Andre Schurrle insists World Cup flops Germany are right to stick with Joachim Low and let the under-fire boss rebuild the nation’s pride
Fulham wideman was in the Maldives as he watched the 2014 champions suffer in Russia - but still felt his country's pain
Sponsored by
WORLD Cup winner Andre Schurrle watched Germany’s shock 1-0 defeat to Mexico sat in the airport departure lounge in the Maldives.
Fulham’s new recruit was on holiday having not made Jogi Low’s cut - but still felt the squad’s pain as they crashed out in Russia with a whimper.
He said: “I played there seven years, almost every game and I played the last three tournaments. To see this disappointment in these games was difficult.
“I could feel for the players because it looked like they were uncomfortable. There was something not right in the team.
“But Germany played the last ten tournaments in the semi-finals and now we went out at the group stage. It is how it is, we have to deal with it and there with be a change.
“The manager Joachim Low will make some changes and Germany has so many good players that for sure they will get better.”
Low is controversially staying on as boss despite the flop tournament.
Schurrle feels that is for the best given what the 58-year-old has achieved as Die Mannschaft manager, most notably winning the World Cup in 2014.
But the man who set up the winning goal in that final feels it is time for a new generation to be brought through - albeit gradually.
He said: “It’s the right thing that Joachim Low is staying because he did so many good things for German football.
“He knows how to get on with young players and he knows how to get the new generation going.
“Maybe it needs a change of generation but it needs to go slow.
"I don’t think you need to cut all the players off because they have experience.
“They need to come back like Mats Hummels, Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng who can take the young guys and push them.
“Because that’s what they did with us, the older generation like Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, Klose. They took us and guided us and that’s what the rest need to do now.”
Unlike Germany, England had a great tournament reaching the semi-finals.
Sign up for Dream Team 2018/19 now
- Dream Team is back and better than ever ahead of the new Premier League season
- Completely free to play
- £400k jackpot up for grabs across the season
And Schurrle saw in Gareth Southgate’s squad a togetherness and potential that could lead them to bigger and better things going forward.
He said: “But you saw at the World Cup that England has some incredible young players and even more young players to come in who weren’t there.
“I think they can start something. They have a good young manager that can push the players.
“You saw how close he was with the players which is something good. They were so close, so familiar, they knew what was going on and they have a great team.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
“For us in 2014, it was like a family and that’s what you need at a World Cup.
You’re six-eight weeks away together and you need to be like a family. Everybody needs to, not love each other, but know what’s going on.
“You could see it with England. They were unlucky in the semi-final but I think they will get back in the Euros and be stronger.
“They need maybe two tournaments like this summer’s World Cup and then maybe they can do something.”