Only three months and four games before the European Championship in July in Switzerland are still the German footballers in the finding phase. “We would be a bit further in my ideal dream world. I imagined it a little easier,” said national coach Christian Wück in front of the two Nations League games against Scotland.
Actually, the 51-year-old wanted to use the games against the 24th of the FIFA world rankings this Friday (8:35 p.m./ZDF) in Dundee and next Tuesday (5.45 p.m./ARD and Kika) in Wolfsburg to have his selection recorded. But the upheaval after the resignation of routine such as Alexandra Popp and Marina Hegering is more difficult than expected for Horst Hrubesch’s successor.
When asked how far the DFB women are on a scale from zero to ten, Wück replied: “I would show a 6.5 to 7.”
Above all, the defense is worried
Most recently, the DFB women around captain Giulia Gwinn won 4: 1 against Austria, but the national coach also made no secret of dissatisfaction these days: “I didn’t really like the way from the first to the last minute.”
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The construction sites in the Olympic thirds run primarily through the defensive and through the midfield: In the chain of four, only Gwinn is on the right, Janina Minge, most recently central defender, is actually more forward at home. Alternatives are rare.
Especially since Kathrin Hendrich (both Wolfsburg) and Rebecca Knaak (Manchester City) are missing in the contingent. Bibiane Schulze Solano (Athletic Bilbao) will probably not make it up to the European Championship after its serious knee injury. Sara Doorsoun from Frankfurt fails at least for Friday due to muscular problems. Chelsea’s midfielder Sjoeke Nüsken may move into the defense.
Is Lena Oberdorf returning in time?
In midfield, Elisa Sense from Eintracht was convinced as a representative of Lena Oberdorf, but she does not bring the force of the painfully missing Bayern player. After all, Wück may hope for a comeback of the 23-year-old who is doing parts of the team training in Munich again before the European Championship: “With Obi it is simply the case that the time component could actually fit.”
Wück must now quickly get stability into the processes and find its scaffolding. After the duels against Scotland, there are only two caps before the highlight of the season in Switzerland: against the Netherlands on May 20 in Bremen and against Austria on June 3.
The national coach has now expanded the squad again. “I think we are on the right track. But I would have liked that we would find our desired formation faster,” he said, but also said in a varied way: “We just have to find the team that is able to win against maybe eleven better individual players.”
The fact that German women’s football has to stretch internationally also proves -despite the successful effort at Olympia 2024 -the World Cup embankment of 2023. And recently the two top clubs FC Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg were shown in the Champions League by Olympique Lyon and FC Barcelona.
Results in the premier class as a warning shot
“Of course, the results were sobering,” said Wück. This “scratched a little bit of the self -confidence of the players. But I don’t think we have to hide from other nations.” The players would have to “flip this DFB switch”. The former Bundesliga striker now wants to see “a German team that is determined by the first to the last minute” against Scotland.
Less than a hundred days before the first European Championship game against Poland on July 4th, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger “really a shame” finds that the situation is compared with the disillusionment in the premier class. “I have no concern for the European Championship at all. This is a completely different environment, a completely different tactic,” said the “footballer of the year” from the US Club NJ/NY Gotham FC.