Germany coach Hansi Flick REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Germany coach Hansi Flick has berated the country’s inability to develop youngsters and fill positions that need reinforcements.
Flick disclosed this during a press conference late on Thursday after Germany were knocked out of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, despite beating Costa Rica. The 2014 champions failed to go past the group stage for the second straight World Cup, though they finished with four points, the same as Spain, who had a better goal advantage.
“We need to get better at player development,” Flick said.
“We’ve been crying out for a top striker (number 9s) and strong full-backs for years. Defending has distinguished German football for years, and these elements are what we need. We need to get back to the basics.
“We have top players and quality. I believe for the future of German football, we have to do things differently in training. Like Spain, even if they lost (on Thursday) – they have a good grounding and are well-schooled. They know how to train youngsters. I think for the future, for the next 10 years, it will be important to focus on the new generation of footballers (for German football),” Flick added.
Flick’s statement could be seen as a criticism of the Bundesliga, which, despite producing talents, had no young German players come up the ranks.
Bundesliga teams are no longer German youth football factories like they used to be. The current wave of young talent is mainly driven by French, English, Dutch, African, and other European talents, with some Americans.
Players like Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho are recent examples of non-German young players to have made their mark in the Bundesliga before leaving for bigger clubs.
However, a spotlight of German youth talent is Jamal Musiala, perhaps the only shining star of the abysmal 2022 World Cup team. Musiala was born in Germany to a Nigerian father and a German mother, but the 19-year-old grew up in England from age seven and even played for England at the youth level before pledging his allegiance to Die Mannschaft. He developed at Southampton and Chelsea academies before joining Bayern Munich in 2019.
“It’s unfortunate that a player like Jamal cannot continue in the tournament,” Flick said. “He is fantastic, he has talent, and he has been trained in England and not Germany. We have Kai Havertz and other young players, but we need to blend them and find the right combination.”
Meanwhile, Flick remained mute on his future, insisting he’d still be coach even when Germany hosts the UEFA Euro 2024.
“We have just been eliminated, and if you know my team and me, we will get up quickly and deal with the future.
“For the Euro, it is difficult to talk about that, now we must assess our performance, and we will do this very soon.”
