When Hansi Flick sat down in front of the microphone at the press conference at 12:28 p.m., it was important for the national team's head of media to bring this detail to the attention of the football public: “Another innovation: At Hansi Flick we are sometimes earlier.” What the Man for the public with this indirectly expressed in the first autumn after 15 years under Joachim Löw, it was clear: Here, too, is now back on track.

And there is something to it.

Five weeks after the first international match under Flick, one thing is certain: The new national coach is setting things up in the national team from head to toe.

Michael Horeni

Correspondent for sports in Berlin.

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The truth, to use an old football wisdom that lies on the field, has been shrouded in fog around the national team in recent years.

Flick has set itself the task of reasserting the basic soccer laws there too.

It starts with training these days, when the national coach is preparing his team for the World Cup qualifiers against Romania and in North Macedonia.

The intensity of the last session was so high that he did without the last form of training, said Flick the day before the game.

The national coach saw his goal, “that we are just as active in training as in the game,” had already been achieved at this point.

And giving more than one hundred percent, he was to understand, is not an option either.

"We are very satisfied."

"It is the performance that counts"

When it comes to personnel issues, the national team speaks a language that everyone understands. Flick also has to deal with the question of whether well-deserved but aging stars like Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels can actually help the national team to turn the German team into an internationally competitive team again at the 2022 World Cup. The Dortmund defense chief is also not there this time because it is better for him to work on form and fitness in his club because of knee problems. Thomas Müller, who was also absent from the Flick start in September, has returned.

However, the national coach has not rushed to do without the two 32-year-old world champions for fundamental considerations when rebuilding, nor does he provide them with a commitment guarantee.

“Everyone has the chance to play in the team.

Performance counts, ”says Flick.

And that means against Romania: In central defense, he continues to rely on the recently convincing Antonio Rüdiger and Niklas Süle.

And in Thomas Müller's position, as Flick emphasized, even in the current squad, which is limited to 20 field players, there would be "three or four players" who could play in the Müller position.

"We are spoiled for choice," says Flick.

“We have quality and potential.

There are hardly any players who are seeded. "