Loew needs to get tough, says Bayern boss

Germany coach Joachim Loew needs to get tough with his stars in the national squad, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has said ahead of the Germans World Cup qualifiers against Ireland and Sweden.

Germany play the Republic of Ireland at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Friday then host Sweden at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on Tuesday October 16.

Loew's team began their Brazil 2014 campaign with a lacklustre 3-0 win over minnows Faroe Islands last month followed by a 2-1 win over Austria in Vienna, but Germany failed to shine on both occasions.

Hoeness says the mild-mannered Loew should rethink his attitude towards his players and toughen up in a bid to get more out of them.

"He has to put more pressure on them and not only be in a good mood," Hoeness told German magazine Der Spiegel.

Before Euro 2012 held in June by Poland and Ukraine, Loew took his players to meet German Formula One legend Michael Schumacher.

"There was too much concern with which Formula One race to take the players to keep them in a good mood," said Hoeness as Germany finished third at Euro 2012 after losing to Italy in the semi-final.

"Everything went into the preparations, like which table tennis table had to be flown where, even to the top of Mont Blanc if need be.

"Sometimes less is more."

The Germany squad will gather in Frankfurt on Monday to begin preparations for Friday's match against Ireland.

Loew welcomes back vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger of Bayern Munich after an ankle injury, while Lazio veteran Miroslav Klose is the sole striker named in the squad.

Captain Philipp Lahm is carrying a bruised left shin, but will travel as will midfielder Thomas Mueller who picked up a cut cheek in Bayern's 2-0 win over Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

"We will approach the game so that we go into the winter break with six more points," said Loew.

"We have drawn the right conclusions from our last match, as we made a lot of mistakes in terms of our structure and taking our game forward.

"This needs to be rectified. We need to get more stability."