Emmanuel Thomas I Sunday, July 23, 2023
COLOGNE – Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart criticized how the Germany national team players have been treated and said the squad is still among the top favourites for the home Euro 2024 despite the recent bad results.
Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart criticized how the Germany national team players have been treated and said the squad is still among the top favourites for the home Euro 2024 despite the recent bad results.
“We will always play a major role. I also believe that we can win the Euros. But the way we treat our players has to change. There’s no point in just hitting them all the time,” he told the Bild am Sonntag weekly.
He particularly criticized how veteran players were treated in the past.
“Our World Cup in Russia was not so good. Afterwards, we scared away some of our best players. Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller – they were suddenly not good enough. The Croatian fans would carry Luka Modric onto the pitch so he could still play for his country because he is a hero. We tear our boys apart every time,” he said
Four-time champions Germany went out in the group stage of the last two World Cups 2018 and 2022, and in the last 16 at Euro 2020. Hansi Flick’s team has lost three of its last four winless games and slipped to 15th in the world rankings.
Asked if he would consider taking the job at the national team after the end of his contract with Cologne in 2025, Baumgart said: “I have to be honest: I think Hansi Flick is a good coach. At some point, someone else will do it. But I’m not worried about other jobs at the moment.”
