AD 2024: Rudi Völler’s search for Mr

Rudi Völler was on guard in his first decision.

Choosing the bus journey rather than the train journey to Dortmund was an excellent choice on Monday – because the planned ICE connection in Wolfsburg in the morning was supposed to stop in quite a tacky way. This lucky hand will still be required from the one-match national coach in the coming days. In many fields.

After signing some autographs in Dortmund, Fuller rushed into the hotel and sternly held the players accountable. “We can’t get rid of ourselves now. We’re still Germany,” he said to this ragtag group of professionals who couldn’t be called a team anymore. “The boys can do it too, they all come from the big clubs.”

Of course the priority is to find a national coach. Nagelsmann can currently be seen on the recruitment poster: We want you! According to SID information, despite the tense financial situation in the German Football Association, the costs should be of secondary importance, even if there seem to be reservations in the regional federations.

Lothar Matthäus brought in a surprise name on Monday. “I know Matthias Sammer will do it,” the national record player told SID during an appointment at the Dortmund Football Museum. At least until the European Championship. Then, he could envisage Jurgen Klopp as a long-term solution: “If you can sign Jurgen Klopp after the European Championship, I agree that a solution can be found by the summer,” said Matthaus.

The problem: Klopp is tied to Liverpool until 2026, and has yet to make any move to leave his employer before then.

Sammer once coached Borussia Dortmund to the title, and as a former sporting director, he also has a stable presence in the German Football Association and is a member of the task force established after the World Cup. However, he has withdrawn from daily work due to health reasons.

Finally, the Dresden native once again issued the main warning (“We are at the bottom”) and informed the federation about the (failed) participation of Sami Khedira as sporting director. With a high-ranking assistant at his side, Samer will be a “practical model,” SZ wrote.

“He did not know that Sammer’s performance was bad,” Matthäus continued, adding: “I would say that Matthias has now expressed himself in a way that makes him ready if he is needed.”

So it’s more like Nagelsmann?

But it is questionable whether Nagelsmann can win a national team at the moment. “I think at 36 years old, he has not yet reached the point where he prefers and needs to work with a team every day,” believes Matthaus.

Stefan Kuntz is also highly regarded by the association. The 1996 European champion is experiencing uncertainty as coach of the Turkish national team and may therefore become available. He has led the Under-21s to two European Championship titles, is a popular figure and would be much cheaper. Oliver Glasner, who has no club, is often mentioned.

The Austrian is an excellent specialist, winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt and having previously been successful with Wolfsburg. However, if the German Football Association is seriously interested, they will have to hurry: Glasner has been linked with Olympique Lyonnais.

Meanwhile, legendary coach Felix Magath inserted himself into the game. The three-time champion coach will be confident of getting the German national team back on track as successor to sacked national coach Hansi Flick in the nine months until the domestic European Championship.

The 70-year-old said: “He has often shown that he is able to lift unstable teams and give them a lot of confidence so that they can perform very well again. This is what the German Football Association needs at the moment.” Old on the radio station “NDR 90.3”.

With the European Championship on home soil only nine months away, the German Football Association and the sporting director absolutely cannot afford to make a wrong decision. At the same time, players must be built up and brought out of their slumber.

“We are not good enough at the moment. The team has to question itself,” said Ilkay Gundogan, who has just been appointed as team captain by Hansi Flick. Joshua Kimmich, who remains open about whether he will be allowed to return to the position, and Thomas Muller, made similar comments. Niklas Süle is missing at the moment for good reason: he has become a father for the second time.

What we need now is to enter the new state of euphoria called for by the President of the German Football Association, Bernd Neuendorf. But where do you get it? Fuller is in charge of the match against Kylian Mbappe and Randall Kolo Mwani, which will not be a good match at all.

The trip to the United States in October to prepare for the 2026 World Cup is controversial due to tension. But the trip will be the first appearance of EM’s “savior.”

Time is running. Not just for Rudi Voller.