Loew wields axe, drops Bayern trio
BERLIN: Germany head coach Joachim Loew dropped a bombshell on Tuesday by telling 2014 World Cup winners Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels and Thomas Mueller they are no longer in his plans.
Loew told the Bayern Munich trio before he names the squad for the friendly against Serbia in Wolfsburg in two weeks and the Euro 2020 qualifier against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on March 24.
“I am sad about this news, because it has always been the greatest thing for me to represent my country,” Boateng posted on Facebook.
“I respect and understand the decision.
“I was once young myself and reliant on older players to make room for me, but of course, I wish we could have had a different ‘goodbye’.”
Between them, Hummels, Boateng, both 30, and Mueller, still only 29, boast 246 appearances for Germany and were at the heart of the team who won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
However, last year’s debacle at the World Cup finals in Russia saw Germany crash out after the group stage due to below-par performances from Loew’s trusted stars.
The 59-year-old, who masterminded Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph, thanked “Mats, Jerome and Thomas” for “many successful, extraordinary and unique years together.”
Other big names could also find themselves surplus to Loew’s requirements in the coming weeks.
Germany captain Manuel Neuer, 32, has a battle to keep his goalkeeping shirt from Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 26.
Loew already has options for Hummels and Boateng at centreback in Bayern’s Niklas Suele, 23, Chelsea’s Antonio Ruediger, 26, and Paris Saint-Germain’s Thilo Kehrer, 22.
A new-look forward line played in the 3-0 win over Russia and 2-2 draw against the Netherlands, in late 2018, with striker Timo Werner, 22, flanked by Bayern Munich winger Serge Gnabry, and Manchester City’s Leroy Sane, both 23.
With a year to go before the European Championship, Loew feels now is the time to remove more of his old guard having already last year dropped Sami Khedira, another 2014 World Cup winner.
“In the year of qualifying for the European Championship 2020, we are sending out a clear signal: the young national team players will have the space they need to fully develop,” said Loew.