| |
Germany looked a different team on Thursday night to the one which had limped through the qualifying group generating more anxiety than praise. They were incisive, calm and focused on the task at hand – which was beating Portugal, something not many of us in all honesty expected to happen.
 In times like these, the cameras and the eyes of the pleasantly surprised fan turn to the bench to look for the coach who has finally found the right motivation and formula to get the best out of a good team which seemed to be wilfully underperforming. On Thursday, as Germany once again extended their lead to two goals, the gaze turned in this direction in the hope of a satisfied look or a passionate celebration. How would Joachim Loew react to Michael Ballack's header – a goal essentially which put Germany in the semi-finals?
"Hang on," the world said, hesitating. "Who's this bloke?" The outfit was the same: a crisp white shirt, open-necked and taut, sleeves rolled-up in a workmanlike fashion and a pair of pressed black slacks. The hand on the chin suggesting concentration was also in evidence as were the darting, dark eyes under a furrowed brow. But where had six inches of height gone and where was the inky sleek hair? "Hang on again," the world added. "That's not Jogi?" And it was right.
Let us introduce Hansi Flick, or as he may become known "Mini-Loew". Not many people outside of Germany had heard of Hansi until last night. The first appearance of his name for many may have been the credit he got as national coach under the graphic of the Germany team before kick-off. Those who had been following Germany would have known of Loewie's suspension but may have been wondering if he had somehow lost his job in the meantime and had been replaced by this miniature usurper. Any fears were, of course, unfounded. Hansi, for those who still don't know, is Jogi's right-hand man. To make things more complicated, Hansi is Jogi to Jogi's Klinsi. Still with me?
Hansi's appointment to the national set-up after the 2006 World Cup was something of a surprise given his previous coaching experience with such titans of the German game as FC Bammental and 1899 Hoffenheim. However, as a midfielder for Bayern Munich in his playing days, Hansi did collect four Bundesliga titles and was a European Cup runner-up. Just as Jogi Loew dallied with almost-greatness in his coaching career pre-Germany, so Hansi did as a player.
Make of this what you will but managing a couple of lower league clubs seemed to stand Hansi in good stead for coaching Germany on Thursday night. Although the team would have been well-drilled by Loewie before he was consigned to his purgatory in the stands, there was no audio link-up between assistant and coach during the game. Hansi reacted to the events on the pitch and organized as the need arose. The tactics and substitutions were almost certainly pre-planned but the orders passed on to pitch were delivered clearly and with authority. Hansi, despite his diminutive stature, did not look out of his depth.
All of which suggests the creation of a German legacy. In the olden days when they were good, Liverpool built their success on the continuity of the backroom staff. The Anfield Boot Room was a famous production line of coaches and managers which brought titles galore. Knowledge and tradition were passed down while successors were promoted from within. Could it be that history will record such a lineage in regard to German success? "And lo! Klinsi did bequeath the mantle to Jogi, who bequeathed it to Hansi…and it was good."
 JOGI UPDATE: The national team did their bit to aid our campaign to keep Jogi Loew in a job on Thursday night so we offer them our thanks. Oh, and did anyone else see the Germany coach spark up a cigarette in his glass cage in the stands when things started to get tense? Not only has he shown us his dark, angry side, Jogi also has a bit of a rebel thing going on too. (Although the fact that he never smokes on the bench or in public and has to skulk in the back of a badly lit director's box to get a crafty puff reminds me less of James Dean and more of some spotty, sixth former behind the science lab.) |
|
