After Ann-Katrin Berger’s sometimes risky goalkeeper game, national coach Christian Wück saw clarification needs. Now a completely different question suddenly arises.
Kim Steinke reports from Zurich
It was a simple sentence with which national coach Christian Wück wanted to create clarity. “We never had a goalkeeper debate,” emphasized the 52-year-old on Friday afternoon at the final press conference of the German National National team. After the 2-1 win against Denmark, he sat with all players as usual and analyzed the game. “The way we always do it after a game.”
Previously, Wück had publicly criticized goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger as part of women’s football European Football. When asked whether he liked it, Wück replied in the ARD briefly and briefly: “No”. The national coach announced that it would “sit down” with Berger to find another solution. “Otherwise I won’t get old anymore.”
On Friday, three days later, Wück looked a bit surprised when he was asked about Berger after the conversation. The national coach described it as a “normal conversation” like with any other player that there was never a discussion. “When I have a conversation with a player in four eyes, you can be sure that it stays internal,” he said.
However, he had not completely dealt with the topic. Because his public criticism of Berger raises questions – less about the goalkeeper than to the national coach herself. Why he only brings the topic of goalkeeper game so clearly in order to then brick it up just as clearly.
Even before the European Championship, Wück’s communication was puzzling here and there. National players such as Carolin Simon or Felicitas Rauch learned about detours from their non -nomination before the tournament in Switzerland before the tournament in Switzerland. While Simon spoke in March about having not had an exchange with the national coach until now, Rauch took a breath in her anger on social networks.
“Not to invite me, that’s one thing. Not to inform me and not even give me a reason, I just don’t understand,” wrote the 29-year-old on Instagram. There she expressed the desire for “much more transparent communication”. Wück accepted the criticism, looked for the conversation and quickly picked up the topic – but the next was not long in coming.
When he appointed Lena Oberdorf to the German squad at the end of May at the end of May, he was promptly confronted with the question: is the player who returned after her cruciate ligament tear on her comeback on the pitch? According to Wück, Oberdorf was hundred percent operational, but the Munich native denied this in her podcast, even spoke of a “ban on play”. After the European Championship general rehearsal against Austria in early June, Wück then explained that the European Championship would come too early for Oberdorf and the German international would therefore not go to Switzerland.
The somewhat irritating communication in the Berger case now recalls these examples of some observers. However, it should be noted in terms of sport: Berger was not flawless, but their individual actions against the Danes all went out well.
That is probably why she remained calm after the Denmark game. “I had a good feeling,” said the goalkeeper from the US team NY/NJ Gotham, who went to dribbling in three scenes and let their opponents run into nothing. “That’s why I would do it again.” On the square, Berger makes decisions that she thinks right: “I love to play football. That is my way.” A complete waiver of risky actions in which she goes into the duel is therefore not realistic for Berger. But: the goalkeeper would be ready to adapt – provided that was required by the national coach.