“It can’t get any worse”
Hansi Flick has to change and (almost) everything has to change
06/24/2023, 06:46 am
After the German national team’s three friendly games without a win against Ukraine (3:3), Poland (0:1) and Colombia (0:2), there is great uncertainty in football in Germany – as is the dissatisfaction ahead of the European Championship at home in the coming Year. What’s next?
What is Hansi Flick doing now? A relaxing vacation is unthinkable, the sporting crisis and the criticism of his person will continue to occupy the national coach after the end of the season. In the coaching team, Flick will primarily analyze the most recent setbacks and draw initial conclusions. He may also visit the U21 European Championships currently taking place in Georgia, where Flick can scrutinize candidates for the start of the European Championship season in September. In current surveys, the national coach is losing more and more approval and trust among the fans. In our ntv.de voting, only 25 percent are still convinced that Flick is the right man. In polls by other media, the approval rating is even lower.
Does Flick still have to fear being kicked out? No. There will be no crisis meeting of the task force set up after the failed World Cup, as DFB President Bernd Neuendorf confirmed. Flick also assured him in a phone call “that we will see a team in September that will perform differently than last time”. Sports director Rudi Völler also did not move away from the job guarantee he made before the recent defeat against Colombia. Incidentally, he himself ruled out the consequences after the sobering triple pack. In Gelsenkirchen, where there was a 2-0 defeat against Colombia, he was once again stubbornly convinced of his path – although his experiments “went astray”, as he himself admits.
Völler has nevertheless called for consequences, what does that mean? The sporting director has announced that some players will no longer be nominated in September. This is also a clear mandate for Flick. Of course, the national coach has to decide – but the two probably speak with one voice here.
Who could it hit? That is difficult to say. Some have “reached their limits,” emphasizes Völler, and this statement can now be interpreted in the media. Exchanging supposed followers probably does nothing for the core of the team, if there will be one in the future. Whether Flick goes to established players, such as Leon Goretzka or Leroy Sané, is questionable: damaging central defender Niklas Süle with the non-nomination and massive criticism was an own goal.
What are the main tasks that Flick approach? The most urgent task is “to really tie down and name a tribe of 10, 12, 14 players,” said Flick. Means: The time of fatal experiments (keyword chain of three) and wild testing of players is over. Flick will choose the best for the 4-2-3-1 system, others will lose out. He will also have to explain himself early on about Thomas Müller’s personality: Either the Bayern star is a fixed point for him until the European Championships – or he’s finally out. And: Flick has to appear differently in public after the break. The perseverance slogans have to give way to a spirit of optimism in order to ignite the EM euphoria after all.
What is hope? Currently: little. Germany has won four of the last 16 international matches – against an Italian B-Elf, Oman, Costa Rica and Peru. The Bayern players were exhausted towards the end of the season, the Dortmunders have the trauma of the title in their bones. But both can change quickly. Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz could take the next step before the European Championships – and Flick is now forced to be uncompromising, which he should have shown beforehand.
What’s next for the players? They say goodbye on vacation. This is urgently needed after a very long season with a world championship that went badly in many respects. It is important to recharge your batteries and clear your mind, after all, many players did not end the season well with their clubs either. From mid-July, the preparations for the new season will begin for the national players at club level – from then on there will be no more excuses for the DFB selection.
What do the experts say? The first demand for a separation from Flick has already been made. Ex-national player Dietmar Hamann said on Sky: “The danger that things will go wrong with him is so great that you have to act now.” A lack of alternatives shouldn’t be an exclusion criterion either: “It can’t get any worse than it is at the moment.” Record national player Lothar Matthäus, on the other hand, would give Flick another chance – unless there were internal doubts and a better candidate. “Then of course you have to pull the ripcord.” Former national coach Berti Vogts, on the other hand, said when asked by dpa: “Hansi Flick is not at fault at all.” The mistakes were made in the training of the DFB and the clubs. Bastian Schweinsteiger criticized the experimental phase on ARD a year before the European Championships at home: “Because it doesn’t create the special spirit that then pushes you as a team.”
How is the mood among the organizers of the home EM? Tournament director Philipp Lahm is concerned. The ex-world champion had described the situation as “tense” even before the defeat against Colombia. It now needs “a clear strategy” – but also a new national coach? Perhaps Lahm will position himself publicly in this regard at the presentation of the ideas competition for EURO 2024 on Thursday in Hamburg.
Why does the DFB have to keep an eye on the finances when it comes to coaching? The association has to turn over every euro, the financial situation has been tense for years. The new DFB campus alone has to be maintained with 18 million euros a year. The association recorded a minus of 33.5 million euros in the financial report due to necessary tax provisions. For a holistic consolidation concept, individual departments must implement measures by the end of June. The DFB expects more money from the new basic contract with the German Football League. The current agreement expires on June 30th.
What are the next tasks? After the defeat at the World Cup, the German team again challenges Japan in Wolfsburg on September 9th, three days later the vice world champions France are waiting in Dortmund. A trip to the USA will follow in October, the meaning of which is already being questioned.