Hansi Flick has been sacked as head coach of the Germany national team following a meeting with shareholders, and just nine months before Euro 2024.
The former Bayern Munich manager had a fairly unsuccessful stint in charge of the national team with a 4-1 loss to Japan appearing to be the final straw.
In a statement released by the national side, it was confirmed that following a ‘shareholders meeting’, Flick was dismissed.
President of the German Football Association, Bernd Neuendorf said: ‘The committees agreed that the Men’s Senior National Teamneeds new impetus after the recent disappointing results. We need a spirit of optimism and confidence in our own country.
‘For me personally, it is one of the most difficult decisions of my time in office so far. Because I appreciate Hansi Flick and his assistant coaches as football experts and people. But sporting success is the top priority for the DFB. So the decision was inevitable.’
Hansi Flick has been sacked as head coach of Germany after a poor run of form
Germany fell to a 4-1 loss to Japan on Saturday, which appears to have been the final straw
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Flick after an unsuccessful spell with Germany
Germany face a difficult test on Tuesday when they host World Cup finalists France at Borussia Dortmund’ Signal Iduna Park.
However, Flick will not be in the dugout for the match as a decision has been made over his future.
Flick saw his German side fail to qualify from their group at the World Cup, with Japan pulling off the shock of the tournament to progress into the knock-out stages ahead of them.
The news of Flick’s imminent dismissal comes as Germany director Rudi Voller said that losing 4-1 is a ‘disgrace’ and that he will speak to Flick on Sunday.
He said: ‘We’re all still in shock. Losing 4-1 is a disgrace.
‘We all should take a good look at ourselves and then see what happens next. We would all do well to sleep on it tonight.
‘I just spoke to Hansi – he’s deeply affected. We’ll talk tomorrow about why that happened. That was an embarrassment.’
Bernd Neuendorf, Germany’s FA President, labelled the decision as one of the toughest
Rudi Voller said that the defeat to Japan was the match that decided Flick’s fate
The director released his own statement when Flick’s dismissal was announced.
‘Hansi Flick has worn himself out over the past few months; together with his coaching team, he has given everything to get back on track after leaving the clubWorld Cup in Qatar to make the turn for the better,’ he said.
‘Unfortunately, we have to realise today that it was not successful. The Japan game has clearly shown us that we can no longer make any progress in this situation. This is not an easy moment for me, because I joined the DFB in February to support Hansi Flick in all my ways, to support him so that he can be successful in sport. And I firmly believed that as national coach he could manage to get our national team back on track.
‘But now we have to act responsibly, we have to change something in order to be able to play the demanding and ambitious role of host at the European Championships in our own country that we all hope for. That’s what the fans in Germany rightly expect from us..
Voller and Sandro Wagner will lead the national team when they face France on Tuesday, it was confirmed.
Voller continued: ‘I will therefore temporarily look after the national team for the one game against France with Hannes Wolfby my side. The most urgent task will then be to hire a national coach who will quickly realign our team and prepare it for the big European Championship tournament next year, from which we all hope that there will be positive impulses for German football and also for our entire country.
‘A national coach who will then, in the long term, raise the national team back to the level that we know and expect from it.’
It remains to be seen as to who will succeed Flick, with Julian Nagelsmann appearing to be an early frontrunner.
