DFB managing director Oliver Bierhoff has admitted years of neglect in the development of young players in German football.
“We relied on the successful times for too long. We have to do it again now and I’m also responsible for that. We only worked manically on system footballers and dropped individual training a bit,” said Bierhoff MagentaTV.
With the youngsters, “far too often attention was paid to success and results and not to the individual development of the player,” added the 1996 European champion in the countdown show to the World Cup in Qatar that was broadcast on Sunday (7 p.m.). This also explains the storm problem in the national team.
“You can see how the big clubs are desperately looking for this striker. Of course, that doesn’t come by chance,” admitted Bierhoff: “It’s a result of developments in recent years. You need a player like that to score the important goals .”
