The squad of national coach Hansi Flick has changed before the departure to Armenia. But that does not affect the clear objective.
The almost one-week stay in Wolfsburg ended on Saturday with the final session on VfL’s D pitch – the training group and thus the delegation that left for Erewan at midday no longer had much in common with the squad that Hansi Flick welcomed to Lower Saxony last Monday evening. A total of twelve players have left in the meantime. Because after the Corona and quarantine cases as well as injury-related departures and the suspension of Antonio Rüdiger, the national coach is also giving his veterans Marco Reus and Manuel Neuer a break. Nevertheless, the goal remains non-negotiable: the new national coach wants to finish the qualifying Group J with 27 points, i.e. a win in Armenia.
“Manuel Neuer and Marco Reus have had a lot of games lately and also have a lot of assignments ahead of them until Christmas,” Flick explained the waiver, “they should therefore take a breather before the upcoming weeks.” He certainly does not allow the conclusion that he considers the final game of this year on Sunday evening to be of secondary importance. “We have made good steps now and want the optimum points haul. A good finish is the aim. “
Müller wears the captain’s armband
Also with a much-changed group, Thomas Müller will lead them onto the field as captain: In goal, the 56-year-old decided during the press conference on Saturday, will be Marc-André ter Stegen, in front of which he hopes Thilo Kehrer will play. The centre-back from Paris only completed a running session parallel to the final training session after suffering calf problems from the Liechtenstein match. However, with Rüdiger already the second set centre-back after Niklas Süle out, the coach is hoping for Kehrer: “We won’t take any risks, but after the run his calf felt better. We are planning on Thilo.” Especially as Flick will also have to completely reshuffle his midfield centre: Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich have been at the heart of the team since his enthronement, and in Armenia, after Kimmich’s quarantine, Goretzka is also the second Bayern professional missing after Thursday’s chest contusion – the chance for Florian Neuhaus to score plus points alongside Ilkay Gündogan.
Flick is holding out the prospect of a call-up for the Gladbach man after a strong 45 minutes in the 9-0 win over Liechtenstein, but also gives him clear words to take with him. Neuhaus had recently publicly bemoaned his reserve role in Mönchengladbach, but the DFB coach explicitly flanks his fellow coach’s decision. “Even as an international player there is no guarantee, we are in a competitive sport. I am with Adi Hütter on this. Florian has to come to terms with the situation.” At the same time, he attests to his protégé: “Although he hasn’t played so often at the club lately, he’s done really well with us this week in training and also in the game.” He is expected to provide this proof one more time.
In a team that will probably not be reunited in this constellation any time soon, but still gives the coach a good feeling so far. “It was good for us to experience other players as well, also in terms of the way they behave in the group. I see a lot of positives,” says Flick, but is also sharpening his senses again ahead of the final in 2021: “We still need something to get where we want to go. We are not yet at the quality we want to have.”
