Joachim Low was satisfied with Germany's 3-0 win away to Norway on Sunday and had special praise for Thomas Muller, while admitting that Mario Gotze needs more time to get back to his best.
The defending champions kicked off their World Cup qualifying Group C campaign with a clinical victory in Oslo with a brace from Muller and a Joshua Kimmich strike to go top of the standings.
Muller, 26, failed to score a single goal at Euro 2016 and even missed a penalty in the shoot-out victory over Italy in the quarterfinals. Germany were eliminated in the semifinals by host nation France.
"We played very confidently," Low told reporters. "Norway did not come into play at all and had no opportunities to score.
"For Thomas Muller, I would have preferred it if he would have scored some goals at the European Championship!
"He worked a lot and had many chances but did not score any goals.
"Of course there are things for us to improve -- efficiency, for example, was the big problem against France [in the Euro 2016 semifinals]."
Low also touched on the form of Borussia Dortmund forward Gotze, who started against Norway, only to be substituted on 72 minutes.
"Mario Gotze obviously needs a bit of time," he added. "You can tell that the match practice is lacking.
"He needs a few games to bring back what is expected of him."
Germany will face the Czech Republic on Oct. 9 at home in their second game of Group C.