Joachim Löw: Germany have to improve before the Euros

German national team coach Joachim Löw has admitted that his side will have to improve if they hope to compete at this summer's European championships in France.

Following a surprise 3-2 defeat to England in Berlin on Saturday and a lackluster qualifying campaign, Löw's side have raised a number of questions over their ability to compete with the very best sides in Europe.

In an interview with the DFB website, Löw admitted his side weren't good enough against England because they didn't play their usual style of game against Roy Hodgson's determined team.

He said: "We allowed England a lot of chances on Saturday and we didn't build our attacks the way we usually do. We had problems with our build-up game throughout the entire match and consequently didn't create many opportunities of our own.

"We allowed England a crazy amount of space, despite holding a lead. We can't allow that to happen." He added: "We weren't always convincing during our qualifying campaign and we need to learn from that. We have to improve before the Euros in the summer."

Germany face an equally challenging test on Tuesday when they welcome Italy to the Allianz Arena in Munich - another side who will be in contention for the European title come June and an opponent Löw's team will surely have to do better against if they hope to keep their critics at bay.

"I did not see Italy's game against Spain, but I have been told they put in a great performance," said Löw. "Italy are always among the favorites at the Euros. They will be very competitive.

"The world champions are automatically among the favourites to win the European title, but so are France, Belgium, Italy and Spain - they all have the ambition to win the title."