National team: World Cup courage through Wembley revenge: Flick demands answers

The EM revenge should become a World Cup encouragement. In the duel of the disappointed in Nations League relegated England, Hansi Flick has to quickly eliminate the sudden doubts about the national team.

Hansi Flick wanted to dribble away all doubts about the World Cup. The national coach smiled and joked with his coaching team before the urgently needed reparations in Wembley, which were a encouragement for Qatar.

But then Flick put his heads together with Oliver Bierhoff before the first ball even rolled during the final training session in the Leipzig stadium. Of course, after the bankruptcy in Hungary, the coach still had a lot to talk about with the DFB director before flying to England.

Especially in Flick’s focus: FC Bayern’s winless block, which is also weakening in the Germany jersey. Flick knows exactly before the duel on Monday evening (8.45 p.m. / RTL) against Nations League relegated England: He needs his Munich team around Joshua Kimmich and also magic dribbler Jamal Musiala in winning form. And fast. In the sobering 1-0 draw against Hungary, substitute captain Thomas Müller and Serge Gnabry in particular revealed inexplicable shortcomings.

A victory against the crisis is needed

Another setback against the Three Lions and the first crisis under Flick as national coach could no longer be denied. And that seven weeks before the World Cup departure. “We want to make amends, find our game and of course gain confidence,” said Bierhoff. “We have to believe in ourselves more. And a game like this against Hungary doesn’t help there. We have to make sure that we survive against the English and also implement the things that the coaches demand,” was the clear appeal of the DFB- director.

Kimmich couldn’t explain what was going on against Hungary either. The 27-year-old did not want to accept a connection between Bayern frustration and DFB lethargy. “In general, everyone should go onto the pitch with a certain amount of self-confidence. It doesn’t matter whether we lost or won a game before that. For me, I tick off the last game and go onto the pitch with confidence,” said Kimmich. Self-confidence, that was also the term Bierhoff used in an almost inflationary way.

After his debut defeat, which gambled away the chance of winning the group in the Nations League, Flick turned the focus to himself. The self-confessed We-Trainer, who cares so much about his “staff”, switched to self-mode. “I don’t want to make any excuses,” said the 57-year-old. “Obviously I’m disappointed, absolutely, because you never like to lose.” The setup didn’t work. “That’s why I have to take responsibility for part of the whole thing,” said Flick. The game “opened his eyes”.

Anemic performance against Hungary

The verbal shield that Flick put up served a purpose. The negative focus shouldn’t be on the team, shouldn’t develop oversize that puffs up into a shadow of the World Cup. Flick senses how quickly the general football climate can change. Eight wins in a row, 13 games undefeated. The statistics of his first year as a DFB head coach, which was registered as a promise, are suddenly no longer worth anything.

Now the balance is: only one win from the last six games, always conceding at least one goal and an anemic performance against courageous Hungarians, who are not even qualified for the tournament in Qatar. The fifth world title shortly before Christmas already seems like a grandiose goal. Even if Bierhoff defiantly sticks to his ambitions. “The goal remains. Of course, you’ll say after this game, how can you say that. But we’re also starting from scratch at the tournament,” said the DFB director.

2018 World Cup debacle in mind

But even Bierhoff has not forgotten the negative momentum that led to the World Cup debacle in Russia. “We saw it in 2018, as soon as you allow yourself a weakness in a tournament, you run after it. Then the psyche comes in, then it gets difficult. In that respect we have to be prepared,” he warned. In England it’s also about taking revenge for the European Championship loss in the round of 16 a year ago, which marked the end of Joachim Löw’s era as national coach.

Flick can count on self-critical players. “We definitely have a lot to do. We have to do more,” said Antonio Rüdiger, who was suspended after his second yellow card in the competition.

Despite all the disappointment: the national coach will not throw everything overboard. “The time for experiments is over,” he said. Actionism is not his thing anyway. Nico Schlotterbeck should move into the defensive line for the suspended Rüdiger. Jonas Hofmann will no longer play as a right-back after Flick’s admission of a tactical error. Thilo Kehrer is ready. On the left flank, Robin Gosens should be given another chance to prove himself after a year for David Raum from Leipzig, who is far from Flick’s expected World Cup level.

The exciting question is: who does Flick demote from his offensive quartet, which is dominated by Bayern professionals? Musiala and Chelsea striker Kai Havertz did well after being substituted on against Hungary, said the national coach. Are both in the starting XI? Then Flick has to make tricky personnel decisions. Thomas Müller? Leroy Sane? Serge Gnabry? Or Leipzig’s Timo Werner? Who has to make way for Qatar in the World Cup dress rehearsal?

The expected lineups:

England: Ramsdale (Arsenal/24 years/3 internationals) – Walker (Manchester City/32/69), Stones (Manchester City/28/59), Maguire (Manchester United/29/47) – Trippier (Newcastle United/32 /37, Rice (West Ham United/23/33), Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/19/16), Chilwell (Chelsea FC/25/17) – Mount (Chelsea FC/FC Chelsea/23/31) – Kane (Tottenham Hotspurt /29/74), Sterling (Chelsea/27/78)

Germany: Ter Stegen (FC Barcelona/30/29) – Kehrer (West Ham United/26/21), Süle (Borussia Dortmund/27/41), Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund/22/4), Gosens (Inter Milan/28 /13) – Kimmich (FC Bayern Munich/27/69), Gündogan (Manchester City/31/61) – Müller (FC Bayern Munich/33/117), Musiala (FC Bayern Munich/19/16), Sané (FC Bayern Munich/26/46) – Havertz (Chelsea FC/23/29)

Referee: Danny Makkiele (Netherlands)