DFB seeks experienced super coach - with a tight budget
The separation from Martina Voss-Tecklenburg has been completed, Horst Hrubesch carries the Olympic hopes - but for the DFB bosses, the work is far from over. Following the termination of the contract with the former national coach, the German Football Association is searching under high pressure for patented personnel for the women's sector.
President Bernd Neuendorf has called for a "fresh start in sporting management". To this end, the cash-strapped association headed by managing director Andreas Rettig needs a sports director as quickly as possible. The successor to interim coach Hrubesch should then be found together.
So far, there is no real hot lead for either of the two positions. National goalkeeper Almuth Schult has emerged as a suitable candidate for the new director position, while Ralf Kellermann (VfL Wolfsburg), Bianca Rech (Bayern Munich) or Joti Chatzialexiou (sporting director of the national team) are considered rather unlikely alternatives.
Top coach is likely to be unaffordable
And who will then steer the European Championship runners-up towards the 2025 European Championships in Switzerland and moderate a radical change? Hrubesch wants to return to Hamburger SV as head of youth development, ideally after the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Stefan Kuntz, among others, was already circulating as a solution close to the DFB but inexperienced in women's soccer.
Such previous experience could be found in the women's Bundesliga. But in addition to the usual suspects (Stephan Lerch/Hoffenheim, Alexander Straus/Munich, Tommy Stroot/Wolfsburg), we should also look beyond the horizon. Tony Gustavsson (Australia) proved his worth at the World Cup, while FIFA world coach Sarina Wiegman (England) is likely to be priceless. The "MVT" separation by "mutual agreement" negotiated on Friday will of course cost the DFB money.
In April, Voss-Tecklenburg's employment contract was extended until 2025. But then the DFB team failed to reach the group stage of the World Cup for the first time at the beginning of August - and a bizarre hanging game began. Initially, Neuendorf expressed his confidence in the 55-year-old from afar. But then deeper rifts began to emerge between coach and team that could no longer be patched up. Like Hansi Flick, the DFB had to pull the ripcord.
Dissonance with former preferred candidate
However, Voss-Tecklenburg fell ill during the analysis, after which the association allowed her to take a vacation. During this time, the national coach caused irritation with presentations at conferences. Communication had long been conducted via lawyers. Five years earlier, the 125-time international had taken over the post as the DFB's declared preferred candidate. A few months later, she was knocked out of the 2019 World Cup in the quarter-finals, and dissonance later became public. In 2022, however, the summer fairytale succeeded in England.
"The national team's appearance in the final of the 2022 European Championship in England gave women's and girls' soccer an enormous boost. This success is and will remain associated with Martina Voss-Tecklenburg," Neuendorf's farewell note read. "MVT" did not get a chance to speak in the brief DFB announcement on Saturday.
Despite two recent Nations League victories under Hrubesch, the Paris ticket is now in jeopardy. The showdown with leaders Denmark will take place in Rostock on December 1. Only the group winners will reach the Final Four for the last two European Olympic places. The DFB team must therefore make up for the 2-0 defeat in the first leg in Denmark and then travel to bottom-placed Wales (December 5).
The DFB is actively seeking a new super coach for the women's sector, given the recent separation with Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, the former coach of the DFB Women's national team, has significant experience in women's soccer, as demonstrated by her successful tenure and leading the team to the final of the 2022 European Championship.
Source: www.ntv.de
