It's a perception that many in Germany feel, rightly or wrongly. My take is that the revolution in German coaching which largely resulted from the disaster that was the 1998-2004 period (which only yielded a solitary World Cup runners-up spot) has polarised opinions. Up to 1996, Germany was, unquestionably, the most effective football nation on Earth. Three World Cup wins, three European Championship wins, four more World Cup runners up spots, and another Euro second place meant that Germany had played in 11 major finals by 1998. Not even the Italians could get close.
Such reliable success meant that people almost overlooked the genius-level footballers that Germany produced. Brazilians, Italians, and Argentinians were considered great producers of brilliant individuals full of flair, but the Germans pumped out just as many - except they were better known for actually winning. The old joke is true. A great German team wins the World Cup. A good one merely makes the final. Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Lothar Matthaüs, and Matthias Sammer are among the greatest players who ever lived. All Ballon d'Or winners. Fritz Walter, Uwe Seeler, Paul Breitner, Bernd Schuster, Rudi Völler, Jurgen Klinsmann, Oliver Kahn, Philipp Lahm, the list goes on and on. German footballers were often gifted but also had unbeatable mentality.
Then came the fallow period when only Kahn and Michael Ballack were world-class (1998 - 2004). A real Löw. So Jögi came in as Klinsmann's assistant and identified the need for better technique and coaching (something Ralf Rangnick had been banging on about for years). The Germans went back to basics. Löw, a clever tactician, took it too far, in the view of some, and modeled his approach on the dominant Spanish method. His fantastically exciting 2010 side was actually a brilliant counter-attacking team. But they were young and narrowly lost to peak Spain. So he altered the approach and won the following World Cup with a more possession-based style. Interestingly, the best performance was the counter-attacking obliteration of Brazil, but they were generally less exciting from 2012.
That 2014 team was full of brilliant players. But tiki-taka was in the ascendancy and Guardiola took it to Bayern, reinforcing the Spanish stranglehold. He was lauded...for taking the dominant European Champion club, that had humiliated Barcelona to the tune of seven goals, and turning them into continental losers, consistently losing to the top three Spanish clubs. Under Pep, they won nothing outside their own country, despite being masterful under Jupp Heynckes. But, for many, it was "the right way to play". This mentality infected the upcoming German generation (Draxler, etc.) and they put on many a technically brilliant show. But won nothing. The national team went into decline. It's instructive that Bayern's latest success has been backboned by heroes of 2014 (Neuer, Müller) and brilliant foreigners (Lewandowski). There are very few of the new generation of German players in that side, with only Kimmich (a proper old-school German player with the ideal combination of technique and mentality) truly prominent (though Gnabry and Goretzka have had their moments).
Losing 6-0 to Spain recently is a new Löw for Jögi and he's surely finished come Euro 2020. Some Germans feel that his ersatz Spaniards were never going to beat the originals at their own game - and this was simply final definitive proof. The Draxler generation has made a fortune on the basis of some nice technique and naff all silverware. Germans are used to winning major tournaments - or making finals - but this lot has done nothing since the Lahm/Schweinsteiger generation won in 2014. While Löw is rightly blamed for staying too loyal to the old guard in 2018 and going out at the first hurdle for the first time since 1938, there is an argument that almost none of the new generation stepped up to force his hand. Werner flopped, despite starting. Even Kimmich disappointed. Sane was left at home. Draxler just disappeared. Basically, these lads have no flag bearer to compare with the best players of previous generations. There is nobody to contend for a Ballon d'Or. No superstar. Loads of money, loads of entitlement, loads of affectation. Zero silverware. That, essentially, is why they are considered pampered. Standards are high here and these lads, unlike Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller, genuine living legends of the German and world game, have failed. They stand accused of being inferior knock-offs of the Spanish system, abandoning the successful Made in Germany production line that was world-beating at it best.
Superb post mate
Begs the questions why have we only ever had Thomas Hitzelsperger and Steffan Wessels as our only 2 German players!
