Germany have dismissed manager Hansi Flick after the poor World Cup form continued into the new year, and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been linked with the role before
Jurgen Klopp has been asked about the German national team job
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been mentioned in connection with the German national team job, but his previous comments about the post suggest he won’t be in the frame after Hansi Flick’s sacking.
Flick led Germany to the 2022 World Cup, but oversaw a shock early exit in Qatar. A 4-1 home defeat to Japan proved to be the final straw for the former Bayern Munich boss, who leaves off the back of three successive friendly defeats for the Euro 2024 hosts.
Flick’s Bayern successor Julian Nagelsmann is among those to be linked with the now-vacant post, having himself been dismissed by Bayern last season. Ex-Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner is another contender, but Klopp might be a longer shot after previously pledging to honour his Liverpool contract.
“The job of national coach is and would be a great honour - there’s no question about that,” Klopp told Sky in Germany over the summer. “The problem that stands in the way of the whole thing is my loyalty.
“I can’t just leave Liverpool now and say I’ll take over Germany for a short time. That doesn’t work and the request isn’t even there. If I’m supposed to do that at some point, then I have to be available and I’m not currently. I have a responsibility towards the club.
“Basically, it’s an interesting job. But I don’t know yet whether I’ll do something completely different after I leave Liverpool. I want to keep my options open.”
Germany’s decision to change things at the top comes after a tough couple of years. They picked up four points from their World Cup group, but it wasn’t enough to oust Japan and Spain, and the Samurai Blue followed up their 2-1 victory in Qatar with a 4-1 win in Wolfsburg on Saturday.
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Germany have won just two of their last nine games under Hansi Flick (
Image:
Ronald Wittek/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Flick led his team to victory over Peru in their first post-World Cup game, but the five games since have been less successful. They lost to Belgium, Poland and Colombia, as well as Japan, while only two late goals saved them from defeat against Ukraine in June.
“Hansi Flick has worn himself out over the past few months; together with his coaching team, he has given everything to get back on track after leaving the club World Cup in Qatar to make the turn for the better,” said Rudi Voller, who will take temporary charge for the upcoming friendly with France. “Unfortunately, we have to realise today that it was not successful.
“The Japan game has clearly shown us that we can no longer make any 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 sport. And I firmly believed that as national coach he could manage to get our national team back on track.
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“But now we have to act responsibly, we have to change something in order to be able to play the demanding and ambitious role of host at the European Championships in our own country that we all hope for. That’s what the fans in Germany rightly expect from us.
“I will therefore temporarily look after the national team for the one game against France [with] Hannes Wolf by my side. The most urgent task will then be to hire a national coach who will quickly realign our team and prepare it for the big European Championship tournament next year, from which we all hope that there will be positive impulses for German football and also for our entire country. A national coach who will then, in the long term, raise the national team back to the level that we know and expect from it.”
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