Germany, the four-time FIFA World Cup winners are at a crossroads. The once-feared team has been churning out one mediocre performance after another in the past couple of years and head coach Hansi Flick’s appointment, which was touted to bring about some much-needed change following the nation’s exit from the Euro 2020 tournament, has had a testing time at the helm of the national elf.
The once-majestic side have looked a shadow of themselves since winning the grandest prize in world football in the year 2014 in Brazil as the national setup has failed to effectively replace legends who set the standards incredibly high.
Moving away from the long-serving Joachin Lowe, Germany opted to instate the experienced Flick in his stead to carry on the legacy left behind by the World Cup-winning Lowe. And Flick was expected to take to the role with relative ease having served as Lowe’s assistant for an extended period of time.
But, as it stands, Germany is yet to receive a return on their faith in the 58-year-old manager, who has tried to deploy multiple formations, comprising various players as he tries to find the one solution that would work.
Flick, who managed to lead Bayern Munich to six titles in the year 2020, before taking up the job at the national side, was expected to reinstate Germany as one of the world powers in the sport after abysmal showings at back-to-back international tournaments.
Germany were ousted in the group stages of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, despite coming into the tournament as defending champions. And their dismal demonstration on the pitch continued as they were sent crashing out in the very first knockout game in the Euros, which was held in the year 2021 due to the COVID-imposed hiatus.
Flick was supposed to, at the very least, better the 2018 World Cup showing during the 2022 edition of the sport’s biggest spectacle in Qatar, but Germany were once again shown the exit door in the Middle East’s first-ever FIFA World Cup.
Now, the hosts of the upcoming Euro 2024, Germany are guaranteed direct entry into the tournament but their tepid displays in the warm-up games cut a worrying figure as the once highly efficient team has struggled to put in a string of good performances together.
Flick’s men went down to a resilient Colombian unit on Tuesday, suffering a 2-0 defeat to compound their woes after a 3-3 draw against Ukraine in their previous outing in a charity game.
The proceeds from the game between the Germans and the Ukraining teams went to those in need as a result of the lasting war situation in Ukraine, which has been prolonged ever since Russia sent in their first troops into the borders of Ukraine through Belarus.
Germany visited Poland in the encounter following the Ukraine exhibition and returned crest-fallen following a 1-0 defeat in Warsaw.
With the Euros coming up next year, Flick needs to find a formula that would make the team tick like they used to and bring back the famous German efficiency if the side is to avoid embarrassment on home soil in nearly a year’s time.
Germany will play their next set of international friendlies in September as they are slated to take on Japan and France, before jetting off to take on the USA a couple of days later.
Flick mentioned that he will deploy a different-looking team to the one that ended up with disappointing results this time around as the 58-year-old looks to build a solid core team ahead of the UEFA showpiece in Germany.
“We will see a different team," the German head coach said.
“We will stabilise the team and we will fine-tune it. We are positive for September because we are convinced we have a good team and good players," he added.