But the DFB remains optimistic
The unchecked crash of German football
By Tobias Nordman
8/4/2023 8:51 am
And yet another horribly screwed-up tournament: The women of the DFB experience a preliminary round fiasco as the third team after the men and the U21 juniors. The problems are similar. The president of the association does not fear any negative mood.
German football takes one clap after the other. The men embarrassed themselves mercilessly in Qatar, the U21 juniors, another flagship of the DFB, failed in the preliminary round of the European Championship, and now the women are getting it too. At the World Cup, the team goes swimming in the simplest group. The fact that Morocco of all places (a nice outsider story), beaten 6-0 (!) by Germany on the first day of the game, progresses, captures the dimension of this World Cup debacle. And now? Good question. National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (MvT) leaves her future open, but enjoys the trust of her boss.
After the return, which turned out to be very difficult due to great self-importance and the scenario of a knockout in the preliminary round, which was not even thought through in the beginning, an intensive analysis should take place. One can only hope that this will be sharper than that of the men. Hansi Flick was allowed to continue after the Qatar fiasco. What exactly was processed and what conclusions were drawn from it remains a mystery to this day. The team blunders through the test matches, which should enjoy a certain protection against excessive criticism under the label “experiments”. Which didn’t work.
German football is in ruins. This is how the lines have been reading for weeks. With every defeat, with every disappointment, they reappear. And there are hardly any arguments that allow a different analysis. And how the problems are the same. Individual mistakes in defence, lack of ideas in midfield, serious problems in attack. In addition, tactical mistakes by the coaches and a lack of courage in line-ups or substitutions. It runs like a red thread through all the top teams. With one exception: While Flick and Antonio di Salvo, coach of the U21s, are desperately looking for a top striker, the pleasantly self-critical Voss-Tecklenburg has a star in Alexandra Popp. But the cult player alone is not enough. That was all too obvious against South Korea. High balls to the Wolfsburg woman, that was unimaginative. And not successful.
No chain of unfortunate circumstances
The painful knockout series is not a chain of unfortunate circumstances, it is related to major structural deficits. And the fall height is all the higher because the teams had self-confidently proclaimed the title as their goal. A lack of world-class field players (for women it’s just Popp and Lena Oberdorf, for men maybe just İlkay Gündoğan), tactical deficits and the loss of absolute conviction. A few days ago, for example, Flick sounded the alarm again and told the “kicker”: “We have to broadcast again: We are Germany, the others should come here first and they should notice that it will be difficult against us.” The fear of DFB teams has gone.
It is all the more surprising that the top of the association is once again talking things up. President Bernd Neuendorf said on Thursday evening in the “heute journal”: “I wouldn’t be so pessimistic. One thing is the performance of the national team, it’s very sad and very disappointing for all of us – that’s not our claim. But on the other hand we have we have seen a development that will continue.” You have a really great concept, “here at the DFB, which we are pushing towards women’s football. And looking at the men’s home EM, he confessed that he was not afraid of the consequences of the negative series. “I’m very confident that we create this euphoria that comes. It’s also important that we do the right thing on the pitch and don’t just look at what events we were able to bring about in connection with this European Championship, but that we also need sporting success, that’s undisputed.”
But where are these supposed to come from? The gaps to the top nations just seem too big. Nations like France or England seem miles ahead of the pack, technically, tactically and in terms of speed, both for men and women. And where should suddenly more world class come from in key positions in defense and attack? More leading players. A stable hierarchy that leads the teams. This is also currently running through the flagship teams of the DFB. The women may still have credit for past successes. The men don’t have it anymore. The “dark clouds” of the Löw/Bierhoff era were only followed by a small interim high under Flick. But that, too, has warped and given way to indifference. The national team is experiencing an unchecked loss of importance – even though the new DFB reconciler Rudi Völler has ordered a new summer fairy tale for 2024.
In terms of perspective, Neuendorf said that too much “black and white” was painted in German football. The DFB President said “that we have had some success recently”. The football official listed the U17 European Championship titles for women and men as well as the runner-up European Championship for the U19 women. “We certainly have successes in the youth field.” Hope? Certainly. A consolation? Definitely not.