Bierhoff's fatal criticism: “We should have considered doing without Özil”

“We have never forced players in the German national team to do anything, but have always tried to convince them to do something. We didn't manage to do that with Mesut. And in this respect we should have considered whether we should do without him in sport,” said Bierhoff in an exclusive interview with “Welt”. Bierhoff, who has a managerial position at the DFB, expressed strong criticism of the German national player.

Does this strengthen the sense of belonging? Hardly likely. While the Swedes, for example, stood united behind Jimmy Durmaz after a sporting mistake and condemned racist attacks, the DFB continues to miss such actions. Swedish media subsequently reported that the team had grown extremely close as a result of this campaign. At the DFB it is the other way around. Instead of protecting Özil, Bierhoff weakened him further with the verbal attack.

Bierhoff contradicts himself In contrast to Ilkay Gündogan, Özil has not commented in public since the pictures taken in London in mid-May with the controversial Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and, with the permission of the DFB, also stayed away from the media day in the training camp. After the historic World Cup exit in the preliminary round, Özil was chosen by the public as one of the scapegoats and harshly criticized. Sporting reasons could hardly be used for this ( A SportNews analysis of Özil's performances can be found here ).

“I think the fact that Mesut and Ilkay took the photos didn't bother the team that much. But the debate was sustained. Looking back, I would try to regulate this issue even more clearly,” said Bierhoff, indirectly contradicting himself. On the one hand it didn't bother the DFB team, on the other hand it did. Bierhoff's statement is not really clear. The DFB’s strange “hashtag marketing” bothers many fans The 1996 European champion also announced “profound changes”: “What has contributed to a 14-year success story cannot simply be ignored. But it is clear that we have to put everything to the test, in terms of personnel and structure,” said Bierhoff: “This includes the composition of the squad as well as the internal processes. There must be cuts at all levels. We didn't present ourselves as a team in Russia. This is something that particularly hurts me.”

Bierhoff says he has “noticed” the estrangement between the fans and the national team, which is becoming increasingly discussed, and “takes this perception very seriously”. Many fans are fed up with the arrogant nature of the German association. Bierhoff also made a significant contribution to this with his exuberant marketing strategy (“The Team” and hashtags like #ZSMMN).

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Bierhoff's fatal criticism: “We should have considered doing without Özil”

DFB manager Oliver Bierhoff has admitted mistakes in dealing with the Erdogan affair and spoke for the first time about not having world champion Mesut Özil at the World Cup in Russia. However, his interview with “Welt” was a fatal own goal.

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