National coach Hansi Flick is bothered by his job title with the national football team. “I don’t like the word national coach that much anyway,” said the 57-year-old in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
He “can’t say exactly why. But when events always say: Here comes the national coach! That sounds so big. As if who knows who is coming.”
Flick, who heralds “the beginning of the World Cup preparation time” with the Nations League games on September 23 against Hungary in Leipzig and three days later in London against England, sees himself only as part of the coaching team to which he ” one hundred percent” trustworthy.
He delegates many tasks to his assistants Marcus Sorg and Danny Röhl – “it’s out of self-interest, I’m getting close to 60,” said Flick with a smile. At the World Cup in Qatar (November 20 to December 18), Bayern icon Hermann Gerland will also be part of the coaching team.
Flick expects honesty and backbone
“I’m not the boss who says: Here, do some nice work for me, and in the end I’ll take all the praise. That would be too cheap for me, and that wouldn’t be my way either,” explained Flick, who is supported by his colleagues in the The DFB team expects honesty and backbone: “I need coaches who don’t say: Great, coach, great job, you’re the best. I want coaches who also say: Hansi, I don’t think that’s right.”
Flick also confirmed that he would make use of the opportunity granted by the world governing body FIFA to nominate a squad of 26 instead of a squad of 23 for the World Cup.
At the most recent women’s European Championship in England, you saw “how quickly corona failures can occur,” said Flick, “you’re happy when the squad is wider.”