Völler brands Germany's defeat by Japan a disgrace

 After the German national team was shellacked 4-1 by Japan in Wolfsburg, DFB national team director Rudi Völler did not mince words.

“We’re all still in shock. Losing 4-1 is a disgrace,” Völler said.

When asked specifically about Flick, Völler provided a cryptic response.

 “We all should take a good look at ourselves and then see what happens next,” said Völler. “We would all do well to sleep on it tonight. I just spoke to Hansi - he’s deeply affected. We’ll talk tomorrow about why that happened. That was an embarrassment.”

Later, Völler continued his roll with this gem of a quote:

“We can’t sh*t our pants now. We’re Germany. Nobody should be afraid on Tuesday. The boys can do it, they all play for top clubs.”

For his part, Flick reiterated that he felt like he was still the man for the job.

“First of all, we’re brutally disappointed, we have to acknowledge that Japan is a good team. We currently don’t have the resources to outplay such a compact defense. it was simply not enough. We started the game well, the first chance Japan had was a goal. Then we came back and made it 1-1, then we immediately conceded again. I don’t think you can blame the team for anything. They tried again and again, but then they made individual mistakes. The opponent took advantage of that and deserved to win,” Flick told RTL.

 “Today, it has to be said very clearly that we were in no condition to beat this (Japan) team. The Japanese players are all highly trained and have the basics down pat. We in German football have to wake up and work on these things. We will still prepare well for France. It’s clear that the disappointment is huge and I can understand the criticism. I cannot say more about that.

“We’re trying everything to always prepare the team perfectly. I think we (coaching staff) are doing that well and I think I’m the right coach.”

Flick will be remembered for a few things.

His role in helping Germany win the 2014 World Cup as an assistant coach was terrific, but his stint as Bayern Munich’s manager — where he saw the club win a sextuple — will go down as one of the great feats in German coaching history.