Hansi Flick recently came under criticism because of the weak performances of the German national soccer team. The current decisions of the national coach at FC Bayern should not be viewed particularly favorably.
The fact that Flick recently went on a confrontation course with stars of the German record champions should be followed closely and “quite critically” on Säbener Strasse, writes the Munich “Abendzeitung”.
Specifically, the paper calls Flick’s decision for Ilkay Gündogan as the new DFB captain in the run-up to the friendly against Japan on Saturday (8:45 p.m.) as a stumbling block.
The FC Barcelona midfielder was surprisingly promoted to his new position by the national coach – in the absence of Manuel Neuer, who is continuing to work on his comeback after breaking his leg at FC Bayern last December.
On the captaincy question, Flick also preferred Gündogan to Joshua Kimmich, who, as Neuer’s previous representative, would actually have been in line to take over the armband – another point that is not exactly causing a storm of enthusiasm in Munich.
FC Bayern: Differences between Hansi Flick and Leon Goretzka?
In addition, Leon Goretzka was not nominated. The former Schalke player recently fought back for his regular place at FC Bayern, but Flick would not be taken into account for the duel with Japan and the subsequent game against runner-up world champions France.
Record national player Lothar Matthäus speculated in a “Sky” interview that there might be non-sporting reasons for Goretzka’s ejection. “We don’t know what happened internally,” whispered the 62-year-old.
The first two international matches of the new season point the way for Flick. If there is no positive trend reversal with a view to the home European Championships next year, the 58-year-old could even be threatened with dismissal from the DFB.
“I’m not in a good mood at the moment when it comes to the German team,” 1990 world champion Olaf Thon told RTL/ntv.