Friday July 30th 2021
“Selfish reasons” against Tokyo
Kuntz takes over against Bundesliga clubs
The Olympic Games end with a disgrace for the German soccer team. Stefan Kuntz and Co. are back in Germany early. Hardly having landed, the coach reiterated his displeasure with some Bundesliga clubs.
After returning from the Olympic Games in Tokyo, DFB coach Stefan Kuntz once again complained of a lack of support from the Bundesliga. In his squad composition, he was ultimately dependent on how many clubs “want a good Olympic team” to go to the games, said Kuntz after landing in Frankfurt.
Kuntz had only been able to take 18 instead of the 22 allowed players, in Japan the rump team was eliminated after the preliminary round. There were “selfish reasons” for the cancellations, “partly from players, partly from clubs”, said Kuntz: “And then the timing of the Olympics does not play a major role for the clubs. This is how it comes together.”
Shortly before leaving, Kuntz had to do without Niklas Dorsch and Ismail Jakobs, among others, who had to cancel due to a change of club. Dorsch had switched to FC Augsburg, and the club had already dropped two players, Marco Richter and Felix Uduokhai. “You can only get around that by making it mandatory. But it is ridiculous to think about it now,” said Kuntz. One of the lessons is therefore: “You must not and cannot go into such a tournament unprepared.”
In total, the 58-year-old had to cross off a list of around 100 Tokyo candidates. Because of this, the criticism had been great even before the tournament began. Also from the ranks of the players: “We already have a few good players with us. It would have been more possible if all the clubs had taken part. But that wasn’t the case,” Maximilian Arnold told the sports buzzer.
Hans-Joachim Watzke had recently rejected criticism of the Bundesliga after the Olympics. Borussia Dortmund, for example, would not have “been able to give up players in the preparation for the season without shutting down the whole shop,” said the managing director of BVB, adding: “You can’t play an EM first and then the Olympics – and then they should do everything pay, namely the clubs, being the weakest link in the food chain. “
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