David Raum doesn’t have to be sad. When the line-ups were read out ritually, he only received the second most applause, even though he played a double home game. In the arena in Sinsheim, he usually runs up the left wing on behalf of the local TSG, he knows every blade of grass here and every blade of grass knows him. In this respect, at least the locals among the spectators were proud of their left-back, i.e. people from Sinsheim, Hoffenheim, Zuzenhausen, Bammental, Sandhausen and maybe even Heidelberg, and so David Raum can take the warming realization with him to the team headquarters and to the next friendly in Amsterdam (Tuesday). assume that he was at least the most applauded footballer. However, he had no chance against Hansi Flick, the national coach, of whom people were obviously even more proud. Flick was already one of them before Raum was even born in Nuremberg.
Hansi Flick, born in Heidelberg, started the World Cup year at home, but he’s not esoteric enough to see any kind of omen in it – or even in the really, really nice 2-0 win against Israel, which was his Eleven, however, hardly required any borderline experiences. Flick’s employer, the German Football Association, had invited guests to the evening who behaved so inconspicuously that it was difficult to judge all the pretty features of Hansi Flick’s team.
From the first second, the DFB-Elf determined the rules of the game, and the players from Israel watched with interest. They showed little interest in taking part in this game themselves, but were so numerous in and in front of their own penalty area when watching that the German team was able to complete an excellent practice session in a small-scale game. The DFB players proved to be talented little artists, especially Jamal Musiala kept finding gaps that the gaps didn’t even know about shortly before they were created. They “played very bravely,” judged Flick. He could be “on the whole satisfied with all parts of the team”.
National coach Flick only fielded two and a half regular players against Israel
But as is sometimes the case in football: In order to finally take the lead, two set pieces were needed. Kai Havertz headed in a corner kick from Hoffenheim’s David Raum (36′) – if you combine Havertz’s path to the near post with the fact that the DFB has recently employed its own standard coach, you could get the idea that it is this was a variant suggested during training. Almost ten minutes later, Ilkay Gündogan placed a free kick halfway up the six-yard box, from where Timo Werner steered the ball into the net to make it 2-0 – on the verge of legality, because nobody could rule out that parts of his shoe were about a quarter of a cleat wide offside . “Eight games, six standard goals, that’s something to be proud of,” said Flick about his strikers’ record since he became national coach.
Flick had announced “a mix of importing and trying out” for the test matches against Israel and in Amsterdam, and trying out was on the agenda that evening, at least in terms of personnel. To be precise, the national coach called up two and a half regular players, Havertz, who can be used offensively anywhere, and Thilo Kehrer, who can be used defensively anywhere, as well as midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who is fundamentally suspected of being world class, but whose starting eleven mandate is by no means certain – Flick mostly trusts in his area of activity and scope this time missing Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka. The national coach nominated a starting eleven that read like a peace offer to those responsible at Borussia Dortmund. After all, Dortmund (0) were just outnumbered by FC Bayern (1).
Played well but also conceded a penalty: Nico Schlotterbeck (right).
(Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa)
What Flick asked of this evening was twofold: In addition to personal experiments, he also had his team work on the program item “Input”. Playing style and tactics should work regardless of the name, and it was also clear against this opponent how the national coach imagines his team to be – active, dominant and always on the move, supported by a back four in defence, whose members are also encouraged to to play steeply forward like the midfielders a line in front.
Flick should not have overlooked how cheekily Nico Schlotterbeck, the debutant in defence, met this requirement. Many attacks began on his left foot who, despite an unnecessary foul in stoppage time, was a winner of the night – alongside Israel goalkeeper Ofir Marciano, who thwarted German chances in the inexpensive half-dozen.
Shortly before the end, Thomas Müller misses a penalty – and Kevin Trapp holds one
Flick will also derive this work order from this evening: Although the ball ran remarkably casually through the ranks of the flexible top technicians Havertz, Musiala, Gündogan and Julian Draxler – when it came to exploiting opportunities, the team took the “trying out” all too literally.
The game managed to stay the same for 90 minutes. One team dominated, the other stood in the way. Because the evening’s findings were evidently clear early on, Flick continued the series of personal tests in the second half – alongside Christian Günther and Lukas Nmecha, he also helped the giant Anton Stach from Mainz to make his debut. Bad news for Borussia Dortmund: Bayern players Thomas Müller and Leroy Sane also came.
However, Müller also managed to put a penalty on the post. This 3-0 would have fit the evening – it would have been a goal again after a standard situation. But Müller was not alone with his mishap. After a foul by Schlotterbeck, Yonatan Cohen also missed a penalty: Substitute Kevin Trapp saved and made Flick realize that he can even rely on his third goalkeeper.