TA on the lack of a center forward in the German team: a legacy of the Loew era, Germany prefers technical players

"The Athletic" published an article analyzing the reasons for the lack of a center forward for the German national team, saying that this was a legacy of The Loew's coaching period, when the German national team paid more attention to technical players, resulting in the youth training camp also somewhat ignoring the traditional center players.

On Monday night, when Lewandowski won FIFA's Men's Player of the Year, he thanked Bayern Munich's legendary player Gaid Müller, and Levan said: "Everything he does, he helps me to improve. Levan's current success is often used in comparison with Mueller, an efficient striker whose record has long been considered unbreakable.

In May 2021, just months before Müller's death, the Polish star broke the German Bundesliga record of 40 goals in a single season. Last weekend, he scored his 300th goal in Germany's top flight, trailing Müller by just 65 goals in all-time. Ironically, in a country that has trained so many great shooters over the years, a foreigner challenged to Mueller's throne.

Germany has a special fondness for the traditional Number 9 player. From the moment Müller and his strike partner Uvi Siler began, Germany has always prided itself on having a legendary centre-forward. From Heynckes in Mönchengladbach to Klaus Fischer in Schalke, every big club has had such a player, and Bayern has had such a player in every era. In recent years, however, this well of talent has dried up.

Since Klose withdrew from international football in 2014, this type of German hunter has become an endangered species. Last summer, in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, German national team leader Bierhoff complained that the team was not doing well enough in the box. The brightest stars in the Bundesliga are still strikers, but now they come from other countries. In addition to Lewandowski, there is Also Haaland in Dortmund.

If German football still likes the No. 9 player, why can't it produce such a player on its own? It's an increasingly common problem, and it's been the focus of thought after Germany was eliminated by England at Euro 2020.

Simply put, this is a legacy of the Loew era, when Germany favored more technical and deeper offensive players in both the national and youth teams. That helped them win the World Cup in 2014, but it also paid a price.

Former Cologne and German striker Dieter Müller said in an interview with The Athletic: "The way players are coached now is different from the past. I do think we made mistakes because history tells us that to be successful, we need a good center. ”

Bierhoff told Süddeutsche Zeitung: "[In the academy] we tend to promote players like Götze, who are technically skilled, especially on the edge of the penalty area. We somewhat ignored the traditional qualities of strikers. ”

In other countries, some are enjoying a recovery process as players such as Kane, Immobile and Lukaku have enjoyed success. However, Germany still seems to have too many technically talented players and too few striker players.

(Zhen Shiming)