For the long-time Bundesliga coach and national player Felix Magath, the current crisis in German football had been foreseeable for a long time. In his opinion, the starting point is the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil. “A downward spiral has developed since 2014. Any criticism was ignored or the critic was put in a corner. I already criticized the youth work in 2011. When I hear twelve years later that no strikers and central defenders can keep up, I think to myself: What a Miracle,” said the 69-year-old of the German Press Agency.
In Magath’s opinion, German football has “lost its identity. The German national team used to stand for commitment, discipline and willpower. Today nobody has any more respect for us,” he said.
The former champion coach of Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg blames not only the German Football Association and the mistakes in youth work, but also the Bundesliga clubs and their organization of the league. “The competition has to be maintained. I would work on that if it were my duty,” said Magath. “How is a competition supposed to come about when FC Bayern Munich earns at least a hundred million more every year than the second-largest club in the league? Where is the competition supposed to come from?”
Career dates of Felix Magath The German national teams
