Flick Sacked as Germany Manager

On Sunday afternoon, Germany decided to sack their manager Hansi Flick. The firing comes after a 4-1 loss to Japan in Wolfsburg on Saturday. Germany will look for a new manager just nine months before they host UEFA Euro 2024.

OFFICIAL: Hansi Flick has been sacked as Germany coach pic.twitter.com/RcENPpKkVq

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) September 10, 2023

Flick did not meet high expectations for Germany

Flick’s tenure officially started on September 2, 2021, 14 months before the 2022 World Cup. Flick recently resigned from his post as the Bayern Munich manager from 2019-2021. There was a lot of support for the hire, especially after Flick helped Bayern complete a European sextuple.

The first nine matches went as expected for Germany. The team won each match, which helped them qualify for the 2022 World Cup. The biggest test for Flick would come in the Nations League competition in the summer of 2022. Flick and his team underperformed in the competition, finishing with just one win, four draws and a loss.

Germany continued to perform below expectations in the World Cup. They took a 1-0 lead against Japan but lost, as they gave up two goals in eight minutes. Germany drew against Spain after a late goal by Niclas Füllkrug. Germany got their lone win against Costa Rica 4-2, despite trailing 2-1. Even with the win, Germany failed to advance to the knockout stage.

In the final six games for Flick after the World Cup, Germany lost four and won just one. That included going winless in the last five games, conceding 13 goals and scoring just 7. The DFB director Rudi Völler had enough and decided to pull the plug.

What went wrong?

The German team still have had the same problems the past couple of years. The lack of a pure striker and a holding midfielder has hurt the team. In addition, failing to replace the contributions of players like Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger has set Germany back a few years.

Germany already had those problems when Flick came into the picture. However, it showed Flick would need to make massive adjustments to create success for Germany. However, the constant urge to use a high line with a rather poor defense did not help him.

When Flick was at Bayern, the team scored goals at will, putting together three, four and sometimes five goals in matches. For Germany, though, they sometimes barely could crack one or two goals in some games. The attack was not good enough and he still tried to compensate by playing the exact same high line.

Options for Germany going forward

Germany only has a short time until the 2024 European Championships and the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. There have been a few big managers on the shortlist for Germany. Oliver Glasner and Julian Nagelsmann have been some potential options for Germany.

Glasner led Frankfurt to a European title with Frankfurt in 2022. Nagelsmann led Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022, but got sacked the next season. There also could be a dark horse candidate in Louis van Gaal, who recently managed the Dutch national team.

Louis van Gaal to replace Hansi Flick as Germany coach?

The Dutchman tells @BILD he hasn't retired yet: "Normally I won't coach at a club anymore, but a promising country still has a chance to convince me" pic.twitter.com/eN0OjuD9Xz

— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) September 10, 2023