The German football federation [DFB] have hit back at Bayern Munich.
Bayern’s ever-vocal president Uli Hoeness was incredibly critical of the organisation and their hire of Jurgen Klopp.
Hoeness particularly laid into the hire of Klopp‘s long time agent Marc Kosicke in a new role calling it a ‘friendly takeover’.
Germany response to Klopp criticism
Now responding, DFB Vice President Ralph-Uwe Schaffert said: “The recent statements by Uli Hoeness regarding the signing of Jurgen Klopp clearly show that Mr. Hoeness is unfamiliar with the structure and decision-making processes of the DFB.
“The reference to decisions by ‘state princes’ also misses the mark.
“Insofar as Mr. Hoeness criticizes the signing of the contract with Marc Kosicke by referring to his shares in an agency, he seems to have overlooked the fact that Mr. Kosicke had already sold these shares previously.
“The Kosicke matter was carefully discussed by the supervisory board and then decided favourably.”
“Sometimes it wouldn’t hurt to become knowledgeable about topics before expressing an opinion – critically or even disparagingly.”
DFB vice president for youth football, Hermann Winkler, added: “You don’t have to take every word Uli Hoeness says seriously, but you do have to correct falsehoods.
“The regional associations don’t decide on the national coach at all. This is done by the supervisory board of DFB GmbH. And it’s good that both professionals and amateurs are represented there.”
Hoeness’ comments came in a lengthy Sky interview in which he first praised Klopp.
What Uli Hoeness said about Klopp
He said: “What I don’t like about this story is that his advisor, Marc Kosicke, was brought in along with the club.
“I don’t really know what he’s supposed to do there. I think that’s a problem.
“The whole thing seems like a friendly takeover to me. Klopp and his associates have taken over the DFB, and I think that’s wrong.”
Hoeness then praised Klopp as a coach with comments full of back-handed compliments.
He continued: “Personally, I think Jürgen Klopp is a very good coach, truly a very good coach. But I’m not a big fan of hero worship.
“He’s already getting this status as if he can walk on water. He can’t change everything with the laying on of hands.
“As we know him, he will work very hard. He will also do many things differently. And many things will get better.
“But you have to give him time, and above all, you mustn’t believe that he’s the messiah.”
Damning Germany World Cup assessment
Hoeness then gave a damning assessment of Germany’s World Cup performance.
He finished: “I think our team’s performance was a complete disaster.
“It was an embarrassment for our country. But there are various reasons for that.
“Enough has been said about Julian Nagelsmann . I don’t believe he’s solely to blame. We don’t have superb quality, but you can still play a good World Cup. The Argentinians proved it.
“They don’t have a great team, but they gave it their all. That’s what I missed in our team.
“I’m not one to say: play for fouls. But playing hard and giving it your all to the very end is fine.
“Before the World Cup, I said: if we don’t have a superb team, we need a well-oiled machine. And we didn’t have a well-oiled machine.
“Everything was a jumble, constantly trying new things. That’s the job of preparation, not the World Cup itself.”
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