While there have been some misgivings about the relaxed atmosphere at the team’s remote Zulal base camp, where wives, girlfriends and families visited a few times, as well as the unproductive training camp in Oman, Flick made a convincing argument that these issues were ultimately less important than Germany creating (and missing) enough chances to win at least two if not all three games comfortably. Large sections of the squad continue to back him and there is a belief at the DFB headquarters in Frankfurt that Germany’s troubles came down to details rather than wholesale deficiencies which warranted a huge overhaul of methods. He is still seen as the best man for the job at this point. By making himself the sacrificial lamb the public had demanded, he vastly reduced the pressure on Flick to walk as well.īut for all the mistakes he made in Qatar, the German FA was, from the outset, prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Bierhoff did his friend one last favour in that respect. Any initial frustrations he might have harboured over the DFB board’s role in Bierhoff’s demission were tempered by the realisation that the Euro 96 hero had offered up his own resignation before anyone had seriously pushed him. Only last spring, he left the German champions after falling out with sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.Īs it turned out, Flick’s statement was more of a love letter to the man who had been made the scapegoat for the group exit in Qatar than an expression of real anger. The former Bayern Munich midfielder has a history of stepping down from positions if he doesn’t feel sufficiently backed. “At this moment, my coaching staff and I find it hard to imagine how the void left by Oliver’s exit can be filled on a professional and human level,” Flick had said, setting off alarm bells. Oliver Bierhoff (left, with Bernd Neuendorf, DFB president), was a close ally of Hansi Flick (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
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