DFB: Watzke counters Hoeneß criticism because of Klopp’s advisor

Hoeneß had recently criticized the fact that, in addition to Klopp, his advisor Marc Kosicke was also “bought in” by the DFB. The honorary president of FC Bayern Munich described this as a “friendly takeover”: “Klopp and Co. have taken over the DFB and I think that is wrong.”

Klopp is only available in a package

Klopp’s long-time advisor Kosicke was introduced by the new national football coach as a kind of assistant coach for strategy, development and innovation. However, the name Kosicke and his role did not appear in the DFB announcement about Klopp. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf explained that Kosicke would be an “external employee” who would of course have “every access to the association”. Neuendorf described Kosicke as an “important interface” and confessed: “It was very clear that the two are so closely intertwined that they can only be had as a package.”

This irritated Hoeneß (74). “What I don’t like about the story is that his advisor Marc Kosicke was bought in.” Hoeneß said he didn’t know exactly what Kosicke was supposed to do. “He has a player agency and he is the managing director. The shares too. I think that’s a problem,” said the 1974 world champion.

Bayern coach also brought a few people with him

“And the fact that a coach with the reputation of Jürgen Klopp is given a certain amount of freedom is just the way it is,” said Watzke, adding, referring to the current Bayern coach: “That’s completely normal, every coach also has a few ideas when it comes to his staff. Vincent Kompany also brought a few people with him. That has nothing to do with “friendly takeover.”

In any case, everything is relative if Klopp is successful as national coach. “If the national team wins, then the structures are good,” said Watzke, who worked with Klopp as a coach at Borussia Dortmund for a long time. “Then people are happy and, ideally, if it’s still fun, then all other problems are pushed aside.”