DFB chiefs fly to New York to sign Klopp as Schweinsteiger demands alternatives to 'hectic' coach pursuit
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and his deputy Hans-Joachim Watzke departed for New York to finalize terms with Jürgen Klopp as Germany's next head coach, while Bastian Schweinsteiger publicly questioned the federation's single-minded pursuit.
The German Football Association (DFB) moved decisively to install Jürgen Klopp as the new Bundestrainer, dispatching its top two officials to the United States for direct talks. The mission, widely reported by German media, comes days after Julian Nagelsmann's resignation following a disastrous World Cup campaign that ended in a round of 16 exit against Paraguay.
The New York mission
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and his deputy, DFL Supervisory Board Chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke, departed for New York to negotiate contract terms with the 59-year-old Klopp. Klopp is currently working as a TV pundit for the World Cup on MagentaTV in the US. Sportschau reported that the talks are scheduled for the weekend and will cover the specifics of his engagement.
A key obstacle remains Klopp's existing contract. He is employed as Head of Global Soccer by the beverage company Red Bull, with a deal that runs until 2029. According to the reports, after concluding discussions with the DFB, further negotiations are planned in New York with Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff. Tagesschau noted that all parties are reportedly interested in reaching a mutual agreement.
Schweinsteiger's criticism
World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger, working as a pundit for ARD, launched a sharp critique of the federation's strategy ahead of a World Cup quarter-final broadcast. He questioned the absence of a genuine selection process. "Hat der DFB Alternativen?," Schweinsteiger asked on air, according to N-tv.
Mir fehlt beim DFB so ein bisschen die Souveränität. Wenn man sieht, dass die Delegation jetzt nach New York fliegt, das ist schon bemüht, aber hektisch.
DIE WELT quoted him reflecting on a perceived loss of poise: "Da gab es schon andere Zeiten, in dem das anders gehandhabt wurde." Schweinsteiger insisted that any coach would be hard-pressed to radically alter the team's fortunes right now.
Alternative names
Rather than accepting Klopp as the inevitable choice, Schweinsteiger pointed to two other figures with deep ties to German football. During the ARD broadcast, he mentioned Lothar Matthäus and Matthias Sammer as examples of people with comparable football expertise.
Wenn man über Fussballfachwissen spricht, dann denke ich, dass Sammer und Matthäus da ganz weit vorne sind.
Matthäus, Germany's record appearance holder, has worked as a coach, though his last role ended with the Bulgarian national team in 2011. Sammer held senior director roles at the DFB, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund but has not coached in over two decades. Schweinsteiger nonetheless presented them as legitimate 'counterpoints' to a single-candidate process.
A healing process or a 'plaster'?
Schweinsteiger tempered expectations that any new coach, even Klopp, is a magic fix. He described the state of the national team bluntly: "Wir liegen am Boden." In his analysis, Klopp's arrival is a necessary medical response but not a guaranteed cure for deeper structural issues.
Jürgen Klopp ist für mich das Pflaster, wenn er die Wunde heilt. Aber ob die komplett heilt, das weiss ich nicht, da müssen wir schon auch in den nächsten Jahren mit der Spielergeneration viel arbeiten.
He called on the DFB to lower its targets. For the immediate future, reaching a World Cup quarter-final, a stage Germany has missed at three consecutive tournaments, would be a respectable first milestone. His advice to the federation was to "tiefer zu stapeln," to stack its expectations lower.
Stiller unwinds at the 'Ballermann'
Away from the high-stakes coaching drama, midfielder Angelo Stiller took a more straightforward path to processing the World Cup disappointment. A video from the open-air nightclub 'Megapark' on Mallorca's 'Ballermann' strip showed the VfB Stuttgart player being called onto the stage during a performance by Almklausi and the producer duo HBz, celebrating vigorously with the crowd.
"Auch ein Profi-Fussballer muss mal abschalten und sein Leben geniessen. Schön, dass du da warst, Angelo. Bis zum nächsten Mal," the club wrote in a social media post. Stiller responded with a flexed-bicep emoji, briefly achieving cult status at the venue as a different kind of World Cup recovery played out.
