“Audacity! Impertinence!”
Hansi Flick attacks critics unusually sharply
07/24/2023 2:26 p.m
While the women’s DFB-Elf conjures up a spectacle for the start of the World Cup, Hansi Flick still has to deal with criticism of his person. The men’s national coach is now countering at a congress more sharply than ever before – and seems battered.
National coach Hansi Flick has defended himself against the criticism of his person with unprecedented sharpness. “I find it very audacious to claim that the national team does not invite players based on performance,” he said at the 65th International Coaches’ Congress of the Association of German Football Instructors in Bremen.
Flick continues: “What do we get out of it when players who can’t perform like someone else play? That’s why I sometimes find it outrageous how people report it.” He understands that club officials “want to position players” or see things differently. “But we travel a lot, get an idea and I talk to every coach about the players who are there and about potential candidates,” said Flick.
DFB-Elf must be “horny for a goal”
Basically, he had to “put up with” the negative reporting after the latest results, he emphasized: “Where there’s clapping, there’s also whistling. You have to face that as a coach.” But he could not understand the criticism of the personnel selection in March and the experiment with the chain of three in June because he had announced these measures.
The short excitement in an otherwise extremely factual panel discussion showed: The disappointing test games in March and June are still having an effect, Flick is starting the season with the highlight of the European Championship at home – although he unmovedly assured in his dark leather chair: Everything will be fine!
As announced, at the start of the European Championship season in September against Japan and France, Flick wants to set up “the core team” for the 2024 home tournament and “say clearly: This is number one, there is a battle for this position.” His team must be “greedy for goals” and show “the last will to defend goals”. “That’s what matters.”
Flick also reported that he had a clarifying conversation with Niklas Süle, who he criticized (“I appreciate him very much”). And he explained that Joshua Kimmich is still an “option” as a right-back. There will be enough time to get the problems under control before the European Championships. “I am absolutely convinced of the path we are going.”