Joachim Low walks away after 15 years in charge of Germany leaving a misfiring side short of confidence but having enjoyed many years of consistent performances that culminated in the 2014 Fifa World Cup victory.
The Germans bowed out of Euro 2020 after a disappointing display in the 2-0 last 16 defeat to England on Tuesday at Wembley, which was Low’s 198th and final game in charge.
His record of 124 wins, 40 draws and 34 defeats since 2006 is impressive.
Low had the high of winning the 2014 World Cup, including the remarkable 7-1 thrashing of hosts Brazil in the semi-finals, but his tenure was tarnished by the low of finishing bottom of the group four years later in Russia, which still haunts the Germans.
Low though has managed the German national team more times than any previous manager in history and has the third-best win% among all managers. He is the second longest-serving manager in their history.
List of top German football team managers
Manager | Matches managed | Wins | Draws | Losses | Win% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joachim Low | 198 | 125 | 39 | 34 | 63.13 |
Sepp Herberger | 162 | 96 | 26 | 44 | 56.79 |
Helmut Schon | 139 | 87 | 31 | 21 | 62.59 |
Berti Vogs | 102 | 66 | 24 | 12 | 64.71 |
Otto Nerz | 75 | 44 | 11 | 20 | 61.11 |
Jupp Derwall | 67 | 44 | 12 | 11 | 65.67 |
As far as the all-time list is concerned, Low is eleventh in the list for longest-serving managers in international football history. Among these top eleven manager, he is only one among two to have won the Fifa World Cup.
Longest serving coaches in i'national football
Rank | Manager | National team | From | To | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Guillermo Stábile | Argentina | 13 August 1939 | 15 June 1958 | 18 years, 10 months and 2 days |
2 | Vittorio Pozzo | Italy | 1 December 1929 | 5 August 1948 | 18 years, 8 months and 4 days |
3 | Hugo Meisl | Austria | 5 October 1919[133] | 17 February 1937 | 17 years, 4 months and 12 days |
4 | Walter Winterbottom | England | 28 September 1946 | 21 November 1962 | 16 years, 1 month and 24 days |
5 | Paul Philipp | Luxembourg | 25 September 1985 | 10 June 2001 | 15 years, 8 months and 16 days |
6 | John Albin Pettersson | Sweden | 26 March 1921 | 27 September 1936 | 15 years, 6 months and 1 day |
7 | Morten Olsen | Denmark | 1 July 2000 | 17 November 2015 | 15 years, 4 months and 16 days |
8 | Óscar Tabárez | Uruguay | 7 March 2006 | Present | 15 years, 3 months and 23 days |
9 | Bob Glendenning | Netherlands | 15 March 1925 | 21 April 1940 | 15 years, 1 month and 6 days |
10 | Giampaolo Mazza | San Marino | 10 October 1998 | 15 October 2013 | 15 years and 5 days |
11 | Joachim Löw | Germany | 12 July 2006 | 29 June 2021 | 14 years, 11 months and 17 days |
‘Unforgettable moments’
“In these 15 years, there were a lot of things that were very positive,” Low insisted at Wembley.
“We have developed steadily, the World Cup title in 2014, the Confederation Cup victory in 2017 with a young team.
“There have been moments that are unforgettable,” added the 61-year-old.
Yet Low admitted his team had experienced “some problems since 2018” and that there had been “a lot of difficult periods” like the unforgettable 6-0 thrashing by Spain last November, which sparked his decision to step down.
‘So bleak’
As the Berliner Zeitung newspaper gloomily commented in the aftermath of the Wembley defeat, “Low leaves his successor Flick a complicated legacy”.
Low treated his football-mad nation to consistent success up until the 2018 World Cup so the fall from grace, from top ranking to currently 12th in the world, has been hard on German supporters.
“The ambition, the will, the fighting spirit was missing,” said 2014 World Cup winner Lukas Podolski.
“It all seemed so bleak. If you look at the players’ faces - nothing is happening.
“I think a fire could break out in the stadium, they would stay on the pitch,” he added.
Podolski fears for the future: “It’s not like we have ten other players who weren’t picked, but should have been there.”
Flick, who steered Bayern Munich to a treble of Bundesliga title, German Cup and Champions League in 2019-’20, is determined to get Germany back to their best.
“I see the class of the players, especially the youngsters in Germany, so we have every reason to approach the upcoming tournaments with optimism,” Flick said in May.
His job remit is crystal clear.
“We have a big common goal - to get back to the top of the world,” said his boss Oliver Bierhoff, director of the Germany team.
(With AFP inputs)