concentrate on our strong points that we have not been able to bring to bear in the last two matches,” added the German coach.