Germany fired Hansi Flick as manager on Sunday after a row of poor performances. Jurgen Klopp is now the preferred candidate to lead the squad ahead of Euro 2024. However, the 56-year-old is dedicated to Liverpool and would first want to fulfill his obligations at Anfield.
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Jurgen Klopp keen on continuing with Liverpool
The Germans were humiliated by Japan, who were led by Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, in a 4-1 rout on Saturday, and Flick, the former manager of Bayern Munich, was fired on the spot. As a potential replacement, Klopp was mentioned right away.
With Klopp, fellow ex-Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann and Oliver Glasner were also mentioned. They excelled at Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg respectively. Rudi Voller is in charge in the interim.
Klopp would not rule out a future move to the German National Team. But, the Liverpool manager is likely to decline the opportunity to manage Germanyat the upcoming European Championships. This is because he still has three years left on his Anfield contract.
According to reports in Germany, the association is ‘enamoured’ with Klopp and is considering hiring the Liverpool manager at the end of this current campaign. The favorite is reportedly Nagelsmann, who is still formally under contract with Bayern.
Klopp on the German Coach gig
In an interview this summer, Klopp said, ‘The job of national coach is and would be a great honour – there’s no question about that. The problem that stands in the way of the whole thing is my loyalty.’
He continued, ‘Basically, it’s an interesting job. But I don’t know yet whether I’ll do something completely different after I leave Liverpool. I want to keep my options open.’
Former captain Lothar Matthaus said in 2020, ‘When you talk about possible candidates, there is only one person that everyone would want in the future, and that is Jurgen Klopp. He is extremely successful, personable and equally popular with fans and the media.’
Also Read: Germany coach Hansi Flick fired, Ex-Bayern coach in contention to replace him
The German FA’s Bernd Neuendorf stated in a statement on Sunday that firing Flick was “one of the most difficult decisions of my time in office.” Bernd said, ‘The committees agreed that the Men’s Senior National Team needs new impetus after the recent disappointing results. We need a spirit of optimism and confidence in our own country.’
Neuendorf continued, ‘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.’
Director Voller was critical of the team’s collapse against Japan, describing it as a ‘disgrace’. He announced that he would meet with Flick on the Sunday prior to his sacking. 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 (Sunday) about why that happened. That was an embarrassment.’
