Oh no, Jogi!
I guess by now everyone has seen at least one video, a picture or a phrase regarding Jogi Löw and what he does with his hands. At this point there is no comment needed about how disgusting and unappropriate his behaviour in front of the cameras is, we all know that.
Not so much in print media, but on different online platforms and networks (Facebook, Instagram, Jodel, Twitter etc.) Löw is made fun of and derided. I admit that I thought it was funny, too. But at some point I just got tired of the jokes, not because they were less funny, but because I thought at some point it really became unfair. I think that he has achieved so much with his team and that he is doing a great job, but the Internet community reduces him to being the “disgusting one” despite his success. Don’t you think his achievements deserve more appreciation?
The problem here is that people love mistakes and social scandals (sounding like Gossip Girl here). Every step, especially in the period of the European championship, the players and coaches take are being watched, judged by journalists, reporters and viewers waiting for something to talk about. Repeating the same thing over and over again, the public image created around Jogi Löw gets worse and worse until he is only a fool. Sympathy and admiration are gone. He finds himself in the center of attention and suddenly he is famous for something disgusting and unwanted.
Though he was given the chance to justify or explain what he did, things did not get better. Actually he was made fun of even more.
Actually I think it is some kind of bullying what’s going on online. And it has reached a point now where people associate Jogi Löw with being disgusting. It’s kind of sad to see how fast his reputation changed from being a successful football coach to a disgusting fool. And here we can see the power of the Media. It has a huge influence on people’s reputation! And especially the power of the Internet and social networks: The videos and pictures are shared, people around the world see them, and suddenly not only people from Germany or people who watched the match know what he did, but the whole world! The other day I had a friend from Korea sharing one of these videos on Facebook ...
Honestly, I don’t want to be in Jogi’s skin.