BREAKING NEWS: Hansi Flick is SACKED as Germany head coach after ’embarrassing’ 4-1 hammering by Japan and winning just four of his 17 games in charge – with Euro 2024 just nine months away
Hansi Flick has been sacked as head coach of the German national team following a meeting with shareholders, just nine months before the 2024 European Championship.
The former Bayern Munich manager had a fairly unsuccessful spell in charge of the national team, with a 4-1 defeat to Japan appearing to be the last straw.
In a rack released by the national side, it was confirmed that Flick was fired after a ‘shareholders meeting’.
President of the German Football Association Bernd Neuendorf said: ‘The committees agreed that the senior men’s national team needs fresh impetus after recent disappointing results. We need a spirit of optimism and confidence in our own country.
“For me personally, it is one of the most difficult decisions of my time in office so far. Because I appreciate Hansi Flick and his assistant coaches as football experts and people. But sporting success is the top priority for the DFB. So the decision was inevitable.’
Hansi Flick has been sacked as Germany head coach after poor form
Germany lost 4-1 to Japan on Saturday, which seems to be the final straw
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Flick after an unsuccessful spell with Germany
Germany face a difficult test on Tuesday when they host World Cup finalists France at Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park.
However, Flick will not be in the dugout for the match as a decision has been made regarding his future.
Flick was in charge of the team when they were eliminated by Japan at the World Cup in Qatar, but will no longer be in the dugout after his dismissal.
The national team was in a real rut, drawing once, losing once and recording one win during the World Cup.
Their only win since then was a 2-0 win over Peru in March, with Flick seeing his side lose to Belgium, Poland, Colombia and Japan since then – while they drew against Ukraine in June.
News of Flick’s dismissal comes as German director Rudi Voller said a 4-1 loss is a ‘disgrace’ and that he will speak to Flick on Sunday.
He said: ‘We are all still in shock. Losing 4-1 is a shame.
‘We all need to take a good look at ourselves and see what happens next. We would all do well to sleep on it tonight.
‘I just spoke to Hansi, he is deeply affected. We’ll talk tomorrow about why that happened. That was a shame.’
Bernd Neuendorf, the president of the German Football Association, described the decision as one of the most difficult
The director released his own statement when Flick’s resignation was announced.
‘Hansi Flick has exhausted himself in recent months; “He and his coaching team have done everything they can to get back on track after leaving the Club World Cup in Qatar to move in the right direction,” he said.
‘Unfortunately, we have to conclude today that it was not successful. The Japan game has clearly shown us that we can no longer make progress in this situation. This is not an easy moment for me, because I joined the DFB in February to support Hansi Flick in all my ways, to support him so that he can be successful in the sport. And I firmly believed that as national coach he would succeed in getting our national team back on track.
“But now we have to act responsibly, we have to change something to be able to play the demanding and ambitious role of hosting the European Championship in our own country that we all hope for. That is what the fans in Germany rightly expect from us…
Voller and Sandro Wagner will lead the national team when they play France on Tuesday, it has been confirmed.
Rudi Voller said the defeat against Japan was the match that decided Flick’s fate
Voller continued: ‘I will therefore temporarily take care of the national team for the only match against France with Hannes Wolf by my side. The most urgent task will then be to hire a national coach who will quickly reshuffle our team and prepare it for next year’s big European Championship tournament, which we all hope will bring positive impulses for German football and also for our whole country. .
‘A national coach who will eventually bring the national team back to the level we know and expect.’
The news comes after Ilkay Gundogan revealed his side was struggling with a ‘mental battle with itself’.
Gündogan admitted: ‘Very difficult to accept. I think the only good situation was the goal, where we played the rhythm we wanted, but unfortunately we have to admit that Japan was better than us defensively and offensively.
‘I think you can feel that a lot of our players are mentally fighting with themselves. There is no trust, there is no understanding of the timing of decisions, and of course these kinds of matches and results don’t help at all.
“So we feel like everyone is fighting with themselves, and that makes it harder to create atmosphere and atmosphere.
‘There is a great lack of confidence in football and that makes it more difficult to achieve results.’
‘We have to admit that we are just not at the same level as teams like today. At the moment we’re just not good enough. That’s the reality. We may even think we are better than we are.’
It remains to be seen who will succeed Flick, with Julian Nagelsmann appearing to be an early frontrunner.