Sport criticism of the DFB
“Older players were disposed of at a top level,” says Khedira and warns
Status: 09:54 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Sami Khedira became world champion with Germany in 2014. In an interview, he now criticized the DFB
Source: dpa/Bernd Thissen
Sami Khedira sees major deficits in the German national team and criticizes the training at the DFB. The national team, warns the 2014 world champion, is not an experimental field. He has a clear demand for national coach Hansi Flick.
It was in 2018 that he played the last of his 77 international matches. In the meantime, Sami Khedira has ended his career and acts, among other things, as a TV expert. Until a few weeks ago he worked as a consultant for VfB Stuttgart and is about to complete his master’s degree at the European football association Uefa – the association under whose direction the European Championship tournament will be held in Germany next year.
When it comes to the European Championship, Khedira, the 2014 world champion, is very worried about the German national soccer team, although he still has hopes of a successful tournament. “The EM is a character test,” said the 36-year-old former professional to the “kicker”.
also read
In the next four games against Japan, France, the USA and Mexico, it’s about finding a team that has character and personality, emphasized the former midfielder: “And that develops the awareness of wanting to play for Germany and giving everything for it to leave the place. If that succeeds, I am convinced that we can rekindle euphoria in our own country.”
“It can be difficult and end badly”
However, Khedira warned: “But if we believe that we have to bring the best individual players in the country onto the pitch, it can become difficult and end badly.” The former midfielder asked national coach Hansi Flick to nominate the best, regardless of age.
also read
Sustainable muscle building
“Four or five years ago we started with the philosophy of giving young players the opportunity to become a national team player, sometimes too easily,” criticized Khedira. “Older players at a top level – like Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels or Thomas Müller – were disposed of because young players allegedly needed space to develop. Something like that is a fatal sign for me.” The best have to be invited. “The national team is not an experimental field to test young players. We have a U21 team for that,” said the 77-time national player.
The national team would be missing certain components, which would not be possible in ten months before the European Championships. “It will be several years before we get a corresponding number 9 again. And when I look at our full-backs and compare them to Philipp Lahm, that’s just not the level that we had in Germany and that we need to dominate games against other nations,” explained Khedira.
also read
The training is overprofessional. “Everything is structured homogeneously, so you only produce the same types of players,” he complained. The players must be transported: “We want to win every game, every cross has to be right, every header, every goal. This is competitive sport and the sooner I internalize it, the quicker it becomes a habit.”
According to his own statement, Khedira has not yet spoken specifically with the DFB about a possible commitment as a sporting director. At the beginning of June it was reported that Khedira and coach Hannes Wolf should form a kind of dual leadership at DFB in the future.
