Fredi Bobic has criticized the youth work in German football. Due to years of neglect, the former German national player sees no chance of a quick recovery.
“After the 2014 World Cup victory, mistakes happened. The work at the academies was forgotten,” said Bobic in an interview Sports Illustrated.
That’s why there are currently hardly any classic center forwards. “You fell asleep and produced the same type of player. Suddenly there was only talk of ‘false nine’. There were no longer any real center forwards. Then of course you have a problem,” said Eintracht Frankfurt’s long-time sports director.
The 51-year-old also sees the mistakes in youth work as a reason for the failures of the senior national team. At the World Cup in Qatar, the team of national coach Hansi Flick was eliminated in the preliminary round, the record in the international game year 2023 is disastrous with one win, one draw and three defeats.
Bobic has no hope of a quick improvement: “There are many ideas to make German football internationally competitive again. But everything is complicated in Germany. The DFB is not easy either. There is a lot of movement in there right now. Everyone is very dissatisfied right now .”
Bobic: Magath? “Young players wet their pants”
Another problem is “that we don’t have a generation of leading players. Players who really go ahead and take responsibility”.
For Bobic, life is made too easy for the young kickers in the youth academies. “They are pampered far too much. They have to become more independent and should be allowed to make mistakes without being immediately disciplined,” said the former striker.
The differences between youngsters and professionals are therefore too great in the mental area. Felix Magath’s commitment as a coach at Hertha BSC showed him that. “The young players wet their pants there,” said Bobic.
Bobic was active in the Bundesliga for VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Hannover 96 and Hertha BSC. He then worked as an official in Burgas (Bulgaria), Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Berlin, where he had to leave in January 2023.
