Successor to Hansi Flick?
Why Nagelsmann would be a risk for the DFB
9/11/2023 9:31 am
Hansi Flick is history, Rudi Völler should only be a mini interlude: The DFB is looking for a new national coach as soon as possible. Julian Nagelsmann, the former coach of FC Bayern, is available. He is said to be the hottest candidate. However, it would also involve some risks.
Rudi Völler is supposed to save German football. One game has to be enough for that. The fact that the opponent is France doesn’t make things any easier. You could also say: It couldn’t be more difficult. The runner-up world champion has an impressively strong squad and if they really want to bully the unsettled German team, then the debacle on Saturday evening in Wolfsburg could happen on Tuesday evening in Dortmund (9 p.m. on ARD and in the live ticker at ntv.de) be forgotten very quickly. Then everything could end up being much worse. But what actually happens if Germany doesn’t lose? Maybe even win? Is Dampfchaterer Völler perhaps the man who can turn things around for the better?
For the time being there are no signs of this. When looking for a successor for the laid-off national coach Hansi Flick, everything should concentrate on Julian Nagelsmann, also because the absolute preferred candidate (according to “Kicker”) Jürgen Klopp is not available. He had already signaled several times that he wanted to fulfill his contract with the Reds until 2026. This also applies to former Leverkusen player Roger Schmidt, who is also tied to Benfica Lisbon for almost three years. The 56-year-old’s path was being “intensively pursued” by the association’s leadership, but it was said that he had an exit clause of 30 million euros that the cash-strapped association could not pay.
Everything will be very expensive for the DFB
It is only too logical that the name Nagelsmann appears. Even though the 36-year-old failed somewhat badly in his second season at FC Bayern, he is still one of the country’s greatest coaching talents. And is available. In a fairly empty market, this is a very good prerequisite. And yet Nagelsmann is also a personality that is associated with risks. For the coach who has to fight with major problems in German football, including the lack of world class in many positions. These have not disappeared even after Flick. And for the association.
If the DFB really comes to an agreement with Nagelsmann – although we don’t know whether the 36-year-old is really ready for a national team or would rather stay in club football – there are other explosive issues. Because in the DFB team he would meet a big Bayern block. He had a very good relationship with some players, like Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, but apparently less so with others. Even before his dismissal, it was repeatedly said that the trainer had lost parts of the dressing room. Rumors kept cropping up that there was a rift between Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller and the coach. After all, both of them are of such an advanced age that they should no longer need long-term tasks to rebuild the team that is on the ground. But there were also rumors of tension surrounding Musiala and Nagelsmann. That would be more of a problem then. Because the youngster is considered the greatest (the only?) bearer of hope for a successful future.
Or just Völler?
Nagelsmann has been most successful in his career so far when he has been able to build and develop teams. In daily work. When stars grew and didn’t try to defend their places. At the DFB he would take on a hybrid role between both worlds. Developing a new team is essential, but it also requires established hierarchies. Leaders who not only have this claim, but also perceive it. Two national coaches have unsuccessfully worked on the midfield statics with Goretzka, Kimmich and new captain İlkay Gündoğan. Sustainable stability has not emerged. Signing a young coach who comes out of a negative spiral for expensive money is definitely a risk for the cash-strapped DFB.
So philanthropist Rudi Völler? Together with motivator Sandro Wagner and tactician Hannes Wolf, who will sit on the bench as assistant coaches in Dortmund on Tuesday? Or maybe the two novices will take over completely and alone? It would be the cheapest solution, everyone is already employed by the DFB. And structural reforms should be addressed among young talent anyway. Good for the association: it can test the potential solution on Tuesday under the most difficult conditions imaginable.