German national team: Hansi Flick, dismissed; The trio formed by Völler, Wolf and Wagner will be on the bench against France

Hansi Flick patiently posed for photos long after completing public training. As a foretaste of his farewell, he toured Wolfsburg’s small stadium during his lap of honor and a few hours later what was already known was confirmed. After the defeat against Japan, the German Football Association (DFB) announced his resignation as national coach, in the middle of a deep crisis.

Sporting director Rudi Völler, under-20 coach Hannes Wolf and Sando Wagner will be on the bench on an interim basis during Tuesday’s match in Dortmund against France, number two in the world. “It is not an easy time for me, because in February I joined the DFB to support Hansi Flick with everything I can so that he can be successful,” Völler said.

But sporting success was not forthcoming: the German Football Association had to take action to play at home nine months before the European Championship. “The committees agreed that the senior national team needs new impetus after recent poor results,” DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said in a statement. After the “most difficult decision of his mandate”, he added: “We need a spirit of optimism and confidence for the European Championship in our country.”

Before Hansi Flick, no national coach had been fired

By removing Flick after 770 days, the association achieved something new: none of Flick’s ten predecessors had been fired. After the embarrassing 1-4 against Japan, the coach had no other choice. “Sporting success is the main priority of the German federation. Therefore the decision was inevitable,” said Neuendorf. The association did not come up with a permanent solution. However, the aim is to ‘arrange the succession as quickly as possible’.

Julian Nagelsmann, Oliver Glasner and Stefan Kuntz are available and could be options to direct on the US tour in October. Lothar Matthäus demanded Matthias Sammer and he himself refused the position. But now we must avoid another disaster against France: with Völler, but without Flick.

The 58-year-old’s initial record of eight wins against second-tier opponents didn’t help either. The former Bayern Munich coach was too damaged by the World Cup debacle in Qatar to bring about the expected change and the urgently needed mood change. Even though he saw things differently immediately after the sensational performance against Japan. “I think we are doing well and that I am the right coach,” Flick said in a self-evaluation.

Joachim Löw’s former second assistant also showed combativeness during public training in front of 2,376 fans on Sunday afternoon. “I’m going to keep fighting,” he shouted to the fans, tickling the stomach of a little boy in a T-shirt. But he had bad suspicions: “many things are difficult to predict” in professional football.

Hansi Flick is no longer national coach of Germany: the statistics were too alarming

So his worries quickly consumed him again. The DFB leaders around Neuendorf, Hans-Joachim Watzke and Völler, met for an emergency meeting in the afternoon.

The statistics were too alarming. The last time the national team suffered three defeats in a row was 38 years ago under Franz Beckenbauer. Only four of the last seventeen games were won. Since the World Cup disaster there has been only one win in six games.

Flick’s substitutions, Ilkay Gündogan as new captain, Joshua Kimmich’s switch to right back: the national coach wanted to give a sign of life. Look, I fight, I’m modern. We already have a gaming philosophy! It definitely went wrong. This also included the idea of ​​sending Nico Schlotterbeck back on the left in a desperate battle against the much faster and more agile Japanese side.

The German national team in crisis: “At the moment we are not good enough”

The fans in the Volkswagen Arena whistled loudly and They called for the dismissal of the national coach. The players still stood behind their coach. “At the moment we are not good enough. The team has to question itself,” Gundogan said.

Thomas Müller told the football media what was necessary. Germany is only “among the 10 or 15 best in the world” in his own perception, perhaps in theory, “but not in reality.”