Baden-Württemberg ruled the DFB for almost 20 years: starting with Jürgen Klinsmann (l.), through Joachim Löw (m.) to Hansi Flick.
Foto: imago/ActionPictures
In the moment of success it is worth looking back. The 2-1 win against France was undoubtedly a success. The performance of the German footballers was more important than the victory. Running, fighting and defending with enthusiasm: we haven’t seen such a passionate and team-like performance from the DFB team for a very long time. Sure, those are the “basics,” as Thomas Müller emphasized on Tuesday evening in Dortmund. Like everyone else, the Munich team uses it week after week in everyday league life – it didn’t work in the national jersey.
When Oliver Ruhnert recently looked for reasons for this, it wasn’t well received by everyone. The manager of 1. FC Union criticized the fact that the DFB “only consists of the southwest.” No youth national coach comes from the East or West anymore, but rather everything from Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg and perhaps Hesse. Ruhnert lacks “plurality”. A look at the DFB coaching lists proves him right. At the end of this development is the national team – the goal of all youth players and the flagship of the DFB.
The origin lies in Göppingen: in 2004 Jürgen Klinsmann became national coach. He prescribed urgently needed reforms to German football. And with Joachim Löw from Schönau as his assistant, the national team played well and successfully again. Ten years later, Germany was world champion with national coach Löw. His assistants were Hansi Flick from Heidelberg, Thomas Schneider from Rheinhausen and Marcus Sorg from Ulm, who then also assisted the national coach Flick. For almost 20 years, only Baden-Württemberg ruled.
This is exactly what Ruhnert criticized as a “cocoon” that cannot be broken through. Completely fine. Because the failure began when Löw and Oliver Bierhoff were allowed to create “The Team” at the height of 2014. From then on, the national team lived in a bubble, led by a world champion coach who was resistant to advice and a sports director for whom marketing was more important than football. This was fine with the DFB, as there has always been a lack of sporting expertise among the officials. In doing so, the association gave up control, also trusting that the success would last forever. Criticism from outside did not reach Löw’s logical successor, Flick.
Hopefully the bubble has now burst. Rudi Völler showed how easy it is to bring about change. The win against France should not be overrated. He was able to bring the quality in the team that has always existed in recent years back onto the pitch in a short time. It is also deeply insightful when a world champion like Bastian Schweinsteiger can imagine Louis van Gaal as the new national coach because the Dutchman also tells you when you have played badly.
The DFB took a first step towards a better future on Friday. »Andreas Rettig will be the new Managing Director of Sports at DFB GmbH & Co. KG with immediate effect. In the future, he will be responsible for the national teams and academy,” the association announced the unanimous decision of the supervisory board and the shareholders’ meeting. With the 60-year-old, who has already been an asset to football in many different roles, the DFB is bringing a critical spirit into its own ranks. That can only be a good thing. Likewise, Rettig will now have a say in the search for a new national coach.
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