There’s plenty to talk about from yesterday’s press conference and not all of it good, but there is one of Jogi’s mistakes that he corrected which interests me above all else. It’s something which wasn’t the most talked about but is what I’m happiest about, and that’s the inclusion of Nils Petersen in the squad again. As for things I did see coming, well I was only half right on that count. Thomas Schneider is no longer Jogi’s assistant but Hansi is not replacing him and coming back, that was too much to hope for (I think in reality I knew that but it was a nice dream whilst it lasted, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still have a little hope for it happening) instead Marcus Sorg will take his place on the bench.
All in all it was a little underwhelming, given that they took eight weeks to come up with this and they talked about big changes. I respect Jogi for admitting his mistakes and for saying he was arrogant in his way of thinking, though it’s interesting to note that Oliver is still very defensive about the whole thing. Football matters aside one very interesting topic was that of the Özil situation, the day he had his little online tantrum and released that stupid letter I did write a very angry and long post about the whole thing. But I deleted it, deciding such an angry post served no purpose whatsoever. I’m glad I did, but my feelings on the situation remain the same, in fact learning about his behaviour towards Jogi only strengthens them. Whatever you think of the situation, whether you agree with his accusations of racism or not, there is one thing no-one can dispute, he behaved in an extremely disrespectful way towards Jogi. More than that Özil has shown himself to be pathetic, if he wanted to retire from international football, fine, but the least he could do is be a man about the situation and speak to his coach himself. The irony is Jogi was the one defending him, both during and after the photo scandal, nice to see how he repays that loyalty, misplaced as it was. There’s no way they should have defended his actions at all, if a German player had been photographed with a public figure from a far right (or far left for that matter) non-democratic party they would have been kicked out of the squad without a second thought. And for him to play the victim card is just absurd, I think I’ll reserve my sympathy for the people suffering as a result of Erdogan thanks, not some overpaid spoilt football player who doesn’t even live in the country.
