DFB premiere in a quick check: Flick has a lot more work to do than feared

In the end there are three points and that is the most important message for the German national soccer team. The World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein shows once again how big the task is for the new national coach, Hansi Flick. But he is at least in a positive mood.

What happened in the St. Gallen stadium?

“The journey by bus would have taken up to three and a half hours. In terms of regeneration, this is not ideal for professional athletes.” Almost a year ago, DFB press spokesman Jens Grittner had to justify why the German national soccer team had traveled by plane from Stuttgart to Basel instead of covering the 268 kilometers, according to a popular route planner, halfway climate-consciously by bus. A massive and justified wave of criticism later, the association seems to have learned its lesson: This time the team covered the 246 kilometers from Stuttgart to St. Gallen by bus, repeatedly emphasized with publicity.

There Hansi Flick is national coach for the first time, even if the first reflex is still to type the words “Joachim” and “Löw” after “national coach”. But he said goodbye after an impressive era with the not so impressive knockout in the round of 16 at the European Championship. At best, Flick should bring the starving national team back to their old glory at the World Cup in November 2022. To do this, the DFB-Elf urgently needs to improve from third place in qualifying group J and overtake leaders Armenia and North Macedonia, which surprisingly defeated the German selection 2-1 in March as deservedly.

The first step is against Liechtenstein, but in Switzerland because the stadium in Vaduz is currently under construction. Liechtenstein is a country with around 39,000 inhabitants, as many as Monaco, a little more than San Marino and Gibraltar. There are just three professionals in Martin Stocklasa’s squad, football in the Principality was better off. For Hansi Flick’s debut, this means: there is little to gain and a lot to lose, because anything but a clear victory equals a defeat. This does not change the fact that with Manuel Neuer (spared) and Thomas Müller (left injured) two key players are missing.

Teams and goals

Liechtenstein: Büchel / FC Vaduz (32 years old / 36 international matches) – S. Wolfinger / USV Eschen / Mauren (30/43) from 83.Yildiz / FC Balzers (32/48), Malin / FC Dornbirn 1913 (27/28) from 83 . Kollmann / FC Ruggell (26/3), Kaufmann / USV Eschen / Mauren (30/62), Hofer / FC Biel-Bienne (23/16), Göppel / USV Eschen / Mauren (23/42) – Noah Frick / Neuchatel Xamax (19/9) from 71. Kardesoglu / FC Balzers (24/4), Frommelt / USV Eschen / Mauren (20/11), Hasler / FC Thun (30/76) – Sele / FC Chur 97 (24 / 30) from 61. F. Wolfinger / USV Eschen / Mauren (24/11), Yanik Frick / Energie Cottbus (23/20) from 71. Grünenfelder / FC Balzers (22/4). – Trainer: Stocklasa
Germany: Leno / Arsenal FC (29 years old / 9 international matches) – Baku / VfL Wolfsburg (23/2) from 60. Hofmann / Borussia Mönchengladbach (29/4), Kehrer / Paris St. Germain (24/10), Süle / Bayern Munich (25/33), Gosens / Atalanta Bergamo (27/12) – Kimmich / Bayern Munich (26/60) from 82.Wirtz / Bayer Leverkusen (18/1), Gündoğan / Manchester City (30/50) from 73. Goretzka / Bayern Munich (26/36) – Musiala / Bayern Munich (18/6) from 60. Reus / Borussia Dortmund (32/45), Havertz / FC Chelsea (22/19) from 60. Gnabry / Bayern Munich (26 / 27), Sané / Bayern Munich (25/35) – Werner / Chelsea FC (25/43). – Trainer: Flick
Referee: Fabio Verissimo (Portugal)
Gates: 0: 1 Werner (41.), 0: 2 Sané (77.)
Viewers: 7958 (in St. Gallen)
Yellow cards: no

The 90 minutes in the feature film

15th minute: What feels like the lead for Liechtenstein, simply because no goal has been scored yet. The host playfully shifts to sealing off the penalty area with eight men. Eight is also the number of amateurs in the Liechtenstein line-up, of whom hopefully someone will complain about a German foul with the following Kreisliga classic: “What’s that supposed to mean, we all have to work again tomorrow!”

19th minute: Captain Joshua Kimmich’s flying ball, Robin Gosens header. Outer post, kick. So far, the DFB-Elf have not had such great chances.

30th minute: Applause for Aron Sele, who tries a, well, shot in the direction of the German goal from 45 meters. Sele currently plays for Chur 97 in the fifth division of Switzerland. And keeps the 0-0 here with his team.

41st minute, GOAL FOR GERMANY: The first goalscorer of the Hansi Flick era is Timo Werner. Jamal Musiala dribbles into the middle with speed, picks up from half-left to Werner, who then completes. There it was, the pace that Flick wanted his players to do. And as with the EM, it is Musiala who sets the tone.

53rd minute: As great as Liechtenstein defends, this game is tough. There is even time to check in the Wahl-O-Mat which parties in their program best cover their own interests. Or even with one of the alternatives.

58th minute: Beni Büchel is on the shirt, the full name of the man in the gate is Benjamin Büchel. He delivers a flawless and flawless performance here, in this scene he blocks three German shots on goal and then has to shake himself briefly.

70th minute: If this game were a used car on a sales portal, “For lovers” would be at the end of the ad. In other words: The DFB-Elf seamlessly builds on the performance of the previous games and that is not a compliment.

77th minute, GOAL FOR GERMANY: Leroy Sané scores 2-0. Leon Goretzka plays into the penalty area, Sané lets the defense get out with short, quick steps and successfully aims into the far corner. Courageous prognosis: this is the preliminary decision.

You can find our detailed match report here.

What was good?

The three points for the German national soccer team. And that – getting well soon after Robin Gosens limped off the pitch shortly before the end of the game – nobody seems to have injured himself more seriously. In view of the purely defensive tactics of Liechtenstein, the DFB-Elf was joke, but Flick was apparently unable to restore it in such a short time.

What was bad

There was a lack of speed. Sure, Liechtenstein only focused on defending. But there was still a starting eleven on the field with footballers from the fourth and fifth leagues, who are not even all regulars in their clubs. A German national soccer team has to be able to take advantage of the physical advantages. It was just a game, yes, but the often invoked turnaround has so far only been felt off the pitch. The fact that Liechtenstein finished the 90 minutes without a yellow card is a testament to Germany’s harmlessness.

Is the DFB-Elf now world class again?

Of course not, but nobody seriously expected that. The arduous victory against the outsider shows how much work Flick still has to do when he reaches the goal that the ailing captain Manuel Neuer has given: to become world champion. Very very much.

And what do those involved say?

Hansi Flick: “They defended well. We would have liked to have scored one or the other goal more. We created chances, but it is not a matter of course that the team is convinced that they will score goals. We have to get that. You have to keep trying. Keeping up the pace, forcing the opponent to make mistakes. But I see it positively: We won. Every beginning is not always easy. We want to play Armenia differently. You have to score more goals. It goes on, we go our own way. We have a long way to go. “

Timo Werner: “It was difficult. But we definitely have to score one or two more goals. Liechtenstein scraped every ball off the line in the end. We’re starting to learn what the new coach is asking of us.”

Martin Stocklasa (National coach Liechtenstein): “The defeat is like a victory for us. Such an achievement – the team deserves a lot of respect. We fought against it, that is a sensational result that cannot be valued highly enough. Hansi Flick has Congratulations to me. I got the best out of the resources we have. “

Joshua Kimmich: “Of course we decided to score more goals. We struggled. It was funny, difficult, the opponent defended so deeply, I’ve almost never seen it before. Nothing really worked. The bottom line is that we take We wanted to radiate dynamism, to press. It’s difficult to evaluate this game. It wasn’t really a football game. “

Marco Reus: “I was happy to be there again. Of course, not everything we played there was great – but we won, that counts in the end. The opponent was almost at our own goal. The last pass or the penultimate one was not right. It is a learning process. I am full of optimism. “

The tweet about the game