Loew: Pragmatism is what counts

When it comes to Joachim Loew, Germany' s Euro 2016 curtain raiser against Ukraine on Sunday is meant to be just the overture in a long race for the first European title after 20 years. T

The 56-year old German head coach is relying on a new strategy he did not particularly like some years ago. This time Loew is counting on pure pragmatism on all stages.

The memory of the glorious 2014 World Cup victory is hidden in the archives of Loew' s mind and soul. No "we-are-the-World-Champions-attitude" during the preparations for the first game of the tournament in France. While the Germans are still in the process of choosing their first eleven and the German media is speculating that midfielder Mesut Oezil (Arsenal) could surprisingly be left out while Mario Goetze (FC Bayern Munich) and Mario Gomez (Besiktas Istanbul) could both be in the starting line-up, Loew is thinking about dead-ball situations. A topic he in the past did not consider worth discussing.

Now German training sessions appear like a dead ball crash courses with special tasks for the German defense before the entire squad took off for Lille in northern France to face Ukraine. German attackers were divided in different groups setting up their free kick strategy on their own without any advice of the coaches. The German defense should be prepared to find an answer to unexpected attacks to simulate competition situations arising in matches.

The 2014 World Cup stands for a Loew rethink as before he was not fond of dead- ball practice and did not consider the topic to be important. "We now deal with dead ball practice totally differently now," Loew emphasized. "We spend more time practicing with them as we see how big their influence in a game can be," Loew told reporters. In Brazil 6 of the 18 German goals were scored after free-kicks or corners. Part of the new strategy is not only about scoring goals, but also finding answers when their opponents attack. Loew admits: "We had some defensive problems recently."

Talking about pragmatism, Loew has abandoned his desire to at first look at an inspiring style of football and neglect basic homework. This means: The result, not the overall performance, matters. If both can be combined, perfect, but you from now on we won' t be seeing German sides that have not practiced dead ball situations.

Pragmatism is "en-vogue" for Loew when building his defense for Euro 2016 as the German coach, like at the 2014 World Cup, is likely to rely on a solid defense put together of mainly central defenders rather than right and left backs able to support the German game going forward. The solid defense work in Brazil was regarded as being one of the reasons for the German success besides a strong team-spirit.

As for the Ukraine game, Loew is, according to rumors, considering starting with Julian Draxler along the left flank. Mario Goetze could be moving into central midfield. For Mesut Oezil this would mean a surprise place on the bench initially. According to Loew' s assistant coach Thomas Schneider the decision about the eleven was made before the team got together in their base camp in Evian near the Swiss border on Lake Geneva. But more likely is that Oezil will be placed in midfield right behind the attacking line and Loew will decide between Gomez and Goetze regarding the spearhead position.

Loew is likely to start with Benedikt Hoewedes (FC Schalke 04), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich) and Jonas Hector (1. FC Cologne). Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) and Sami Khedira are expected to play in midfield as Oezil, Thomas Mueller and Draxler will.

In advance of the 2016 tournament, Loew had to deal with several players being unable to play such as midfielder Ilkay Guendogan, striker Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund) and defender Antonio Ruediger (AS Rome). German captain Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United) and defender Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) are returning from injury and will miss the first games. Loew' s reaction might be part of his new pragmatism as he did not complain but took things as they came.

"We' re all really much looking forward to the start and everyone knows what his job is," Loew said. "We are aware that the group phase won' t be a piece of cake. Starting with the Ukraine game, we have to go flat out and be fully concentrated at all times in all the group games," said the German head coach.

When it comes to his first games at major tournaments, Loew can be relaxed as he has won all of his four opening games scoring 11 and conceding none in the process.

"We had a good preliminary training camp and have done lot of work during our first days in France. The tournament can begin," said the pragmatic Loew. Enditem