Jürgen Klinsmann is among the names being considered for the next head coach of the German national team.
“Following a proposal by association president Bernd Neuendorf, the DFB’s shareholders’ meeting and supervisory board today decided to dismiss national team manager Flick and two coaches with immediate effect,” the German Football Association (DFB) announced on its website on Tuesday.
“The committee agreed that the men’s national team needs a new impetus after recent disappointing results. We need to be confident going into the UEFA European Championship (Euro) on home soil. This has been the most difficult decision of my tenure so far. Because I valued Coach Flick and his coaches as football professionals and people. However, the DFB’s top priority is success, so this decision was inevitable,” said DFB President Joachim Loew, explaining his reasons for dismissing Flick and his staff.
The DFB explained that Rudi Feller, Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner will be in charge of the squad for the A match against France. For the upcoming friendlies, the DFB plans to use an acting coach and quickly find a replacement for Flick.
Feller, who took over as acting coach at short notice, said: “Coach Flick has been exhausted over the last few months. He and his staff gave everything they had to improve the situation after being eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar. Unfortunately, today we have to say that we did not succeed. The game against Japan clearly showed that we can no longer progress in this situation. This is not an easy moment for me, because I have supported Coach Flick with everything since I joined the DFB in February.”
Feller continued: “But we have to act responsibly and change something so that we can act as a host nation in the tournament we all want to see. That’s what the German fans expect from us. I will therefore temporarily take charge of one match against France together with Wolf and Wagner. The most urgent task is to quickly reorganize the team and bring in a coach who will prepare us for the tournament. We all hope that this will give a positive impetus to German football and the country as a whole. In the long term, we want to appoint a national team coach who will take the national team to the level we know and expect.”
Flick is no stranger to the German national team, having served as head coach under former coach Joachim Loew. After stepping down as head coach at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Flick served as director of the DFB before joining Bayern Munich as coach in 2019. He took the reins at the end of 2019 after the resignation of then-Munich coach Niko Kovac.
It was a season of leadership for Flick. Despite being at the helm of the Bavarian giants for a season, the club won the German Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and UEFA Champions League (UCL) in his first season, achieving a triple in the process. Flick remained in charge of Munich for the following season before succeeding Löw at the helm of the German national team in 2021.
His career with the German national team was not a good one. The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was one of the worst. While the buildup to the World Cup and the qualifying process were good, the team’s performances and results didn’t match up in the tournament, and Germany was eliminated in the group stage with one win, one draw, and one loss. This was their second consecutive group stage exit since the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. A humiliating upset loss to Japan proved fatal.
The UEFA Nations League (UNL) was no different. Criticism of the team’s inability to improve their performances, despite the results, plagued Flick. The same was true for the trials against non-European nations, and there were calls in Germany for Flick to be fired as soon as possible ahead of Euro 2024 on home soil.
The final nail in the coffin came in the coffin against Japan. Germany suffered a 1-4 defeat in a friendly against Japan during A-Match Week in September. After conceding an early goal to Japan, Germany equalized, but then conceded the next three goals to suffer another humiliating defeat. This was Germany’s first ever three-point defeat against an Asian nation, and it was also their second straight loss to Japan after the last World Cup in Qatar, which made it even more bitter.
The match was similar to the one in Qatar. Germany had a tough time converting their chances into goals despite enjoying a high percentage of possession, while Japan’s sharp counterattacks made it difficult for them. Germany fell behind early, conceding an early goal to Junya Ito in the 11th minute. They breathed a sigh of relief when Leroy Sane equalized in the 19th minute, but little did they know it would be their last goal of the game. Germany conceded a second goal to Ayase Ueda just three minutes after the equalizer, giving Japan the lead again.
Germany tried to shake things up with their substitutions, but the German mercenariness didn’t have much effect. In particular, they lacked sharpness on offense, converting just three of their 11 shots on goal on the day. They were lucky to find the back of the net once. Conversely, Japan had a tougher time, allowing a whopping 11 shots on goal. In the end, Germany conceded a late goal to Takuma Asano in the 45th minute and another to Ao Tanaka in stoppage time, resulting in a 1-4 loss.
In the immediate aftermath of the defeat, there were calls in Germany for Flick to be sacked, with the loss to Japan fueling the negative publicity surrounding the team’s performance and lack of results. Local media in Germany were quick to call for Flick to be fired. Even before the announcement of Flick’s dismissal, the German newspaper Bild listed a number of possible replacements. Among them was Klinsmann, who is currently in charge of the South Korean national soccer team.
All eyes will inevitably be on Klinsmann. Klinsmann began coaching the South Korean national soccer team in March of this year, taking over from Paulo Bento. At the time of his appointment, Klinsmann declared that he would give the team a tactical color based on offensive soccer, saying that he preferred offensive soccer because he was a striker, but half a year later, he is leading the team without a clear color.
Controversy abounds. In the nearly six months since his appointment, Klinsmann has only been in South Korea for about two months. Klinsmann has been criticized for focusing on other duties, such as appearing on ESPN’s panel to analyze Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Inter Miami and giving his opinion on Harry Kane’s rumored move to Bayern Munich.
More recently, his appearance at the UEFA Champions League (UCL) group draw raised questions. The main question was why he was attending an event that had nothing to do with the national team when he was supposed to be preparing for the September A match. The game against Wales ended in a draw, and Klinsmann’s name was included on the roster for Chelsea and Munich’s Legends Match, which caused further controversy.
As a result, many fans have raised their eyebrows at Klinsmann’s name as a possible candidate for the next German national team coach. However, Klinsmann still has many years left on his contract with South Korea, and it is highly unlikely that he will return to the German national team after losing the trust of the German soccer community and fans during his previous stints with the national team and Hertha Berlin.
Despite this, Flick is determined to stay in charge. Speaking to local media after the Japan game, he said, “I think I’m still the right man for the job. Football is a dynamic sport. You never know what will happen in the future. I and the coaching staff are doing our best to prepare the squad to perfection.”
He also spoke about his desire to be fully prepared for France. “I know it’s hard to understand, but we are well prepared. “It’s hard to understand, but we are well prepared. I’m confident in our preparation,” he said after the loss. Despite his confidence, however, Flick was eventually sacked.
It was the first time in the DFB’s 123-year history. Prior to his dismissal, Germany’s Sky Sports reported, “Flick faces the prospect of losing his job after a disgraceful performance against Japan. It is the first time in the DFB’s 123-year history that a national team coach has been sacked. None of his 10 predecessors was ever sacked by the DFB.”
According to the media outlet, from Otto Nertz, the first coach selected by the DFB in 1927, to Löw, who recently resigned, all resigned voluntarily. He hung up the baton of his own volition. For the first time, Flick has the dubious distinction of being the first coach to be sacked by the DFB.
The question of who will succeed Flick is also of interest to Chomi. Bild lists Oliver Glasner, Miroslav Klose, Feller, Jürgen Klopp, Matthias Zummer, Klinsmann, Louis van Gaal, Lothar Matthaeus, Zinedine Zidane, and Julian Nagelsmann as possible candidates for the German job. Most of them are either former German legends or outstanding managers of German nationality, while others are non-German but considered greats. 소닉카지노
None of the previous managers of the German national team were German. The DFB has continued the tradition by appointing German coaches from the first coach, Nertz, to Flick. In this regard, it is noteworthy that neither Van Gaal nor Zidane were nominated, regardless of their reputation. Typically, soccer powers take a lot of pride in their football, so it’s interesting to see managers from neighboring countries and rivals, the Netherlands and France, nominated.
In the immediate future, Van Gaal led the Netherlands to the quarterfinals at the last World Cup. However, Van Gaal stepped down after the World Cup in Qatar and is currently taking a break from coaching due to health issues. There are also concerns that Van Gaal’s advanced age may prevent him from leading the national team for a long time.
Zidane has been in the wilderness for a long time since leaving Real Madrid. While he achieved the unprecedented feat of winning three consecutive UCL titles with Real, he hasn’t been linked to any specific club since then, with only the possibility of another job being discussed. Most recently, speculation emerged that he would succeed Didier Deschamps as head coach of the French national team, but the French Football Federation (FFF) dismissed the rumors by re-signing Deschamps to a new contract.
Liverpool’s Klopp, who is the most highly regarded of the current German managers, is also in good company. However, Klopp still has a year left on his contract with the Reds, and with the Premier League (PL) now in full swing, it’s unlikely the Reds will let him go anytime soon.