A good week after the knockout of the knockout round at the European Football Championship, national player Thomas Müller drew a personal conclusion by also criticizing the cautious tournament tactics of national coach Joachim Löw.

"The frustration and anger" about the early retirement are still deep in the 31-year-old Bayern Munich attacking player, even with a few days' gap.

For Müller, the German team is "deservedly eliminated".

After only one victory in four European Championship games, the returnee to the national team said: “We lacked the necessary effectiveness at both ends of the pitch.” On Monday, Müller commented on Löw's tactical direction in his Internet newsletter: “With our efforts, through to stay a rather wait-and-see, compact defensive strategy without conceding a goal, we have in fact failed. "

Own future still open

In the opinion of the 2014 world champion, it was definitely not down to the team's attitude: “The troop I came across had the quality, the will and the work ethic to build on old successes.” Löw had brought Müller back to the European Championship .

During his vacation until the next season with FC Bayern, he wanted to “try to let your legs and soul dangle a bit,” wrote Müller.

He personally tries to "convert disappointments like the EM into positive work energy".

Müller leaves his own future in the DFB team completely open.

He did not comment on it.

Mats Hummels, who von Löw also brought back especially for the tournament, had left open his future.

The Borussia Dortmund defender is in no rush.

"I'll do that sometime in a couple of weeks," was his first reaction to the question about the future. Like Müller, the other world champion from Rio will weigh up all the details after the second disappointment in the tournament. Defense chief probably not.

Toni Kroos already drew the line

It was different with Toni Kroos.

Three days after the failure of the German national team, it had already announced its decision.

"I've played for Germany 106 times, there won't be another time," he wrote in a statement on Instagram.

In the future he wanted to be “more there than husband and dad for my wife and my three children”.

The step had become apparent. "Actually, I should have stopped in 2014", Kroos had recently said, after all, he had promised his wife: If he was world champion, he would break up. In 2018 he also “thought about it”, but national coach Joachim Löw changed his mind again. The longing for more time with his "Jessi" and the children Leon, Amelie and Fin has grown even greater since then. Now she has triumphed over the desire to win another title in the DFB jersey.