Uli Hoeness feels Joachim Löw made the right decision to step down after this summer

In a recent TV appearance on RTL, Uli Hoeness said that he felt Joachim Löw made the right decision to announce his stepping down as the German National Team manager after this summer’s European Championships. He said that it was “the totally right decision” from Löw and revealed that the two had a phone conversation at the beginning of this week prior to the announcement being made on Tuesday morning (Sport Bild).

“He seemed totally relaxed, liberated. The longer the conversation lasted, the more I had the feeling that it was a good decision,” Hoeness said of the phone call he shared with Löw. He added that it was a long, good conversation, which suggests that Löw had probably made his mind up prior to the conversation with Hoeness, and that he was completely at peace with the decision.

Hoeness also added that the announcement also takes some pressure off of Löw, but puts more on the players on the German national team to perform well. Everyone now knows that there will be a managerial change after the tournament this summer, which could motivate all of the players involved to stake their claims for whoever Löw’s successor is going to be, which the DFB has confirmed will be announced prior to the tournament kicking off in June. “The prerequisites for experiencing a good European Championship are better now because it is a new situation. The players know that they have to distinguish themselves for a successor and are now under more pressure than usual,” Hoeness explained.

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There have been a handful of names linked with the candidacy to replace Löw including Bayern Munich’s Hansi Flick, Ralf Rangnick, and Germany U-21 manager Stefan Kuntz. Hoeness said he didn’t want to participate in the speculation of who will get the nod from the DFB, though. “I do not want to participate in this situation at the moment and thus fuel speculation. I would recommend to the DFB to calmly resolve the issue and not to take part in the big discussion here in public. But make a clear decision for yourself,” Bayern’s honorary president said.

Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp was quick to remove himself from the running when he was one named touted to succeed Löw, but Flick has yet to comment on the matter and many believe that he’s still the frontrunner to get the job. Without diving too deep into that issues, Hoeness said, “We didn’t talk about it [Flick leaving] internally at all. But from my point of view there is nothing new. That would only fuel the discussions. I don’t think now is the time to comment on such things.”