Sami Khedira fires off at Germany coach Joachim Löw for axing senior players

Former VfB Stuttgart and Real Madrid man, Sami Khedira echoed the voice of fans and several critics, condemning Joachim Löw's old decision (Bild via Goal) of axing Bayern Munich's Thomas Müller, Jerome Boateng and Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels with a plan to "develop" unproven young players in their place — a move that has proven to be futile for more than two years now.

Khedira emphasized the importance of senior players to younger players to learn from and challenge for starting spots on the pitch.

Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images

"If you have good young players, then they first have to assert themselves against older players of the same quality,” Khedira said. “But if I clear the streets for young players and say: ‘You are young, you are a candidate for 2022 or 2024’, that for me is absolutely the wrong call.”

Since Germany's implosion at the World Cup in Russia, the national team has really gone nowhere.

"The national team has lost a bit of its identity in recent years,” Khedira said. “Every club stands for something. The national team, on the other hand, is currently looking for what it stands for. That shows that what was started after the 2018 World Cup is not yet bearing fruit.”

Being a fan himself, Khedira stated the current lack of the enthusiasm among fans to watch a Germany game.

“I would like people to sit in front of the TV again and say: ‘Great, Germany is playing.’ I know that feeling from my time as a fan. I was part of the German fan block at the 2008 European Championship,” Khedira explained.

The rattling and humiliating 6-0 loss to Spain summed up the current state of things in Die Mannschaft. Despite all of that, the DFB decided to stick with Löw as Germany's coach until the Euros, albeit this time with Löw finally open to bringing back the senior players he unceremoniously axed for no particular individual faults of their own.

While this news might come as schadenfreude to some, Khedira feels Löw walking back on his decisions and recalling Müller and co. would be a display of mental strength rather than weakness. When asked whether it would be weak from Löw to call back the seniors, Khedira disagreed.

"He would be a strong person," he said.

Müller, Boateng and Hummels have proven since the last season the amount of incredible contribution they can provide — both on the pitch and in the locker room. The sooner Löw makes the inevitable decision, the better his and Germany's chances are to salvage their Euro hopes.