Munich - Germany captain Michael Ballack has defended his recent criticism on coach Joachim Loew, naming it a wakeup call. "Sometimes you have to go public deliberately in order to shake things up. There were a few irritations during and after the European championships," Ballack told German pay-TV network Premiere ahead of the European Champions League match of his club Chelsea at Girondins Bordeaux on Wednesday.
Ballack said "you can't discuss everything internally," insisted he "issued his opinion in decent way" and said "I didn't want to attack anyone."
The midfielder also said while not everyone was happy that he went public, there was hardly any criticism on the opinion he had voiced.
Ballack, 32, had attacked Loew in a newspaper interview last month after veteran fellow-midfielder Torsten Frings was benched for two World Cup qualifiers. The captain questioned Loew's selection criteria and said he lacked respect for long-time Germany players.
Loew ordered Ballack to apologize which happened during a meeting four weeks ago. As a result, Ballack remained on the team and its captain.
Ballack's latest statement came a week after Loew addressed the entire squad to lay down some guidelines on player behaviour after several conflicts and the public complaints from Ballack and Frings.
