Loew takes gamble on vibrant young team

– Germany coach Joachim Loew (right) hopes to prove his critics wrong and open 2019 with a win when his new-look team host Serbia in a friendly in Wolfsburg tonight.

Loew, who arrived in Wolfsburg later than expected due to a dental operation this week, is hoping to bounce back from a painful 2018 when Germany suffered an early World Cup exit and were relegated from the top tier of the Uefa Nations League.

The friendly against Serbia is a warm-up for Sunday’s prestigious opening Euro 2020 qualifier away to the Netherlands, with the Germans hunting revenge after a 3-0 thrashing last October at the Amsterdam Arena.

Amid fears that German football is in decline, Loew, 59, is under pressure to show he can build a new era of success around a younger generation of players.

He has faced criticism for his decision to strike veterans Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng and Thomas Mueller from the team, falling offside with their club Bayern Munich in the process.

The controversial call has been seen as a gamble, which has heightened the pressure ahead of tonight’s game.

“Loew is going all-in in a highstakes game of poker,” wrote German football magazine

Yet the Germany boss has insisted that the right conclusions have been drawn from the failures of last year.

“We have had a think since the World Cup,” he admitted. “We need to be quicker, more ambitious and more dynamic. We lost all that at the World Cup and our game became quite predictable.”

Loew has given three young players their first international call-up – Hertha Berlin defender Niklas Stark, 23, Werder Bremen midfielder Maximilian Eggestein and RB Leipzig full-back Lukas Klostermann, both 22 – with just two survivors from the WorldCup-winning class of 2014 in Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos.

Loew confirmed that Neuer remains his first-choice goalkeeper, despite calls for him to promote Barcelona stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to the No 1 role.

He also called upon Niklas Suele, 23, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, both 24, to step into leadership roles.

“Some players need to take the next step. Goretzka and Kimmich [have] clear ideas, ambition and opinions,” said Loew. “Suele has to take on responsibility, we expect more from him now. He needs to organise and direct proceedings at the back.” –