Coach Hansi Flick, who made history at Bayern Munich, suffered a shock and humiliation and left the German national team.
The German Football Association said on its official website on the 10th (Korean time), “Coach Flick has been dismissed as national team coach. The general shareholders’ meeting and audit committee immediately dismissed coach Flick and his two co-coaches following a proposal by Chairman Bernd Neuendorf. “I decided to do it,” he announced.안전놀이터
“The committee agreed that the national team needs a new impetus after recent disappointing results,” said Neuendorf, head of the German Football Association. “We need a new atmosphere and confidence for UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.” “For me personally, it was the most difficult decision I have ever had to make, because I respect Flick, but sporting success is the top priority for the German Football Association, so the decision was inevitable.”
The German Football Association then explained, “Rudi Völler, Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner will take charge of the national team on a one-off basis for the international match against France in Dortmund next week. The goal is to find a successor to Coach Flick as quickly as possible.”
Coach Flick is a coach that Germany was really looking forward to. Coach Flick, who played in Munich as a player, won the German Bundesliga four times and the Pokal once. After his retirement, he took over as coach of Hoffenheim and served as head coach of the German national team for eight years from 2006, assisting coach Joachim Löw.
He participated in the renaissance of German football with coach Löw. He was with Löw in moments of glory, including finishing second at Euro 2008 and winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Even after stepping down from his position as head coach, he was around Coach Löw while he was the general manager of the German national team.
This is after he took over as Munich head coach in 2019. Coach Flick, who returned as head coach 29 years after leaving Munich as a player in 1990, worked with coach Niko Kovac. Coach Kovac was fired after repeated poor performance at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, and Flick, who was the head coach at the time, took over as acting manager.
Munich left Flick in charge for a while and was looking for a successor. However, under coach Flick, Munich has changed surprisingly. Players who were underperforming under Coach Kovac, such as Thomas Müller, revived and their performance improved surprisingly.
Naturally, the results began to improve and Munich began to run wild. To give wings to the runaway, Munich appointed Flick as the official manager.
Coach Flick produced results that exceeded the expectations of the Munich board. He won the Bundesliga, won the Pokal trophy, and also won the UEFA Champions League (UCL). Even considering that the UCL tournament was held as a single game after all European leagues were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic at the time, Munich set a record of winning all games for the first time in history.
He became the 8th treble coach in history, the 6th UCL championship for the Munich team, and the club’s 2nd treble since the 2012-13 season.
It didn’t end here. Coach Flick won the UEFA Super Cup, German Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup, achieving a feat of six trophies that would not be repeated since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Naturally, he dominated all the individual awards he could receive as a director. From being a head coach in the shadow of Coach Löw, he has now stood tall as the best coach in Europe.
Coach Flick, who took charge of Munich for one more season and led them to the Bundesliga championship, left Allianz Arena amid conflict with the board. Afterwards, he was designated as the successor to Coach Löw and became the head coach of the German national team in 2021. He started as head coach, became general manager, and then became manager.
The prevailing opinion was that he was the perfect successor to Coach Löw because he showed solid leadership in Munich and had been with the German national team for a long time and knew it better than anyone else.
However, Coach Flick went down a steep downhill path that no one expected. They were on a roll in the early 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers, but doubts were raised as they showed increasing disappointment in terms of generational change and tactics, and they began to falter in earnest in the UEFA Nations League.
Nevertheless, there was a lot of public support for coach Flick, but the team continued to perform poorly, including losing to Japan in the Qatar World Cup finals, and was eliminated in the group stage, shocking everyone.
Despite being eliminated from the World Cup group stage, the German Football Association supported Coach Flick. But even after that, it was the worst. Every tactic he came up with failed, and generational change was slow. Looking at the international match in March, we won 2-0 against Peru, lost 2-3 to Belgium, and won 3-3 against Ukraine. They lost 0-1 to Poland, 0-2 to Colombia, and suffered a crushing 1-4 loss to Japan in the deciding blow. They lost all three of their previous games and have lost many of their recent home games.
Looking back on the Japanese war, it was very serious. For the home team Germany, Kai Havertz was at the forefront. The second line included Serge Gnabry, Florian Wurz, and Leroy Sane.
Ilkay Gundogan and Emre Jan worked together in midfield. Nico Schlotterback, Antonio Rudiger, Niklas Süle and Joshua Kimmich made up the defensive line. Marc-Andre ter Stegen guarded the goal.
To counter this, Japan also formed an elite lineup. Starting with Ayase Ueda, the offensive line included Kaoru Mitoma, Daichi Kamada, and Junya Ito. Wataru Endo and Hidemasa Morita were in the third line. The four defenders were Hiroki Ito, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ko Itakura, and Yukinari Sugiwara. The goalkeeper gloves were worn by Keisuke Osako.
Germany had a high market share. On this day, Germany took control of the game with 68% of possession, but was unable to create any opportunities. Rather, the defense was in trouble due to Japan’s efficient counterattack, and easily conceded goals, leading to a crisis.
On the contrary, Japan never missed an opportunity. Japan took the lead with Junya Ito’s first goal in the 11th minute of the first half. Germany balanced the score with Leroy Sane’s equalizer in the 19th minute of the first half.
The joy was short-lived. Japan took the lead again with Ayase Ueda’s lucky goal in the 22nd minute of the first half. Germany, who finished the first half with a score of 1-2, was desperate. Pascal Gross, Robin Gojens, Julian Brandt, and Thomas Müller were brought in to aim for goals.
Japan’s momentum continued in the second half. Germany was unable to check Japan’s build-up at all. Japan’s counterattack began in the 3rd minute of the second half. Japan’s counterattack proceeded with great difficulty. Ueda once again took a decisive opportunity, but this time the result was the same. Daichi followed up with a shot after the ball flowed out, but even this missed.
Japan’s attack continued in the 9th minute of the second half. Germany lost sight of Mitoma and lost sight of Daichi. Daichi’s shot was caught by Ter Stegen. Three minutes later, Mitoma came through and attempted a shot. The opportunity was lost as Ter Stegen went straight in front.
Germany, feeling in crisis, attempted to change the mood by bringing in Pascal Gross and Robin Gojens in the 15th minute of the second half. But the effect was minimal. Germany could not control Japan’s counterattack at all.
In the 25th minute of the second half, Japan had a perfect scoring opportunity again. Mitoma made a perfect pass to the running Takuma Asano. Asano’s shot was blocked by Ter Stegen. Mitoma followed and tried to shoot again, but Ter Stegen made a good save.
The difference in effective shots appeared as a difference in scores. Germany had a high possession rate, but was unable to attack effectively. In the end, the game was completely tilted at the end of the second half. In the 45th minute of the second half, Germany, where all players participated in the attack, completely missed Kubo. Kubo gave up a perfect scoring opportunity to Asano. Asano lightly pushed the ball into the empty goal. Two minutes later, Japan scored an additional goal. Kubo sent in a sensible cross from the right. Ao Tanaka’s exquisite header headed into the net in a trajectory that Ter Stegen could not do anything about. It was the moment when Germany completely collapsed against Japan.
Rudiger’s defensive style also came under criticism. Rudiger made a play where it seemed as if Gojens had lost the ball and Kubo was running, giving up the chase. While Kubo sprinted from under the halfway line, over the halfway line and into the German half, Rudiger returned on foot near the center circle.
In the end, Rudiger’s neglectful defense led to a goal being conceded. If Rudiger had pursued until the end, Asano would have been defended, and Kubo’s only option would have been shooting. However, Rudiger did not chase, so Kubo had two options and chose Asano, who had a higher chance of scoring.
Britain’s ‘Give Me Sports’ focused on the scene and said, “It is difficult to determine what happened to Rudiger’s head when the ball was stolen by Kubo. Was he simply tired and unable to run? Just before receiving the ball, he fell on his knees. He was seen with his hand on his back, implying that he was struggling. Some football fans believed it was due to fatigue, while others believed the suspicious behavior was clear evidence that Rudiger wanted Flick to leave.” .
In a press interview after the game, coach Flick expressed his confidence. “I still think I’m fit to coach Germany, but football is dynamic and you can’t predict what will happen in the future. For now, me and the coaching staff are doing our best to prepare the squad perfectly for the upcoming match against France,” he said. He announced that he would prepare.
He added, “It may be hard to understand, but we are preparing well. There is nothing I can explain. We will keep going. I am confident in our preparations. I will continue in this way.”
Unlike coach Flick, the German Football Association, which is about to host the Euros in its country, took a serious view of the situation. In the end, I decided to fire him. As soon as Germany’s ‘Bild’ broke the news of the imminent dismissal of coach Flick, the German Football Association officially announced the dismissal of coach Flick. It became the first case in German soccer history. Germany’s Sky Sports said, “None of the 10 predecessors in charge of Germany have ever been sacked by the association.”
So far, Germany has had 10 coaches lead the team, but all of them have left the team through voluntary resignation rather than dismissal. Coach Flick left a stain on both his career and the history of German football. His final results were 25 matches, 12 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses. The previous 5 games had 1 draw and 4 losses.
On the 10th, Germany’s ‘Bild’ revealed a list of 10 candidates, asking, “Who can become Manager Flick’s successor?” The media included managers Oliver Glasner, Miroslav Klose, Rudi Völler, Jurgen Klopp, Matthias Sammer, Louis van Gaal, Lothar Matthaus, Zinedine Zidane, Julian Nagelsmann and Jurgen Klinsmann in the list. Among them, the current players are Liverpool coach Klopp and the South Korean national team coach Klinsmann.
Coach Klinsmann already has experience coaching the German national team. Coach Klinsmann took charge of the German national team in 2004 and has experience leading the team for two years. At the time, he led the team to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Coach Klinsmann discovered new talents such as Philipp Lahm and Lukas Podolski, and he was recognized for his leadership by finishing third in the World Cup.
However, his managerial career took a downward turn after that. He played for the U.S. national team from 2011 to 2016. He had little connection with the club team. Although he has experience managing Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin, it is difficult to say that he has achieved success.
About six years after he left Hertha, he was appointed head coach of the South Korea national football team. Seven months have passed since he took office, but public opinion is not good. He is undefeated in 5 games and his credibility is at an all time low due to various controversies. Although he actively participates in interviews with foreign media, his list announcements have been replaced with press releases. Until now, there has never been a press conference to announce the roster ahead of an international match. Although it is not mandatory, it is an opportunity to reveal the reasons for forming the list and plans through a press conference announcing the list. However, because Coach Klinsmann was not in Korea, the press conference was not held. He replaced it with just a press release.
He played the friendly match against Wales in a bad atmosphere. The result was 0-0. The content received great criticism. Throughout the 90 minutes, I had no idea what type of soccer Coach Klinsmann wanted to use, what direction he would take in moving forward, or what kind of soccer he wanted to show in the Asian Cup that he had so emphasized.
There are a lot of crisis theories, but the possibility of leaving Korea for Germany right away seems to be close to zero.
Coach Nagelsmann appears to be a strong candidate. Coach Nagelsmann received a lot of attention when he became the coach of Hoffenheim’s first team in his late 20s. He led Hoffenheim by storm based on tactics with a modern sensibility. Even when he went to Leipzig, he showed his outstanding leadership skills and was mentioned as a young master representing Europe. He seemed to fly even higher after moving to Bayern Munich, where he won the German Bundesliga title.
He was disappointing this season as he showed signs of shakiness and was eventually sacked. Afterwards, whenever there was a vacancy in the manager position at big clubs, Manager Nagelsmann was talked about as a strong candidate for successor. He looked close to Chelsea and Tottenham Hootspur, but neither went. Chelsea appointed manager Mauricio Pochettino, and Tottenham appointed manager Angel Postecoglou. Director Nagelsmann is still a wild man.
PSG approached coach Nagelsmann. In the process of changing the team, it seemed like the plan was to bring in young coach Nagelsmann and bring fresh air to the entire team. The appointment seemed very likely, but negotiations broke down. Britain’s ‘The Athletic’ reported on the 17th (Korean time), “Coach Nagelsmann will not be appointed to PSG. Despite several weeks of negotiations, it has been decided that Nagelsmann will not be appointed as coach. PSG will announce the appointment within the next week. “I hope the appointment work is completed,”
Coach Glasner, who is mentioned, is the manager who successfully led Frankfurt. Coach Glasner is of Austrian nationality, and after his retirement, he began his career as a coach at his former team, SV Ried. Afterwards, he went to LASK Linz, where he proved his leadership skills, and entered the big league as manager of Wolfsburg in 2019. In the 2020-21 season, he ranked 4th in the German Bundesliga and won a UCL ticket, showing that he can work in the big league as well.
He moved to Frankfurt and succeeded in winning the UEFA Europa League (UEL). Although they ranked 11th in the league, they received praise for giving Frankfurt the UEL Trophy for the first time in 42 years. In addition, he proved his ability by confirming his advancement to UCL. Last season, Frankfurt was competing at the top and achieved good results, including reaching the round of 16 of the UCL. He stepped down as Frankfurt’s coach at the end of last season and is currently without a club. He has skills, but since he is not German, the odds do not seem high.
Returning to coach Flick, attention is being paid to who will become his successor and take charge of the tank corps in crisis and take charge of Euro 2024, which will be held in the country next year.