Monday March 22, 2021
Bierhoff: “Good internal solution”
Kuntz suddenly moves to pole position
Who will be the new national coach? The question also dominates the start of the DFB-Elf to the World Cup qualification. When looking for an heir for Joachim Löw, Oliver Bierhoff surprisingly speaks of a “good internal solution”. U21 coach Stefan Kuntz suddenly takes on the role of favorites.
Oliver Bierhoff hesitated – and suddenly came out with the language. “I’m really in no hurry,” said the DFB director about the search for an heir for national coach Joachim Loew, “because we have a good solution internally at the DFB.” A successor from your own stable? That, emphasized Bierhoff, is “always” the goal of the association.
It was a small bang on the sidelines of the meeting of the German national soccer team in Düsseldorf at the start of the World Cup qualification, which suddenly pushed Stefan Kuntz to pole position. The U21 coach, who starts his selection in the EM on Wednesday, could be this internal solution, possibly with Löw’s current assistant Marcus Sorg. It makes him “proud” that he is “being traded for one of the most important coaching positions in Germany,” said Kuntz of the “Bild” newspaper. And: “It would be a lie if I said that I don’t care about any of this.” But now he wants to concentrate on the tournament with his boys first.
“We don’t have time without end”
And then? The promotion of one’s own man to the boss has a good tradition at the German Football Association: This was the case with the later world championship coaches Sepp Herberger and Helmut Schön, European championship coach Berti Vogts and Löw. “We have already shown that we rate his work positively by extending his contract. The association’s appreciation for him is very high,” said Bierhoff about Kuntz. Sorg is also very popular with him.
“We keep looking at the market in peace and quiet and see what happens – and then decide when the need is really there,” emphasized Bierhoff. That will only be the case with Löw’s departure after the EM in the summer. Then the World Cup qualification continues in September – with the new national coach. Until then, a more prominent coach like the contractually bound Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool FC / 2024) or Hansi Flick (Bayern Munich / 2023) might still be free. Bierhoff could then also have carefully examined the Ralf Rangnick option (without a club).
The internal variant lets him “be a bit calmer,” he said. It is “of course our goal to build good coaches”, added Bierhoff. That applies to the Bundesliga or the national team. This week he wants to hold further talks on the matter with the DFB delegation around President Fritz Keller in Düsseldorf. “We don’t have time without end, but we are not pressed for time,” said Bierhoff.