The actual assistant coach Britta Carlson is now taking over the management of the DFB team in the absence of her boss.
Foto: imago/Beautiful Sports
Pressure or disharmony didn’t necessarily show on their faces. During the morning training session on the DFB campus, Sydney Lohmann joked with Giulia Gwinn, before Alexandra Popp and Merle Frohms delighted younger fans in particular with selfies and autographs at the public session in the Brentanobad stadium in the afternoon. And yet the good mood program of the German footballers could not hide the fact that the Nations League games against Denmark in Viborg this Friday (6 p.m. / ARD) and then against Iceland in Bochum (Tuesday 6.15 p.m. / ZDF) in a dangerous, even grueling state of limbo that is anything but conducive to the longed-for Olympic qualification.
Between the two sessions on Tuesday, interim coach Britta Carlson and sporting director Joti Chatzialexiou spoke at a press conference for the first time since the World Cup disaster. First of all: Without the sick national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, who, according to her husband Hermann Tecklenburg, is suffering from burnout symptoms, the urgently needed process of coming to terms with the many atmospheric disturbances in Australia will not be possible. “We have a duty of care, and that is that Martina gets well in the meantime, everything else follows after that,” emphasized Chatzialexiou. Only when the 55-year-old returns can the results of the discussions be superimposed and published. But no one knows when “MVT” will report being healthy again.
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»We would have liked to have carried out the analysis already because then we could have taken off the World Cup backpack. “Unfortunately that’s not the case and it’s an unusual situation for us overall,” lamented the DFB manager. So we only took a quick look in the rearview mirror, but more in-depth research into the causes would be important. Carlson even didn’t want to address the sometimes complete lack of communication with many irritated actors. She simply contradicted the accusation that she, too, had a falling out with her boss during the failed mission to the third star Down Under.
»Our relationship hasn’t changed. It’s a resilient relationship – if it’s just harmonious, you won’t get anywhere,” said the assistant coach, who has now been given responsibility. Nevertheless, she wants to approach the “new situation” for the 45-year-old “positively”, knowing that winning this preliminary group in the Nations League – the third and easiest opponent in the group of four is Wales – will not be a sure thing. Almost casually, the former national player and long-time assistant coach at VfL Wolfsburg ruled out possibly taking over the job as national coach if Voss-Tecklenburg was no longer able or willing to continue.
She could imagine being a head coach at some point – “but that would be more at club level. That’s out of the question for me at the national level.” There are personal reasons for that, but “I prefer to be on the pitch more often.” This makes it clear: If the new sports director Andreas Rettig finds out that Voss-Tecklenburg is no longer moving forward, then Carlson will not take his place. In addition, Chatzialexiou could soon be history in his role as sporting director. “My future is not relevant,” asserted the 47-year-old, who did not want to reveal whether he had expressed his interest in the still open position as director of women’s football. He wants to bring his energy into the two international matches, “everything else after that.” The German-Greek, who has worked for the association for two decades, is valued for his expertise, but President Bernd Neuendorf presumably does not see him as the “strong personality” that is needed in this crisis of trust.
Names like Almuth Schult (ex-national goalkeeper and television expert), Bianca Rech (FC Bayern), Viola Odebrecht (RB Leipzig), Ralf Kellermann (VfL Wolfsburg) or Tatjanna Haenni (manager of the US professional league NWSL) would then have to be on the list of candidates. who bring different know-how with them. Anyone who listens behind the scenes cannot avoid the prediction: The DFB women, once the leading figurehead, are currently only sixth in the FIFA world rankings, are facing a stormy autumn that may soon require a completely new start at management level .
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