DFB hierarchy without Hummels
Flick gives his old FC Bayern all power
By Tobias Nordman
11/11/2022 11:21 am
National coach Hansi Flick trusts the Bayern block at the World Cup in Qatar. It’s not a surprise, after all he knows that he can rely on the players of the record champions. Without Mats Hummels they now get all the power.
Hansi Flick has not forgotten his old love. Even if his extremely successful time as head coach at FC Bayern was overshadowed by a raging power struggle with sports director Hasan Salihamidžić and ultimately led to the separation, the federal Hansi still knows what he has in his Munich team. For the World Cup in Qatar he called up seven players from the record champions. All will play key roles. Likewise Niklas Sule. Although he is now a Borusse (a Dortmunder), he was a fixture for Flick at Bayern Munich. Among other things, he defended it against all the colossal kilo-and-fitness debates.
So the scaffolding is up. It’s Bavarian. That’s not a surprise. However, Mats Hummels will not play in the desert World Cup. The Dortmunder is the most in-form and most reliable central defender with the right to play for the DFB team this season. What the national coach acknowledged in his brief justification for not being nominated. He has amassed plenty of sporting arguments to earn a role in the squad. His timing in the duel is strong again, his game opening is still outstanding. He is the boss, although with Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck two new top central defenders had been signed. So far he has been able to make up for the eternal speed deficits with clever positional play. And yet Flick does without the only non-Bavarian leading player besides Real Madrid’s Antonio Rüdiger. The 33-year-old announced via Instagram that not being called was one of “the biggest disappointments of my career”.
The national coach has an eye on the future. And that explains it. Without really explaining why he really decided against Hummels. But in two years the home European Championship is coming up. An Armel Bella-Kotchap – he has been playing (in case someone doesn’t know) after a strong Bundesliga year at VfL Bochum in the Premier League since the summer at FC Southampton – could then play an important role and can feel in Qatar how that’s how it is in a tournament. The fact that Flick would rather nominate a 20-year-old for the desert team than an opinionated alpha animal is also a statement that he probably cannot assess how Hummels fits into a hierarchy in which he would not have played a major role. Because Süle (also conceivable as a right defender, but rather unlikely) and Rüdiger should form the defensive inner block.
Hummels as a free radical
In Dortmund, the 33-year-old was not only noticed by the fact that he took top strikers out of the game in rows, but also with accusatory interviews about the social media football of some teammates. He complained about too many flourishes and not enough seriousness. Hummels is a free radical, a potential risk to team chemistry. That’s how it can be interpreted, even if Flick emphasized when announcing the squad that the 33-year-old’s internally polarizing criticism had no influence on his decision. But now there is a squad in which the FC Bayern footballers get all the power. Without any hierarchical interference. Flick relies on harmony. On the spirit of the legendary Campo Baiha. FC Bayern footballers get all the power, in their positions and as leaders in the different parts of the team. Just like in the joint Champions League victory in 2020 against Paris St. Germain. Even if the goalscorer with Kingsley Coman was French at the time.
Manuel Neuer in goal, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka as powerhouses in central midfield, Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sané on the flanks and, now things are getting a little tricky, Jamal Musiala and/or Thomas Müller as tens/hanging striker. In fact, the question of whether super talent, head of communications or both is likely to be the most difficult for Flick. The highly acclaimed returnee Mario Götze, despite his extraordinary and unique skills, is certainly only a joker at first. Both Musiala and Müller are indispensable because of their completely different qualities. But where to go with one and where with the other? Both are not made for the storm center. Müller has sufficient evidence for this. If one of the two moves to the (right) side, Gnabry could move in front. He knows that and is ready for it. However, the high edge option would then become obsolete. Unlike with a Kai Havertz (first regular place candidate) or a DFB debutant Niclas Füllkrug.
Flick has time to answer this question in Oman from Monday, where the national team is treating itself to a mini-preparation, although the word of the time does not do justice. In any case, it is more important for the coach that the Bayern players have managed to overcome their minor and major form crises (also as a result of injuries). How dependent the DFB team is on the stars of the record champions became all too clear at the end of September in Leipzig when there was a 1-0 defeat against Hungary in the Nations League. Kimmich was closely monitored and found little avenue for creative liberation. Gnabry wandered the field without confidence. Müller and Sané tried, but couldn’t take control of the game. Musiala came late, had a clever idea, otherwise sorted himself into the unimaginative collective. Neuer and Goretzka were missing because of Corona.
Bayern crisis weighed on the DFB team
The result was a bankruptcy that shocked Germany. Under the direction of Flick and after Joachim Löw, the form and mood of the team only went up. Hardly anyone expected that there would be a hard hammer blow on the nut so shortly before the World Cup. Nothing fitted together because the central axis just didn’t work. Because the Bayern block was completely out of shape.
The fact that the situation has changed is the greatest relief for the national coach. He admitted that when he was nominated. “I have Julian (Editor’s note: Nagelsmann, FC Bayern coach) wrote a whatsapp. I’m happy that you’re performing so well.” Flick said that in a joking tone. But he must have meant it as seriously as possible. Because he needs Munich as a stable backbone, as an excellent footballer anyway, as the leader of the quiet representatives around Jonas Hofmann, Lukas Klostermann (instead of EM discovery Robin Gosens), Thilo Kehrer and Julian Brandt, as leaders for the next generation around the squad surprise Bella-Kotchap, around Karim Adeyemi and the still 17-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko.
“Greed, playfulness and exceptional quality”
Now it is important for Flick to press the “greed, joy of playing and extraordinary quality” of the Munich team (that’s what the sports director of the record champions, Hasan Salihamidzic) says in the right system. Maybe even with a real nine. Maybe with a filling jug as the German Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting? Themes for Oman. But it is clear that the processes at FC Bayern are correct. Transforming them is the key to success. Captain Neuer reminded us of that again these days. In the 2014 World Cup triumph, it was fundamentally important that Bayern “were up to par and played well”. At that time, six Munich were set – and a Mats Hummels in top form.
Incidentally, the Qatar door for the Dortmunder is not yet finally closed and the key has been sunk in the Persian Gulf. If a player is injured and a FIFA doctor confirms this, Flick can nominate up to 24 hours before the first game. (Very) little suspense: Antonio Rüdiger has (slight) hip problems.
