The criticism after the bankruptcy at the start of the World Cup against Japan is devastating. National coach Hansi Flick has to put up with harsh allegations that the German national football team gave up victory. “We have a lot to do,” he says.
“We don’t have a free shot anymore, we missed the shot.” With this statement, national coach Hansi Flick entered the media round after the 2-1 defeat against Japan at the World Cup in Qatar. “Last night we went through the game in the coaching staff and analyzed a lot of scenes. If you go into detail, it wasn’t enough. We have to turn the screws and do things better.”
The next game in Group E against Spain on Sunday (8 p.m. / ARD, MagentaTV and in the ntv.de live ticker) is already against the end of this tournament. It would be the second preliminary round in a row after the debacle at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
“In retrospect, you have to say that even if a lot was positive over 70 minutes, in the end, if you go into detail, it wasn’t what we imagined,” said Flick about the Japan game. Every single player must look to make the game “simply better for themselves”. “We have a lot to do,” said Flick.
The main criticism is the permeable defensive. The BVB pros Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck in particular were not innocent in the decisive 1: 2, Süle had canceled the offside before Schlotterbeck was too far away from goal scorer Takuma Asano. The lack of stability in the defense caused a stir, but Flick vehemently ruled out a system change to a three-man chain. In general, he held the entire team responsible: “You need every man on offense and defense. We couldn’t achieve the desired compactness, especially in the last 20 minutes. If you lead 1-0, you have to do something like that play at home.” He emphasized: “When you have two or three top-class players, you have to close the game. We lacked this efficiency and made too many mistakes from behind. That affects the whole team. These things are clearly addressed internally, that’s important for the team .”
Leroy Sané could potentially return to the team against Spain on Sunday. According to Flick, the Bayern professional, who missed out against Japan due to knee problems, trained the day after. “That’s positive.” Sané was replaced by his Munich team-mate Jamal Musiala, who was convincing in the game but failed to get the decisive finish.
The national coach has not yet been able to say anything about Spain, who won their opening game against Costa Rica 7-0. “I haven’t seen the game yet. I’ll do that today, then I’ll be able to tell if I was impressed.” A win against the Spaniards, who are playing like unleashed, is needed on Sunday to keep the chances of reaching the round of 16 alive more than theoretically. Even if you win, getting into the knockout stages is no longer in your own hands.
