Hansie Flick before introduction: “Team divides itself for Germany”

KJust before 3pm they left the Voltotle in Stuttgart. The players of the German national football team were taken to St. Colon in two buses yesterday, where they will be tomorrow. (8.45 pm, on WORLD’s Sports Ticker) Meet Liechtenstein in the first match to qualify for the 2022 World Cup under national coach Hans-Dieter “Hansie” Flick.

The trip to Switzerland took less than three hours – significantly longer than a year ago. The German Football Association (DFB) entourage also left Stuttgart for the neighboring country. But the association got into a storm when a plane was used for a trip to Basel, 250 kilometers away. With regard to the regeneration of players, sitting for two to three hours is useless, as it poses a risk to fitness and health, at that time it was called.

This time it was not a problem. Of course, the trip was discussed, said Oliver Pierhoff, director of national teams before departure. Technically, even Hansie Flick would have wanted to fly. But after Basel’s experience and the responsibility we have, it was clear that we would go by bus, ”Pierhoff said. “We will”, “We must always strike a balance between professional and optimal product and other values ​​and criteria we want to meet.”

Flick’s football idea: Lots of speed

Joachim Lowe, who inherited Flick after 15 years as national coach, explicitly ordered the plane to fly a year ago. But the choice of transportation methods shows that those in charge of the national team are willing to change one or the other.

As for the new coach, it’s worth noting that he talked a lot in the first few days. With the soldiers, with his assistants. He gave a big speech in front of the team on Monday morning before he was asked to train in the afternoon. There, too, he communicated with interest. Here’s a little chat with Leroy Sane, where he sits for a ball with Timo Werner and asks the national coach.

Assistant coaches Marcus Sork and Danny Roll warmed up, standing on the flick side and giving a short interview before he intervened with the players. Not only is this unit fully accessible to the media, but it is clear how Flick imagines football for the national team in the future: with great speed.

He also appreciates advance pressing and quick play forward so that the ball is captured. To illustrate this, he has shown video footage of players over the past few days, including some games from the time Bayern were coaching. The main focus was on switching play, counter-compression and room division.

You can see and hear from the conversations about Flick how subtle the 56-year-old coach is at working. He goes into a lot of detail. His new assistants. Andreas Kronenberg, who borrowed from SC Freiburg for international matches until June 2022, interrupted his training with goalkeepers again on Wednesday morning, before he became the permanent goalkeeper coach. Kronenberg explained, Kronenberg improved, Kronenberg gave notes.

Manuel Neuer, who suffers from an ankle injury, was absent from the goalkeeper training session. He will not be against Liechtenstein. Bernd Leno plays for him. Flick left the day before the game opened, where he will represent Newer as captain. “A while ago, in the bath, I was wondering who the captain was,” the national coach said: “Currently there is no one, but I have some players in my head who can do it.”

Either way, it won’t be Thomas Mல்லller. The man from Munich has been ruled out of the DFB quarter in Stuttgart due to a muscle problem in his left thigh and will miss the upcoming three games against Liechtenstein, Armenia (September 5) and Iceland (September 8).

While the goalkeepers were in training on Wednesday, Oliver Pierhoff went to Stuttgart’s stadium stand in the famous sunlight and watched them before talking to the media. “You might say it’s a fresh start,” we start fresh. All players feel like they are doing it with a lot of intensity. You can feel it in every unit. “

For example, you can see on Monday. After training, a few players stay and shoot the balls on the free kick wall. Even the pouring rain did not deter Joshua Kimmich and Mல்லller, who were with the others. The next day, during the one-and-a-half hour session, the standards were practiced with the entire team for approximately 60 minutes. DFB selection does not know how to radiate the risk of inactive balls – it is going to change.

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However, it remains to be seen who will be responsible for the standards in the future after the resignation of Tony Cruise, before whom the free kicks shoot was largely assigned. The game against Liechtenstein will shed light on that.

Before leaving for St Callen, Hansie Flick was very optimistic that his first appearance as national coach would be enhanced as his opponent’s house in Wadus was rebuilt. He expressed satisfaction.

This is my first game as a national coach. The way the team and staff work makes me very happy. I really like the way we treat each other. That’s why I look forward to my first international match. Take charge of this country and nominate the best players in Germany, ”Flick said – and praised the team for doing a good job over the last few days. “It was great to see. The team divides itself for Germany. That’s the end of it all. I trust this team very well,” Flick said.

Incidentally, before boarding the bus to St. Colon, Flick explained why he considered a flight sensible. “We have one game every three days,” he said, referring to the schedule with three games coming up. According to Flick, regeneration is very important.

So, contrary to the original plan, the DFB convoy will stay in St Colonel today and will not return to Stuttgart at night. It won’t happen until after a regeneration training session until tomorrow afternoon, “with a small lunch pack,” Flick joked. If traffic is good, he calculates three hours of driving time. “This makes me happy too,” Firehoff said succinctly, “you sit down, you don’t have to switch. The only confusion: this is an uncomfortable path.”

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