Wie die Engländer Löw sehen
One hell of a cool dude
Text: Titus Chalk Bild: Imago
Seit drei Wochen weilt unser englischer Mitarbeiter Titus Chalk in Berlin. Als der wichtigste Mann Deutschlands kommt ihm ein Herr mit asymmetrischer Frisur vor: Jogi Löw. Hier schildert er seinen Eindruck.
Managing a football-mad nation such as England or Germany can be a daunting task, one that has toppled numerous pretenders down the years in often-ignominious circumstances. But as far as I can tell from my limited stay in Germany so far, both nations seem to be going through a period of quiet satisfaction with the management of their respective teams. In England’s case, the august Fabio Capello – sometimes dubbed »Don Fabio« – continues to lead in his own stoical, no-nonsense way, and despite the weekend’s lacklustre showing against Brazil, a 1-0 defeat, retains the faith of players and fans alike.
Now what about Joachim Löw? As a foreigner here, my perceptions of him, and those of English fans, are largely based on the impression he made during the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008 – and that largely, is of one hell of a cool dude. At the World Cup, we suspected he was the brains behind the wacky Jürgen Klinsmann, whose Californian methods we had marvelled at in the papers before the tournament. Löw appeared at his shoulder looking crisp and sophisticated, with a trendy asymmetric haircut, that to English eyes had something of the aging raver about it. It fitted in nicely to all the great stories we were hearing about Berlin and its incredible nightlife – this was surely a cat who knew it well, and who even had a funky name to boot.
In the build-up to Euro 2008, as England toiled under a promoted assistant, we wondered how Joachim Löw was getting on. Were Germans being subjected to the same fate? Someone promoted beyond their ability, leading the national team to calamity? Well, it wasn’t all gravy (the draw against Cyprus was embarrassing), but Loew got Germany there – and then to the final, where I think even German fans would admit the team who played the best football at the tournament went on to win it. Throughout though, Löw cut a dashing figure on the touchline and proved he had the acumen to succeed at the highest level. Even when he was sent to the stands in the final group game against Austria, he managed to finesse it with a few judicious high-fives and handshakes – not least with Kanzlerin Angela Merkel.
»Jogi« exists in a cross-cultural black hole
In my two and a bit weeks in Germany so far though, I have seen a slightly different side to Joachim Löw. First I caught him on television, advertising men’s grooming products and my jaw nearly hit the floor. Then a cardboard cut-out of his likeness beamed its winning smile at me from the window of a travel agent on Karl Marx Allee. Just what is going on? I’m used to seeing players appear in adverts, but managers? And one who I thought was vaguely edgy? I’ve obviously got this completely wrong somehow and »Jogi« exists in a cross-cultural black hole that I can’t quite understand.
A football writer who I met in the street whilst trying to find a good Currywurst Bude assures me that this has had no impact on his reputation and that Löw remains, in his words »the best German manager at the moment.« A colleague meanwhile, explained to me that Löw is perfect for adverts, because he’s the kind of guy that mums like.
Perhaps I am too used to seeing England managers ridiculed in the tabloid press to know that, were any to appear in an excruciatingly bad advert such as the Jogi’s deodorant one, he would be torn apart by the papers and laughed out of town. I certainly can’t imagine the stony-faced sophisticate Fabio Cappello popping up on my screen to advise me about my personal hygiene any time soon, though it has to be said, he has got himself into a few scrapes on TV:
No, no adverts for Fabio. He would however be the perfect tour guide. Brian Barwick, the former FA Chief Executive who appointed the Italian to the England job, revealed last week: »He is a great lover of classical music, art and museums. The last game we played with me in the role was in Berlin. On the morning of the game, I was walking around the hotel and Fabio asked me what I was going to do with the rest of the day.«
»When I shrugged he instantly wrote down five museums and told me to go see them all. It is not really my thing but I went to one of them so I could tell him I had been. When I couldn’t answer his questions about the other four later, he just rolled his eyes.«
So – in the England hot-seat, an inscrutable culture vulture with a titantic record of success in European football. And pacing the German technical area, a unthreatening and friendly guy who could break you mum’s heart and sell ice to Eskimos. Who would you rather have? And who do you think would come out on top if the two sides met at the World Cup?
