DFB vice-president berates Kimmich and calls for new personnel
Ralph-Uwe Schaffert has many positions in German soccer, but advising national coach Julian Nagelsmann is not one of them. Despite this, the DFB vice-president is ready for an all-round attack: What the national team needs, he says, is a radical change of personnel.
Ralph-Uwe Schaffert rarely appears in the German soccer public eye. The 67-year-old is Vice President of the German Football Association, as well as President of the North German and Lower Saxony associations. At the DFB, the former judge is responsible for socio-political tasks and DFB foundations, as well as issues relating to the statutes. Since August, he has also been a member of a UEFA committee for legal matters. But Schaffert also has an opinion on sporting matters, which he sometimes makes known to the media.
After last year's disgraceful World Cup in Qatar, he took the men's national team to task, and shortly before the start of the home European Championship year 2024, he took another swipe at the professional footballers. His idea: "It would be time to radically change the playing personnel." Because Schaffert has "the feeling with a not insignificant number of the current players that they think they can get by with perhaps 85% of the possible commitment on the pitch."
In Julian Nagelsmann's place, Schaffert would therefore rely less on the highly talented players and more on those "who are prepared to roll up their sleeves". Nagelsmann had recently stated that he would focus on more "workers" in future. Schaffert clearly sees the responsibility for the crisis with the players: "I don't think it's down to the coach."
Gündoğan also comes in for criticism
In an interview with the "Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung" and the "Neue Presse", the 67-year-old also cites very specific examples of international players who he believes are overrated. FC Bayern's Joshua Kimmich, for example, who plays a central role in Nagelsmann's planning for next summer's European Championship at home and is generally recognized as a leading player. "He has yet to prove it. Even at the club," said Schaffert.
Schaffert cannot understand what he sees as the different performances of national team captain İlkay Gündoğan in the squad and at the club, currently at FC Barcelona and previously at Champions League winners Manchester City. With him, you could get the idea: "Did he send his less talented twin brother? I don't understand that." In fact, Gündoğan has been a top performer at his clubs for years, while national coaches Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick found no comparable role for the now 33-year-old in the DFB squad.
Incidentally, Schaffert publicly backtracked on his previous verbal attack on the DFB squad in January 2023. According to the "Hildesheimer Allgmeiner Zeitung", he had said at the New Year's reception of the Hildesheim district soccer association: "If the German national players cover their mouths like monkeys and order a hairdresser to their hotel, you shouldn't be surprised if they lose against Japan." Shortly afterwards, Schaffert explained via "Bild" that the comparison to monkeys, which was often classified as racist, was unfortunate: "The term 'monkey' is unfortunate, I wouldn't say it like that today. That was certainly not right."
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In response to his critiques, DFB vice-president Schaffert named Joshua Kimmich and Ilkay Gündogan as players who could benefit from a potential change in the national soccer team's personnel. He expressed doubts about Kimmich's performances, both at the club level and internationally, and wondered if Gündogan's performance at the club was somehow superior to his contributions to the national team.
Source: www.ntv.de
