Hansi Flick: 'I am still the most suitable coach for Germany'
"The coaching staff is trying everything. I think we are doing well and I am still the most suitable coach for the team," Flick said after the defeat at the Volkswagen Arena on September 9.
At Wolfsburg yesterday, Germany played worse than themselves in the loss to Japan in the opening round of the 2022 World Cup group stage. The host controlled the ball 68%, but only had 11 shots with three on target - compared to 14 and 11 from Japan.
Junya Ito opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a connecting kick that gently hit Antonio Rudiger, then Leroy Sane curled his left foot into the far corner to equalize the score. After that, Ayase Ueda, Takuma Asano and Ao Tanaka scored to help Japan win 4-1.
Flick implicitly criticized the German team, saying that the home team "did not have enough tools" to defeat the defense of a strong opponent like Japan. According to the 58-year-old coach, Germany controlled the ball, tried to attack and made many individual errors for Japan to take advantage of and deserved a clear victory.
"We're not in a position to beat a team like that," Flick admitted. "They have the fundamentals. We, German football, have to wake up. Obviously the disappointment is huge. Germany has many positions that need improvement, and there is no point in criticizing now." ".
Captain Ilkay Gundogan shared his opinion that Germany made many individual errors, was inferior in both attack and defense and was not on par with Japan at this time. The Barca midfielder emphasized that the problem is not the coach's position, but each player must ask questions of themselves and improve.
Joshua Kimmich had a similar statement when he said that Germany responded well, immediately looking for an equalizer after allowing Japan to open the score, but could not make a difference in the second half. The Bayern midfielder admitted that the team is lacking confidence and has not played a good match since the 2022 World Cup.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen said: "We made mistakes that we shouldn't have made. The whole team has to self-criticize and know that we haven't done a good job."
The defeat against Japan was Germany's third consecutive defeat and extended Germany's winless streak to five matches. Previously, the army under Hansi Flick lost 2-3 to Belgium, drew 3-3 with Ukraine, lost 0-1 to Poland and 0-2 to Colombia.
The last time Germany won was when they defeated Peru 2-0 in March 2023 at Mewa Arena, Mainz. All six matches are friendly because Germany is the host of Euro 2024, so there is no qualifying competition, and takes place right after the disastrous 2022 World Cup.
On September 12, Germany continued to play a friendly match with 2018 World Cup champion France at Signal Iduna Park. This is considered the match that will determine Coach Flick's position.
