Dhe Presidium of the German Football Association (DFB) decided on a timetable for dealing with the acute crisis of the national team during a conference call on Friday. The committee agreed on a common line. Accordingly, there will be no free ticket for national coach Joachim Löw (FAZ from November 19). With his staff and Oliver Bierhoff as the responsible director for national teams, he is supposed to deliver a substantial analysis up to the upcoming DFB presidium meeting in two weeks.
Bierhoff was asked, since he was already a member of the Presidium, to speak on December 4th. The Presidium waived a “summons” from Löw. The idea behind this is to avoid the impression of a tribunal. Such an approach also threatens to make the prospect of a new national coach engaged, whenever that happens, more difficult.
Bierhoff is to present a convincing strategy on behalf of the national team management, how they envision a return to a successful path in a short time. The semi-finals at the European Championship in a good seven months is the goal that the association and national coach have set themselves. The two-week preparation time until the next meeting of the DFB Presidium is intended to allow everyone involved to calmly rethink the debacle on Tuesday and the consequences of the appearance. This would also leave enough leeway for developing personal conclusions. In the current case, parts of the Presidium criticize the fact that the DFB does not have a sufficient control function in relation to the sporting management. It could not be that Bierhoff alone controls the national team and thus indirectly also himself – and no one else with sporting competence within the association.
On Friday it was not just about the procedure in the Löw case. According to information from this newspaper, there is also an increased need for discussions within the Presidium – on their own behalf. In the meantime, different versions of how the 6-0 draw against Spain was dealt with last Tuesday in Seville and the communication that followed have been circulated. The developments have also led to further tensions within the Presidium. The power struggle that broke out weeks ago in the DFB continues with the dispute over the Löw cause.
According to this newspaper, parts of the Presidium are accusing President Keller of a lurch and poor communication after the bankruptcy in Seville. Keller appeared in the German cabin after the game and emphasized in front of the team that they were a unit. And that you stand together, come what may. It gives the impression that Keller has included the national coach in his expression of solidarity. At first glance, this fits in with the general attitude of the DFB President towards Löw, which Keller had expressed at a meeting with journalists in September at his Baden winery: At the time, he spoke of an excellent trainer. In the cabin, it is said from another source, Keller gave a speech. But exclusively to the players. He did not specifically include the trainer.
The next day, Keller made the only DFB declaration so far. In a statement, the President advocated the chosen path of renewal and rejuvenation with a view beyond the coming summer up to the EM 2024 in his own country. He did not mention the national coach and his future.
Keller’s critics in the association see it as a dithering course. They explain his alleged change of opinion by saying that the president should have realized in the course of Wednesday that sticking to Löw could weaken his own position, if not endanger it, if things go wrong in the summer. This behavior, so it is said by DFB connoisseurs, would suit Keller. As president, he quickly rowed back on other issues.
Behind the scenes, an argument is apparently continuing that has picked up pace since the latest DFB tax affair with house searches in early October and led to Keller’s open power struggle with DFB General Secretary Friedrich Curtius. Since that time, the mistrust in the DFB headquarters has grown again.
When asked how the DFB dealt with the case of the national coach immediately after the 0: 6, Keller is also accused of not having communicated with other members of the DFB delegation after the game as it would have been necessary. The two vice-presidents Rainer Koch and Peter Peters and treasurer Stephan Osnabrügge, members of the DFB delegation in Seville, are said not to have been informed in advance about a joint approach in the Löw case. According to another source, this is a misrepresentation. The conference calls on Thursday and Friday were, as can be heard, unanimous.
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