Rudi Völler wins as interim coach with the German national team against France and has exactly the effect that the DFB had hoped for. His presence and a simple concept changed the mood.
When it comes to the defining figures of German football and the Bundesliga, his name may not be mentioned first, but it will be mentioned quickly: Rudi Völler played his first game in the Bundesliga in 1980, which was not even an adult at the time. He’s been there ever since, even if he wasn’t always in the middle of it because his job sometimes took him to Rome and Marseille.
If Rudi Völler, who is so bad at saying “no”, cancels his participation in the “60 Years of the Bundesliga” gala, then there must be a good reason. “I’m giving myself a little break. The last few days have been very tiring and stressful,” said Völler on Tuesday (September 12th, 2023) shortly before midnight in Dortmund, when the start of the German Football League gala in Berlin was just under 18 hours away was removed.
More relaxed atmosphere when looking for a trainer
The stress was worth it, at least for Völler, because with him as interim coach, the German national team won 2-1 against France, thereby creating a change in mood that would last at least until the next international break. On October 9th the selection of the German Football Association (DFB) will go to the USA. “Ideally,” says Völler, the new national coach would also get on the plane.
The voice of the people, represented by the German fans among the 60,000 spectators in Dortmund, would have preferred to force the job on him immediately by acclamation. But the 63-year-old Völler had already defended himself against this. And the success against the 2018 world champion and runner-up at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar didn’t change his mind at all.
Völler sometimes says “no”, but that doesn’t mean he has a quiet few weeks, because with DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and multi-functional Hans-Joachim Watzke, the sports director will now have to find the new national coach under time pressure.
The advantage for the DFB is that this can take place in a much more relaxed atmosphere than expected after the 1:4 against Japan and the subsequent release of Hansi Flick. Völler and his two assistants Hannes Wolf and Sandro Wagner made sure of that because they breathed life into the team.
A game like from the time when Rudi Völler was still playing
The French played along because their desire for effort and stress was manageable. But they also felt from the first minute that the German team was willing to perform like a German team in which Rudi Völler still wore the jersey.
The coaching trio chose a simple 4-2-3-1. There was nothing left of the “new playing philosophy” that Flick had chosen before the game against Japan. The trained central defender Jonathan Tah replaced the injured Joshua Kimmich at the right end of the back four, and he neither moved inside into midfield when in possession of the ball nor did he often join in attacks.
Germany’s Jonathan Tah (l.) and France’s Theo Hernandez fight for the ball
The defender Tah defended first and foremost, and he did so as disciplined and strong in tackles as all his colleagues. The same national team that swallowed four goals against Japan three days earlier and was lucky that there weren’t more, hardly allowed a good chance against France, which started without Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud, but still was equipped with excellent offensive players.
The mood among Germany fans is better than ever
“We fought incredibly well,” praised Völler, and that’s exactly what he wanted to see, “the result wasn’t that important.” Ultimately, everything was right on this one evening, which was probably the last with national coach Rudi Völler. The mood among the fans was better than ever at an international match in recent years.
Fans in Dortmund celebrate at the game against France.
The effect that the DFB had hoped for took effect. The work of developing something sustainable from it will still be strenuous.