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Matthias Schrader / dpa
Hansi Flick was not taken seriously in the football industry for a long time.
When the upcoming national coach was Joachim Löw's assistant coach for the national team, observers liked to make fun of Flick's appearances at press conferences, which were clumsy and meaningless.
Flick was only an appendage of the beaming world champion coach Löw.
A loyal assistant with a civil servant mentality, who apparently saw his fulfillment in handing out cones for the boss on the training ground.
The experts are now rubbing their eyes: Flick has become a respected figure in world football.
He made an ascent in record time.
As head coach of FC Bayern, he won eight titles in a year and a half, including the Champions League and World Cup.
Can a coach achieve more in such a short time?
The fact that Flick recently pushed the move from FC Bayern to the national team was a wise decision.
With the record champions, the bosses no longer seemed to be completely convinced of him.
Rummenigge and Co. did not trust Flick to build a new, powerful team.
Julian Nagelsmann is now taking over this job.
It remains to be seen whether the young football coach will be happy with the difficult task.
Everyone at the DFB is happy to have found such a highly decorated successor for Löw in Flick.
The new man for "The Team" is popular with the fans because he is considered a quiet, hard-working worker.
An alternative to the Nivea model Löw, who tended to self-portrayal and in the end often let his actual tasks slip.
Flick will quickly bring order to the national team.
His predecessor liked to experiment with different tactics, always trying out new players.
With Flick comes someone who will provide a clear line that everyone can use for orientation.
What Flick has learned from Löw: He too will stay away from the powerful in the DFB headquarters.
Flick will do his thing and not let unpredictable officials talk him in.
That is why he fought until the end of the contract negotiations to keep sports director Oliver Bierhoff as a contact person and football expert on an equal footing.
Flick will need self-confidence in the future
The fact that Flick was able to assert himself with his demand shows how consistently he approaches his goals.
The upcoming national coach knows what he wants.
He has a plan.
He will go his way.
As national coach, Flick will urgently need the self-confidence that he has shown in recent months at FC Bayern and in talks with the DFB.
He took on a complicated job.
Flick has to stabilize the team until the start of the World Cup in Qatar in autumn 2022.
Furthermore, as a representative, he has to deal with the political debates that the tournament will trigger in the emirate.
Can he do that
Or can Flick only play football?
Some experts in the professional industry would have preferred to see Jürgen Klopp on the job.
A football teacher who can get the players excited and talk a lot.
A man who stirs up emotions and doesn’t mince his words.
No question: Klopp would have suddenly created a new enthusiasm for football in Germany with his open-hearted, moody manner.
However, the Liverpool coach was not available.
Flick, on the other hand, is not a rampage pig.
He has to convince with good results and hope that the mood around the national team will brighten up again step by step.
No doubt he can be trusted, which is why Flick is now the most important coach in the country.
However, Klopp should continue to haunt some DFB officials in the back of the head - and thus Flick sit on the neck, even if he should do the job as well as you can expect.
Because the European Championship will be held in Germany in 2024. The tournament is the big future project for the association. Flick's contract term includes the home EM. But if the newcomer does not meet expectations and he does not quickly lead the national team back to the top of the world, Flick will hardly experience the major event as a national coach.
