- Hansi Flick sacked as Germany’s head coach following a 4-1 loss to Japan, deepening the team’s troubles before the European Championship
- Rudi Völler to lead Germany in their upcoming friendly against France, as they aim to regain their form for Euro 2024
Hansi Flick was fired as Germany’s head coach on Sunday, the country’s football federation (DFB) announced, one day after a 4-1 loss to Japan deepened the squad’s gloom ahead of next year’s European Championship, which the country will host.
The DFB announced that director Rudi Völler would be one of three coaches in charge of the team’s next game, a friendly against France in Dortmund on Tuesday.
Germany has lost four of their last five games and was eliminated from the World Cup group stage last year.
After the loss to Japan, Flick stated that he wanted to stay as coach and insisted that he was the right person for the job. The announcement came just hours after he led the team in a public training session attended by fans on Sunday.
Flick won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2020 before taking over as Germany’s manager the following year. He won his first eight games without facing any of Europe’s top teams, but he has only four wins in his last 17 games.
Germany captain Ilkay Gündogan supported Flick’s decision to stay after the Japan game but said the team lacked cohesion.
“A lot of our players are having a mental battle with themselves.” “There is no confidence, no understanding for the timing, for making the right decisions on the pitch,” Gündogan told beIN Sports.
The interim coaching staff faces a difficult task against France, who have won all five Euro 2024 qualifiers without conceding a single goal since losing on penalties to Argentina in the World Cup final last year.
Julian Nagelsmann is a possible long-term replacement. He was Flick’s successor at Bayern until March when he was replaced by Thomas Tuchel. Following the France game, Germany will play the United States on October 14 and Mexico four days later.
Now, us in charge, have to act in order to be able to play next year at the Euro the demanding and ambitious role of hosts that we are hoping to play. That is what German fans rightly expect from us,” said Völler, who was national team coach from 2000 to 2004.
The most urgent thing is then to bring in a national team coach who at short notice can redirect and prepare our team for the big Euro tournament next year.
We expect from them, as does the whole country, positive impulses. A coach who can lift our level to where we know and expect it to be.