Germany Fires Head Coach Hansi Flick After Japan Loss
The Germany Football Association (DFB) announced the firing of German national team head coach Hansi Flick on Sunday following a shocking 4-1 defeat to Japan in a friendly match just one day prior. The DFB said that the current director of the national team Rudi Völler would be one of three coaches to take charge of Germany’s next friendly match against France on Tuesday.
Flick’s firing comes following an abysmal run of form for Germany as they prepare to host the 2024 European Championship. While this might seem like something that would motivate the Germans, this has not been the case. They have failed to win any of their last five games and have looked nothing like the German teams of old.
Recently, Germany has lost 1-0 to Poland, tied Ukraine 3-3 and was embarrassed on home soil 2-0 by Colombia in June. The 4-1 drubbing to Japan was the final straw as Flick saw his catastrophic tenure as Germany’s head coach come to an early end.
Expectations were high for Flick when he took over the German head coaching job in 2021. At first, it appeared like he was the right man for the job as he led Germany to eight wins in his first eight games in charge. This was as good as it got, however. In his next 17 games at the helm, Germany only won four and suffered a premature exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the group stage.
Although Germany’s recent games have only been friendlies, the DFB was unable to ignore the negative impact that these poor performances have had on the squad. Germany’s captain İlkay Gündoğan addressed this in an interview following the Japan loss, claiming that the players are lacking confidence heading into the 2024 Euros.
“A lot of our players, they are in a mental fight with themselves. There’s no confidence, there’s no understanding for the timing, for the right decisions on the pitch,” Gündogan told broadcaster beIN.
Julian Nagelsmann is being touted as the likely replacement for Flick. If he does get the job, then he has a tall task ahead to help Germany regain their confidence before next summer.
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