DFB team “very, very surprised”
Flick and Kimmich comment on Nagelsmann
03/24/2023 2:44 p.m
FC Bayern has not yet confirmed it, but it has long been certain: Julian Nagelsmann is out of FC Bayern. His predecessor, today’s national coach Hansi Flick and the new DFB captain Joshua Kimmich ask for consideration if you have any questions about the Munich personnel change.
The coaching earthquake at FC Bayern shook football in Europe, and the shock waves were also clearly felt in Frankfurt. National coach Hansi Flick was “very, very surprised” by the end of his Munich successor Julian Nagelsmann, whose most important player Joshua Kimmich seemed concerned about the premature end of the “long-term project”, which is to be followed by a new era under Thomas Tuchel.
“It’s not going to inspire everyone,” said Flick the day before the international match against Peru on Saturday (8.45 p.m. / ZDF and in the live ticker on ntv.de). Nevertheless, he sees it as “my job to talk to all the players – I’ve already done that. Now we have to wait and see what really comes out in the end,” said the national coach, because: “Bayern didn’t comment out of respect I don’t want to say anything more to Julian and Bayern.”
Kimmich also emphasized that the decision in Munich was “not made” – but the answers in the DFB-Elf press conference made it clear: There is no longer any doubt that Nagelsmann’s days at Bayern are numbered.
“I can only say that Julian Nagelsmann is an outstanding coach,” said Kimmich on the DFB campus, where the new captain is preparing with the German national team for the first appearance since the botched World Cup in Qatar. “I’ve had a lot of coaches, a lot of top coaches,” Kimmich continued, “he’s easily in the top three.”
João Cancelo finds out in a TV interview
And yet Nagelsmann failed. The fact that Flick and Kimmich emphasized in their comments that they could not say much about the dominant topic of the day does not change that. When Kimmich spoke, the bosses on Säbener Strasse had long since lowered their thumbs. Nagelsmann was to be personally informed of the end after only 631 days in the afternoon, although it had long been in the newspapers and on the Internet – including a successor plan.
Former Dortmund coach Tuchel has been living in Munich again for a few weeks, should start on Monday and is the logical heir. Bayern wanted to get him back in 2018, back then as the successor to Jupp Heynckes. But Munich hesitated too long – and Tuchel signed with Paris St. Germain. In 2020 he lost the final of the Champions League against Flick-Bayern, in 2021 he won the handle pot with Chelsea.
The circumstances of Nagelsmann’s release, as the separation should be called for contractual reasons, led to criticism in the Munich fan camp. Like Nagelsmann, who was on a skiing holiday with his girlfriend Lena, the players were also caught off guard. Winter signing João Cancelo was surprised and wished Nagelsmann “all the luck in the world”. He wanted to “thank him. It was he who wanted me at Bayern, as did the club management,” he said in a TV interview after Portugal’s 4-0 win in the European Championship qualifier against Liechtenstein.