When Germany announced Hansi Flick as their new national team manager, it looked like a marriage made in heaven.
Flick had an enviable track record at German giants Bayern Munich and had led them to a historic treble in 2020.
In fact, his record at Bayern stood at 70 wins in only 86 games. That’s unprecedented at the highest level of the game.
So when Germany asked Flick to replace previous incumbent Joachim Low, the man to whom Flick had been the assistant manager for the national side previously, it seemed the natural progression in his career.
Who else could pick up the mantle after Low than the guy who was with him when the national team performed best and then went on to club success on a world stage too?
However, the reality has turned out to be anything but great for Germany and Flick in their working relationship.
After losing 4-1 to Japan in a friendly on Saturday, Germany took the unprecedented step of firing their manager. Flick had lost three of his last four games and had the second worst record in Germany’s managerial history.
Soon after his firing was announced, reports started emerging on who would take over.
Names such as Jurgen Klopp and Oliver Glasner emerged, but there’s also another surprising name on the list.
According to Miguel Delaney, former Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has been mentioned as a name to takeover the German national team as well.
United fans will feel a cold shudder up their spine hearing Rangnick’s name, after he oversaw a disastrous spell at the club after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but the German has been performing admirably well for the Austrian national team as manager, with the Austrians sitting joint top of their UEFA European Championships group along with Belgium.
Rangnick, who is German himself, is still respected in his home country for what he’s achieved in his career but it would still be a stretch to see that come to fruition.
The smart money would still be on Glasner, who was performed incredibly well while manager of Eintracht Frankfurt, but football is funny at times and we wouldn’t be too surprised if Rangnick was given a call to speak to the German FA about the role.
Germany are considering Glasner to succeed Flick, but Rangnick’s name has also been mentioned.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) September 10, 2023
