“No one said this was a friendly takeover of Bayern Munich either”: BVB president Aki Watzke puts Uli Hoeneß in his place
Hans-Joachim Watzke has hit back in clear terms at the latest criticism of the DFB from Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeneß.
"I simply have a different opinion from him. I don't know what that has to do with a 'friendly takeover'," said Watzke, president of Borussia Dortmund and vice-president of the DFB, in an interview with RTL and Sky, responding to comments Hoeneß made recently.
The Bayern patron had criticised the fact that new national team coach Jürgen Klopp brought his adviser Marc Kosicke with him and gave him an important role with the DFB team. "The whole story feels to me like a 'friendly takeover'. Klopp and Co. have taken over the DFB, and I think that is wrong," Hoeneß also fumed on RTL and Sky.
Watzke hit back: "The last two national team coaches came from Bayern Munich - namely Julian Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick. No one said then that this was a friendly takeover by Bayern Munich either. That's a bit too much for me. And the fact that you also give a coach with the reputation of Jürgen Klopp a certain amount of room to shape things, well, that's just how it is. Uli knows that better than anyone." He was defending the decision to meet Klopp's demand to have his adviser Kosicke by his side after Julian Nagelsmann stepped down following the disappointing World Cup. Kosicke's official job title is "assistant coach for strategy, development and innovation".
After DFB criticism: Uli Hoeneß and Marc Kosicke reportedly spoke on the phone
Hoeneß's interview prompted an immediate response from the DFB and, according to a report by Sky, the 74-year-old has since smoothed things over with Kosicke. The two have known each other for a long time, not least because marketing expert Kosicke was involved in developing Bayern's "Mia san Mia" slogan in 2008. According to Sky, the pair had a conciliatory phone call that reportedly went well and was constructive.
Klopp, who has signed with the DFB until after the 2030 World Cup, has made an intensive start to his new role, which he officially took up on 15 August. According to Sky, he specifically sought contact with the country's most important club coaches, and has already held very detailed talks with Niko Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), Vincent Kompany (Bayern Munich) and Sebastian Hoeneß (VfB Stuttgart).
DFB team: Jürgen Klopp's initiative reportedly went down very well with Vincent Kompany and Co.
In those conversations, Klopp made clear how important each of their roles was for the footballing nation as a whole and how much value he wants to place on maintaining a good dialogue with them in future. The new national team coach also asked Kovac, Kompany and Co. for pointers on which of their players were pushing for a DFB call-up and which young talents at their clubs had the greatest potential. The talks with Klopp were very well received by the club coaches, it is said.
According to Sky, Klopp also contacted almost all of the German youth national team coaches and brought them on board, underlining their great responsibility and the importance of their work, which strengthened the sense of togetherness. "This deep depression that we all felt after we had to come home early has in Germany almost turned into euphoria. People are looking forward again. People are also again speaking positively about the national team," Watzke said, publicly pointing to a Klopp effect already.
The 59-year-old will name his first squad on 17 September, and seven days later Klopp will make his debut as national team coach in the Nations League match in the Netherlands against the new Bondscoach Xavi. His home debut will then come on 27 September in Augsburg against Greece.
