by Martina Voss-Tecklenburg recently terminated her contract with the DFB. The association is now looking for a successor.Image: dpa / Sebastian Gollnow
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The biggest turbulence in German women’s football seems to have been resolved. As of Saturday, the DFB and former national team coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg agreed to terminate the contract. Voss-Tecklenburg’s future had remained unclear for several months following the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The 55-year-old was initially on sick leave and then took leave before a deal was reached with the association. In the coming weeks and months Horst Hrubesch will take up his role on an interim basis, perhaps even on the sidelines at the Paris Olympic Games next summer. Then at the latest it should be over for him too.
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The DFB will therefore have to start looking for a successor. It is not yet clear who is favored by the association. There are still a few names in the rumor mill that could follow Voss-Tecklenburg. One of them is the current Wolfsburg women’s sporting director, Ralf Kellermann. He has held the position since 2017. Before that, he was a successful coach for Wolfsburg for nine years, winning the Champions League twice, the championship three times and also the DFB Cup four times.
In an interview with “Kicker” he has now made it clear that he is not suitable for the post of national team coach: “I will no longer work as a coach and I don’t even have the necessary license to teach football. There are no contacts with the DFB for the position of sporting director.” He then underlined that he feels comfortable at VfL Wolfsburg and that he wants to continue working to put his club back “on the path to success”.
VfL Wolfsburg: Kellermann criticizes Jule Brand
Because in recent weeks the club has involuntarily left this track. The club has not won in three matches, the last of which they lost the highlight match at FC Bayern 1-2 and were eliminated in the last qualifying round of the Champions League against Paris FC.
One face of this dry spell is midfielder Jule Brand. The DFB star, like his club, is in a bit of a crisis. Kellermann spoke clearly: “He has no coherence in his performances, continues to hint at their potential, but hasn’t yet found a way to reliably bring that potential to the table.”
He criticized even more precisely the fact that he “cannot assert himself physically against his opponents.” At the same time, Kellermann emphasized that Brand was only 21 years old. “If Jule wants to become a top player, she has to work hard on herself and live 100% for football. With everything that is happening to her, it’s not that easy,” she added.
Kellermann doesn’t just link Wolfsburg’s good results to Brand’s performances. It also identified other opportunities for improvement which should help VfL return to its previous level of performance. According to Kellermann, the potential is there, but it is not always exploited. “It is also important that our coach Tommy Stroot finishes the football teacher training course soon and is at our complete disposal again,” explained the Wolfsburg coach.
Last year Donata Hopfen, then head of the German Football League (DFL), gave her first interview to “Bild am Sonntag” when she took office. She was about the future and direction of the Bundesliga.
