DFB team: Rudi Völler sees “dark clouds” for German football

DFB sports director in the Bundestag

Rudi Völler sees good chances of sporting success for the German national team at the home European Championship in summer 2024. However, the new DFB sports director predicted hard times for the future. “First we try to win people back and then we try it at the European Championships,” Völler said at a meeting of the Sports Committee of the Bundestag on Wednesday in Berlin.

But the 1990 world champion didn’t want to promise the European title. And: Völler didn’t want to hide the “dark clouds” over German football either. You still have “great boys” for four, five, six years. After that it could be difficult because of the lack of youngsters at the top level with great success, so the 62-year-old.

The development of German talent has repeatedly been the subject of criticism in recent years. The former successful U21 coach Stefan Kuntz only said in December: “The basic question is how much you can influence the youth work. We have autonomous state associations and clubs, in which everyone follows their own philosophy.” The federal system in Germany also has advantages, “but we have to find a solution that fits our system.”

After the preliminary round at the 2018 World Cup, the German Football Association initiated reforms in the promotion of talent in German football with the “Project Future”. With some of its proposals, however, the umbrella organization encountered resistance and criticism from state associations, youth academies and clubs. During his time with the DFB, Kuntz had often criticized that young German players were given too little playing time in the Bundesliga (to the professional debutants in the Bundesliga 2022/23).

At the beginning of 2022, Kuntz’s successor Antonio Di Salvo also warned: “In the early days as assistant coach of the U21s, I watched Bundesliga and sometimes Champions League games to watch. There were seasoned Bundesliga players who didn’t make it into the U21s because there were better ones. For the current and last cycle I scouted a lot in the 2nd league. But some of our boys didn’t play at all. This is an extremely dangerous trend.”

At that point in time, foreign players born in 2000 and 2001 played twice as long in the Bundesliga as DFB talents. “It’s extreme. In the other leagues, the number of minutes played by the local U21 players is three or four times as high,” explained Di Salvo. “We lack the breadth of players who get practice in the Bundesliga. Our pool of candidates is much smaller than that of the French or the English. Some of them play with us in the Bundesliga, but many others in the domestic leagues.” The quality of the youngsters from abroad is not necessarily better, as the title win in 2021 showed.

Rudi Völler on EM: “I’m optimistic” – debate about World Cup failure with politics

Because of the time limit, Völler was allowed to comment on the sporting perspective “quickly”. “It won’t be easy, but I’m optimistic,” was the quintessence of the execution of Oliver Bierhoff’s successor for the European Championship perspective. Everyone would have to “pull themselves together a bit”. Völler and DFB President Bernd Neuendorf had been invited to Berlin by parliamentarians to come to terms with the early failure of the World Cup in Qatar.

The topic of the meeting in the center of power was primarily the Qatar failure a good two months ago, and in addition to Völler, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf, a former SPD State Secretary and a political professional, had to ask probing questions about the Flick-Elf’s appearance in the Gulf, which ended early . Sport was one thing. But the sports-political debacle surrounding the one-love armband was of no less interest to the politicians.

A member of the Bundestag reported a full house. The half circle of seats reserved for guests on the balcony above the meeting room was also jam-packed. Some parliamentarians took the opportunity to take a fan photo with Völler. Almost all factions exceeded the allotted time limit with the questions. It was also about party opinion and party interests. Football was once again the vehicle.

The discussion about the one love motif on Manuel Neuer’s captain’s armband took up a lot of space. As well as the questions about the decision that led to the mouth-to-mouth gesture in the team photo against Japan (1: 2). Neuendorf went into detail about the dilemma surrounding the short-term FIFA ban on the bandage. “We were in a situation where we didn’t know how far the penalty would go,” said the DFB boss about the situation before the publicly criticized waiving of the symbolic bandage after a FIFA word of power. “There was a certain drama in there. We had little time and had to act. In my opinion, FIFA was the trigger of the situation,” said Neuendorf.

Völler followed the politicians’ debates about the time quotas in the committee with amazement. “I don’t know that from football,” said the ex-team boss. “Everyone always babbles as much as they want.” When the time was up and Neuendorf was still expected in the Human Rights Committee, Völler offered to stay for further questions, provided a hot drink would be served. “There’s not even a coffee here.”

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