National coach Flick walks a fine line

Everyone wants to see what the much-discussed restart looks like. On the terrace and the balconies of the campus of the German Football Association (DFB) in Frankfurt/Main, numerous association employees are standing these mornings and watching the national team's training sessions - fans are not allowed. Association President Bernd Neuendorf also came by on Wednesday, with the new sports director Rudi Völler standing next to him.

Since the beginning of the week, the squad has been preparing for the international match against Peru in Mainz on Saturday (8:45 p.m., ZDF) on the site, which costs around 150 million euros. It is the first international match of the year, the first since the World Cup in Qatar, which was desolate from a German point of view, at the end of 2022. A little more than a hundred days after the preliminary round and around a year before the home European Championship, the national team urgently needs a spirit of optimism.

First of all, the players have to take care of this, as Hansi Flick made clear this week. One is in the obligation to deliver, so the national coach. He expects passionate performances. Then the famous spark should jump over to the audience. A restart, with new euphoria and new players. "You can ignite a fire," said midfielder Emre Can from Borussia Dortmund: "If we can do that, we can play a very successful EM." Which is almost a must to make a home EM a success.

The DFB is making an effort with this mission: Last Monday afternoon, the national team completed a public training session in a stadium for the first time in four years, Völler greeted the fans via microphone. "Have a nice afternoon everyone. We're trying to make everyone happy," he said. More proximity to the stars – this is another way in which the DFB wants to win over football fans on the way to the tournament in Germany. At least the small Mainz stadium with around 25,000 spectators is already sold out in the game against Peru. Next Tuesday (8.45 p.m., RTL) the second game of this national team trip against Belgium will take place in Cologne.

Flick identified the discussion about the “One Love” armband and the consequences as one reason for the failure in Qatar. Joshua Kimmich will wear a armband in the colors of Germany against Peru. FC Bayern's midfield boss is replacing the injured Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller, who Flick has not nominated this time. The national coach is also currently without offensive star Leroy Sané, and Ilkay Gündogan from Manchester City, who has just become a father, and Marco Reus from Borussia Dortmund are also missing. “Other players should have space,” said Flick. They must and want to seize their opportunities now.

Six newcomers are among the 23 professionals nominated by Flick: The U21 European champions Josha Vagnoman from VfB Stuttgart and Mergim Berisha from FC Augsburg, Marius Wolf from Borussia Dortmund, Felix Nmecha from VfL Wolfsburg and Kevin Schade from FC Brentford from the Premier League . Flick also called up central defender Malick Thiaw from AC Milan at short notice because defender Armel Bella Kotchap from FC Southampton injured his shoulder. All newcomers are scheduled to debut in the two games. There are also four returnees who were missing for various reasons: Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Bernd Leno (FC Fulham), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig) and Can. Flick and the fans are particularly looking forward to Wirtz, the 19-year-old was out for almost a year with a cruciate ligament tear. FC Bayern's Jamal Musiala, who is only one year older, is missing due to a torn muscle fiber in his left thigh, and BVB's Julian Brandt is also injured. Marc-André ter Stegen from FC Barcelona will play in goal in both games.

With a view to Neuer's long-term absence, the 30-year-old goalkeeper once again made it clear on Thursday that he wants to use the time to finally go into the European Championships as a regular goalkeeper next year. The serious skiing accident not only changed a lot at FC Bayern, but also in the DFB goal. Neuer's bad luck is ter Stegen's opportunity to change the guard. He already has his number one on his jersey. "I was asked, I said okay - and now I have the number. Due to the injury to Manu, who is not there at the moment, the situation is as it is. I'll try to take my chance - absolutely," he said.

But that should be the smallest construction site to be closed in the national team. The much larger ones will undoubtedly have to be fixed by the people in front of them. "We're working on refreshing our game philosophy and want to develop as a team," said striker Niclas Füllkrug. It was "madness" when you saw how many scoring chances were missed in Qatar, the Werder Bremen striker outlined: "That killed us a little." Flick also talked a lot about the necessary efficiency this week. He wants to "continue to play a key role here," said Füllkrug about his ambitions in the national team. The 30-year-old was nominated for the first time before the World Cup in Qatar.

It's a fine line for Flick. On the one hand, he wants and needs to do something new and experiment with people. On the other hand, the team needs a sense of achievement – ​​and this should not be jeopardized by too many experiments. As the host of the European Championship, Germany does not have to play any qualifying games. “We only have friendlies before the European Championship. It's a chance for many, but it's also important to get results," said SC Freiburg defender Matthias Ginter. It's "a balancing act."

Those responsible rely on cohesion at the start of their difficult EM mission. On Tuesday evening, the senior national team and the U21s met for a meal together. Völler showed the players what a historic opportunity a tournament in Germany is. He, too, demands above all passion, devotion and will.

In this regard, at the World Cup, Völler emphasized that they had a few percent less than title winners Argentina and semi-finalists Morocco. And Flick said: "I am convinced that we will present ourselves well." His squad nomination has also been criticized in the past few days, even the national players were sometimes surprised by Flick's selection, Can and Kimmich admitted that. "We still have enough experience in the squad," said attacker Füllkrug, calling for credit and respect for Flick. He experienced the national coach as very communicative and full of energy this week, he said.

Flick has been even more in focus since the World Cup. What did he learn from the tournament? what does he change How does he let the team play? The game against Peru should provide the first answers. In this respect it is more than a friendly game. Also finds Kimmich. "For me, these are not classic test or friendly games," he said of "tz", "for me, each one is a preparatory game - and we have to win each and every game."