When naming a successor for U21 successful coach Stefan Kuntz, DFB director Oliver Bierhoff is pushing the pace - and Hansi Flick has a decisive say.
“That is an absolute necessity.
You will not prevail against Hansi, under no circumstances ”, said Bierhoff on the sidelines of the 25-year meeting of the German football champions from 1996 on Monday evening in Rust, Baden, about the decisive role of the new national coach.
Bierhoff is "not thinking of an interim solution", but wants to present a permanent successor to Kuntz (58), who has moved to Turkey as national coach, before the next European Championship qualifying matches for the U21 juniors on October 7th against Israel and five days later in Hungary .
In addition to internal solutions, Bierhoff and Flick also want to examine external options.
One of the celebrities is Miroslav Klose.
Coordination regulated by contract
"We don't have that much time," said Bierhoff about filling the coaching position for the most important junior team in the DFB. Kuntz had delivered top work as two-time European champion (2017, 2021) and reached three European Championship finals in a row with the U21 selection. “The idea is to put everything on the table, of course to take a look at external variants. But of course we also want to look internally and show people that we believe in our coaches, ”said the 53-year-old Bierhoff, explaining the route.
Flick plays a central role. His right to have a say is also part of his national coaching contract, as Bierhoff said. For him, the senior team and the U21 squad form a single unit. “We don't want to let two worlds develop. We want continuity. That's why Hansi is sitting at the table, ”said the director of the national teams. There are "many criteria" when filling the vacant position: "In addition to team leadership and success, the connection to Hansi Flick and the senior national team is important."
Former U19 coach Marcus Sorg should not return to the offspring, but instead remain co-coach of Flick with the A-Team, as Bierhoff said. Internal solutions would be the promotion of U20 coach Christian Wörns or U19 coach Hannes Wolf. A logical candidate is the former national player Klose, who was part of Flick's coaching staff last season after two years as a U17 coach at Bayern Munich. Bierhoff, Flick, Klose - the trio knows each other very well and values each other. Klose (43) recently expressed other plans.
"Miro is a great boy, he did well in his youth (at Bayern)," said Bierhoff. The 2014 world champion not only knows the DFB as a national player, but was also part of the coaching staff of Flick's predecessor Joachim Löw at the 2018 World Cup. “On the other hand, he also said he wanted to work every day. That was his goal, ”said Bierhoff about Klose's preference for a club job. “We were also talking to co-trainers,” Bierhoff revealed. Even then he had "rather clear ideas about the head coach" in the Bundesliga or the second division.
Flick and his coaching staff are currently preparing the World Cup qualifiers against Romania (October 8) and North Macedonia (October 11) at a workshop in Frankfurt. Bierhoff wanted to join after the European championship meeting and discuss the Kuntz successor with Flick and Meikel Schönweitz, the head coach for the junior teams, and the sporting director Joti Chatzialexiou on Tuesday. This in turn had signed a contract for three years as the Turkish national coach in Istanbul on Monday.