From the BZ editorial team
Interesting suggestion from Marcel Reif (73)!
When looking for a successor to DFB manager Oliver Bierhoff (54), he thinks of a 2014 world champion. His name: Per Mertesacker (38)!
The TV expert on the “WM-Special” from “Reif ist live”, the BILD football talk: “It needs a strong figure. I could imagine very, very well Per Mertesacker. He’s the head of youth training at Arsenal FC, has become world champion and has a stronger opinion.”
And further: “If you really irritate him, he can get out of the saddle with his North German composure.”
Per Mertesacker on assignment as a TV expert Photo: dpa
Reif’s suggestion: The DFB should entrust the Bierhoff legacy to Mertesacker AND Fredi Bobic (51).
The TV expert: “Mertesacker takes over the training in the academy, but closely together with Bobic, who is directly on the team as sports director. That would be a very good story!”
Fredi Bobic during a media round Photo: Photo by Jan-Philipp Burmann/City-Press GmbH
Does he trust Flick to get the fans excited about the national team again after the World Cup debacle?
The BILD expert: “It’s a disappointed love at first, but the love is still there. It’s not a final breakup. I don’t see a break between the national team and the fans.”
His explanation: “There is nothing that cannot be patched. When we win again, fans forget. You just have to remember the early days under Flick. It made you want to watch again.”
Nevertheless, Reif did not like the national coach’s reaction to Bierhoff’s contract termination.
The expert: “He was on the wrong steamer. The undertone in Flick’s explanation was not good. Apparently he was caught there.”