Hansi Flick happy with Germany effort after England draw

Former Bayern Munich manager and current Germany boss Hansi Flick had mixed emotions after his squad’s 1-1 draw with England.

Flick loved the effort and performance, but also thought his squad deserved the victory.

“We played football exactly as we imagined, the way it was played was just great. It’s a shame we didn’t reward ourselves. We have a goalkeeper in Manuel Neuer in our ranks who is absolutely world class. He showed how strong he is. It’s a shame that we couldn’t take the win because of the penalty. But we implemented everything we mentioned — that’s incredibly valuable for me,” said Flick (as captured by the DFB).

As for the controversial penalty given to defender Nico Schlotterbeck, Flick was quick to remove any blame from the Borussia Dortmund player.

“These are things that happen. I don’t blame Nico, he has shown that he is a huge asset for us. He’s very confident in possession — when he makes mistakes, which can happen, he just keeps going. We need that,” Flick said.

Otherwise, Flick was just generally happy to see his team push England to its limit.

“We played against England, a very big football nation, the Premier League is the best league in the world — that’s why I’m proud of my team. We put the opponent under pressure and forced them to hit the ball long and wide. We gambled very well at times, but didn’t take our chances. We must work to reward ourselves,” said Flick.

Finally, Flick did not want anyone to read too closely into the lineups he used over the past two games.

“We’re not looking that far ahead to the World Cup. The four games now are there to check where we are on our way. A lot can change quickly in football and in life. It’s not for nothing that I’ve often emphasized that the team is of high quality and that we’re satisfied with the level of performance. It’s important that those who come in also show that they can help the team - they have shown that impressively,” Flick remarked. “For me it’s just important that you trust the players. We will do that. We have players who can still develop and have quality (at striker), too. We want to make each individual a little bit better so that we can show an even higher level in Qatar.”

If you want to hear more about the Germany-England tilt and how we thought the game went, check out our Postgame Podcast: