GERMAN SIDE LACKS IDENTITY
The Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer has said that one of the main problems with the German national team at the moment is that it does not have a true identity. The German national team has been modified a lot in the recent seasons, with the addition of many young players like Sami Khedira and Ozil. As a result of the high quality youngsters included in the squad due to the changes in the youth policy of the nation, they have been able to reach finals and semifinals of major competitions without any trouble. However, winning the matches has been a major problem for the German national team in the final stages.
Germany last won a major trophy back in 1996. Even though they may have come extremely close on many occasions in the last five years, Matthias Sammer reckons that it will not happen before the German national team identifies itself with its true identity. The current national team manager Joachim Loew has made the national team extremely exciting to watch with beautiful passing football. However, Matthias Sammer reckons that it does not reflect the true identity of German football and the national team will be able to take advantage of its quality only if they find it.
“Do Germany actually have a footballing identity at the moment? Apart from saying we’ve got some good lads coming through? I don’t see one. Right now, I can’t really define our football. You can define Spain, Italy and some other nations, but I’m having problems with Germany. What do we stand for? At the moment it’s for good young players, but overall, we could restart work on our footballing identity, because we should always look reality straight in the eye,” said the Bayern Munich sporting director in a recent interview.