Bhen looking out of the glass front of the DFB academy at the snow-covered training ground in cold Frankfurt, Hansi Flick was once again overcome by the big World Cup blues. The national coach has not yet digested the painful preliminary round with the national team. “Everything was fine until yesterday. Now I’ve caught a cold again. Of course the disappointment is still there. When you see the games, the thought comes, “could we have been there too?” You have to ask yourself that question. But the fact is that we were eliminated early and we have to take responsibility for that. It’s just a shame,” said Flick in an interview with the German Press Agency.
Shortly before the final between the seemingly overpowering finalists from Argentina and France on Sunday (4 p.m. ARD and Magenta), the national coach is still in the middle of his very personal World Cup analysis. The very quick job guarantee given by the DFB leadership around President Bernd Neuendorf has not changed that. And Flick’s answers still revolve around the many missed opportunities, a good two weeks after the knockout in Al-Khour.
National coach Hans-Dieter Flick also commented on his personal future with the DFB
Source: dpa/Thomas Boecker
“We lacked efficiency. And defensively it was just average because we didn’t have enough compactness there,” is the sportingly sobering conclusion. He will watch the final on Sunday at home – not without melancholy. “Both teams deserve to be in this final,” said Flick. Unlike the German team, he said not.
National coach Flick criticizes politics
For Flick, the work-up goes much further. The 57-year-old complained that the World Cup was politicized, the mood among the fans at home was bad, and far too many topics aside from football. With the “One Love” bandage as the culmination point. Flick wants to bring the focus back to football. “That’s our job – it would be nice if we were allowed to do that. Others are trained for politics,” he criticized the public expectations of his team and German politics. “French President Emmanuel Macron said something like, ‘Football is becoming too politicised. Our players should concentrate on football. I do politics. That would have been a good sign, also for us,” he said.
Flick sees himself and his players as committed to the disappointed fans. “We are in debt. We have to generate enthusiasm again,” said Flick. The general mood didn’t improve after the tournament in Qatar. “As a team, we want to show the fans: We get it, we want to give everything, we want to play for Germany, we’re proud of it and we’re looking forward to this home European Championship.”
Flick wants to talk to his World Cup players before the turn of the year. “I’ll be on the phone a lot over the next few days so that I can finish the World Cup and look ahead, that’s important to me,” he announced. He also wants to talk to Thomas Müller. A resignation of the veteran is not an automatism for him. The 33-year-old could even become an EM factor at the home tournament in summer 2024. Italy also became European champions in 2021 with the veterans Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. “That’s why you can never say categorically that someone is too old. It’s about the idea of performance – and we have that,” assured Flick.
He himself never thought of resigning – and he doesn’t make his stay in office dependent on the decision about the successor for ex-managing director and friend Oliver Bierhoff. “I am convinced that it will fit. It was never a thought for me to resign,” said Flick.
His emotional words for Bierhoff after his departure just four days after the World Cup knockout were intended as an award for his work and not as a threat of personal consequences. “Oliver has done a lot for German football, I wanted to express that. And that in no way means that I don’t work with his successor in a spirit of trust,” said Flick.
Flick defends DFB expert advice
Flick has high hopes for the work of the two working groups established at the German Football Association. With regard to communication with Flick, DFB President Neuendorf emphasized that everything discussed in the committees would be fed back to the national coach. “I am sure that we will come to an amicable solution,” said Neuendorf.
Flick defended the expert council around Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Oliver Kahn and Matthias Sammer against criticism that it was not heterogeneously staffed. “First of all, you have to see that they are real personalities in German football, and they all have a lot of experience. You know what matters. That’s why I think it’s great that they have agreed to provide advice,” said Flick.
Intrigues or animosity are not announced, said the national coach. “There’s the national team, with the question of where we’re going and the question of how we can close ranks with the clubs, which is important. Because it is clear that we can only be successful together. We have to go in the same direction,” he called for support on the way to EM 2024.
