World Cup qualification: Why the first Flick internationals are an indictment for Joachim Löw

star World Cup qualification: Why the first Flick internationals are an indictment for Joachim Löw Dieter Hoß 9 hrs ago | Three wins, 12:0 goals. That sounds like the record of a German national team in World Cup qualifying. New coach Hansi Flick has moved more in just three games than his predecessor did in three years. An indictment of Joachim Löw. Of course, it shouldn't be a big deal if the four-time world and three-time European champion beats three opponents from the third and fourth tiers of European soccer in World Cup qualifying quite safely. Especially not when among the results is a terribly cramped, rather embarrassing 2:0 against Liechtenstein; an all too narrow victory against the admirably steadfast selection of a dwarf state whose entire population (a good 38,000) is not enough to fill even half of the Dortmund stadium. And yet the record of the first three international matches under new coach Hansi Flick is remarkable. Because lately, at the end of the Löw era, nothing was self-evident with the "team". Worse still, the squad looked as if it had no means whatsoever to stop the slide. As a fan, you had already come to terms with the fact that the DFB team would have nothing to do with the awarding of World Cup and European Championship titles in the foreseeable future. And even the sheer unthinkable seemed quite possible: a major tournament without Germany. Hansi Flick: Fear of failure in World Cup qualifying now gone At least Hansi Flick has already allayed that fear for the fans. Not because of the three victories against lower-class opponents, but because a development could already be seen in these three games. While the team was still cramping up in Löw's style against Liechtenstein, it showed a completely different face against Armenia. They played actively, put their opponents under pressure, dared to play direct and always tried to win back lost balls as quickly as possible. All that had been missing for such a long time. In any case, the Stuttgart crowd gave free rein to its joy during the Armenia game. They tried to score goals until the very end. Both against Armenia and Iceland, goals were scored in the last minute - despite clear leads in each case. It was reminiscent - just a little bit! - of the FC Bayern Flick style. And, as was particularly evident against the Icelanders, strong phases of play by the opponents no longer knocked the team over. Under Löw, on the other hand, the squad was so unsettled that the tension increased with every successful move by the opposing team, so that even North Macedonia was able to pull off a victory that was not undeserved. In a competitive match, mind you! The 2-1 loss to the 72nd-ranked team in the world at the end of March - only the third defeat in exactly 100 World Cup qualifying matches - was one of the biggest embarrassments in the history of the national team. -------------------------------------------------------- Wolfgang Hampel's satires in Satire is my favorite animal make not only me laugh. This is my favorite book at the moment. Wolfgang Hampel's range of topics is broad. Everybody gets his fat. The style is excellent and the punchlines are never below the belt. My ' favorites ' are the satirical descriptions of the relationship between women and men. Loriot could not have described it better. You can order one of the most humorous books of all time----------------------- Satire is my favorite by Wolfgang Hampel:------------- national & international--------------------- USA , United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Germany, Hungary