Boss Loew insists there’s no need to panic after defeat but Boateng and Hummels suggest splits are forming in the champions’ squad
JEROME BOATENG said Germany’s players must stop blaming each other if they are to get their World Cup campaign back on track.
After the holders and four-time winners suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Mexico in their opening game, defender Mats Hummels (below, left) hinted at divisions in the camp, claiming too many players failed to play as instructed. Now Bayern Munich and former Manchester City defender Boateng said Joachim Loew’s players must come together and stop blaming each other if they are to have any chance of recovering from the loss. “We said before the game the World Cup gets going right from the start,” said Boateng. “We just haven’t turned up. “We have to do a lot of things better but, as a team, it doesn’t help to start laying the blame. We have to attempt to come out of this together. “There were too many mistakes in the link-up play, in losing the ball. Four or five times one of us ran out and no one said, ‘Man on’, or something like that. That can’t be the case. “We had already addressed it in team meetings for two or three days. We analysed it and, despite that, we didn’t get it right on the pitch. “It’s important we assess that again,” added Boateng (below). “But also there are other things. “In the first half we had almost no chances. We have to chat about it. What’s important now is the next game. “It’s really important that we win there and show the true character of this team.” For a country that has built its lofty football reputation on efficiency and reliability, Germany were surprisingly disorganised at the back and lacked any conviction going forward.
When Mexico scored, Boateng was the only defender in his own penalty area, along with midfielders Mesut Ozil and Toni Kroos (below, right) – with Hummels, Joshua Kimmich and Marvin Plattenhardt all stranded upfield.
Sweden’s win over South Korea means Germany are likely to have to win their remaining two group games to qualify, but coach Loew struck a defiant tone. He said: “Throw out the game plan? We will certainly not do that. If we do the things we do well, then we can achieve a lot.
“Against Mexico, everyone wanted to grab the ball. Now we must rediscover our strength. We will not fall to pieces. We will make it out of the group. We have every opportunity to make things right.”
As well as the problems at the back, in midfield Sami Khedira was too ponderous and dispossessed in the move that led to the goal, while young forward Timo Werner looked out of his depth.
Arsenal playmaker Ozil was at his most frustrating, failing to create anything of note, while Thomas Muller and Julian Draxler were equally disappointing in attack. Against that backdrop, Loew’s decision to omit Manchester City winger Leroy Sane from his squad looks like a massive error.