Yes, it’s international season again. It feels like just a few days ago that Hansi Flick sparked new enthusiasm with his successful start as national coach. The coach now wants to continue on this path. And time is of the essence.
Press spokesman Jens Grittner gave the polite but specific hint that this Tuesday afternoon it was about the national team. Gladly just because of that. And not about the future of the DFB players in the clubs. It was so tempting to ask defender Antonio Rüdiger how it was about a possible move to Bayern. The Chelsea FC player navigated this little cliff with ease. Small spoiler: everything can, nothing has to. But now back to the national team, please. Rüdiger is seated in it. In the club he has made a remarkable development, especially under coach Thomas Tuchel, and is currently in the best shape of his career. If there is currently a head of defense in the DFB team, it is Rüdiger.
Another head of the communications department is Thomas Müller. You don’t have to ask him about his future. At least not if you want to know which club will go on for him. Anything other than FC Bayern would probably be the biggest football sensation of the 2020s. It is more exciting to see how Müller plans his career in the national team. The bitter realization for friends of solid answers: “Anyone who has ever made a plan will have noticed that very few of them have worked.” After all, the next World Cup is not far away and he would like to be in the condition to help the team there. How he is currently doing this is how he sees it: “As soon as I’m on the pitch, I try to get myself into position as best as possible. Then it’s about working with commands. I’m someone who dares more than others I try to make sure that it doesn’t come across as instructive, but that I pass on relevant information. There is also positive feedback. I’ve heard that I infect other players with it. “
So then everything is cleared up without the elementary things really being cleared up. This is the fine art of modern football communication. But the 2022 World Cup is of course a big topic. Because everything that happens now happens with the long-term destination Qatar. Incidentally, it has not been clarified whether the host is also associated with wanderlust. But since the team has already clearly positioned itself on the topic of human rights several times, the touristic anticipation may be limited. But not the sporting ambitions. At the DFB they always emphasized that they would rather return to the very best, i.e. the title contenders, faster than slowly.
Müller explains himself to the fans
However, they do their best to dress the way in humble robes. Despite the successful start of the era under national coach Hansi Flick. If the start against Liechtenstein was a tough attempt to shed Löw’s legacy, then the games against Armenia and Iceland turned out to be euphoric at times. But the love that had been sparked for the long-suffering fans now suffered a bitter damper at the team headquarters in Hamburg. No autographs, no joint photos. Many a supporter of the hotel was disappointed. But it’s still Corona. And the players also continue to be cautious, as Müller soothed: “I have to say that I tend to hold back. I tell the fans that a photo at a distance of two meters is okay. We have many requirements. It is difficult for everyone involved. to find a clear guideline. ” Until the pandemic is really defeated, the national team must inspire their supporters on the pitch, he said, “that is our main job”.
In the struggle to restore normality, the DFB continues to support the vaccination campaign. At the international game against Romanians on Friday evening in Hamburg, three days later the revenge for the home defeat (1: 2) in North Macedonia is due, a bus is ready again to provide vaccinees with a vaccine against corona before kick-off.
Romania, probably the strongest opponent in the group, is waiting for Germany, even if the team is only third behind Armenia in the table. But as is a good tradition under Hansi Flick, you don’t want to deal too much with your opponent, but rather continue to work on your own game idea. According to Müller, this includes many elements of football with which the coach was already successful at FC Bayern. It is also not surprising that many key positions are currently occupied by players from Munich.
Damn many people from Munich
Manuel Neuer is in goal, of course. In defense, the form-strong Niklas Süle will take his place next to Rüdiger. The duo should currently be set. Also because Flick continues to do without the not quite fit Mats Hummels. The man from London accepts that Rüdiger and Süle as partners could soon also be regular competitors: “For me he is a great central defender and a great partner.” Maybe soon in Munich too. But that’s not what it’s supposed to be about. It’s about Germany, about the players and about Flick. Rüdiger can identify well with his philosophy, which sometimes demands a lot of work from the defenders. “Of course I know that I have a lot of green meadow behind me. Sprinting is not my problem, not even from Niklas. He is big as a tree trunk, but fast.”
The subject of speed has kept Rüdiger busy in the past few days. Even a little annoyed. Because in the video game Fifa, his sprint values were not as the player would have expected. He announced that on social media. A little tease that had scratched the 28-year-old’s ego. When asked, he said: “I like to play the competition, Pro Evolution Soccer. I just wanted to tease a bit. I’m not really interested in the rating.” Oh well.
The offensive is also interspersed with the stars of the record champions, with Joshua Kimmich, with Leon Goretzka, with Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry and the equally strong Leroy Sané. Only a top-level striker is missing. But neither FC Bayern nor any other club can help. The two form-fluctuating Chelsea players Timo Werner and Kai Havertz offer themselves as options.
A few talents put a lot of pressure on
Yes, the personal details, they are always the most exciting topic in the run-up to the German games. And these are particularly exciting at the moment. Because with Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, Flick also has two talents in the squad who are already so good that you don’t really want to offer them a place on the bench. With a view to the World Cup in Qatar, this is good news because luxury problems. Something like this has by no means always happened in the past few years. Müller says: “Hansi will have to make decisions that are not easy. That’s what he’s there for, setting the route. We players are there to follow this route. “
Flick will be pleased. But he won’t do this publicly. Flick knows that the gentle euphoria is important, but in the end, only results count. And there is little time left to successfully complete the team’s rebuilding by the first whistle in Qatar. Flick wants to optimize the aggressive and high pressing, he is looking for good and stable solutions on the full-back side and has to solve the striker’s problem. Effectiveness is the key. This also applies to the standards. There the cooperation with special coach Mads Buttgereit had already paid off against Iceland. At FC Bayern in November 2019, he encountered similar monumental initial problems. The trip ended just ten months later at the Champions League final tournament in Lisbon. The reward: the triple.
What works very well is the team spirit. That is why Müller will not take it wrong with his colleague Rüdiger when he admitted at the beginning of his media round: “Sorry for the delay, but Müller chatted too much.” He had really recognized that and himself. “I already have a dry mouth,” said the usual talkative Bayern professional towards the end of his half-hour solo program. Meanwhile, he chatted about the good mood: “The most important thing is that the performance on the pitch is right.” He himself has never seen a team go for a drink and then the passes run like clockwork. “The project manager (Note d. Red .: national coach) will line up as he thinks it will be most successful. I see it relatively relaxed. We have a troop that embodies exactly what we want to be. “
“We are still at the very beginning”, emphasized Müller after the successful three-win start under Flick in September, which he was only able to see as a spectator due to an injury. It all starts with humility – and does it end in Qatar? The title again? By the way, there is one to be tapped for before the World Cup. The Nations League is coming up next summer. Yes indeed. That wasn’t necessarily on the note. Even Thomas Müller was surprised. “I actually thought I’d be off in June. The games have probably already been agreed.” Yes, they are.