The continuation by Stefan Kuntz with similar means

The Marienfeld monastery gate has an almost mythical sound in German football. It is considered a refuge for distressed Bundesliga clubs who like to retreat to a multi-day retreat in the seclusion of the Teutoburg Forest shortly before the end of the season.

The German U-21 national team is currently staying in the cloister gate. But there can be no question of acute need.

The team has just got a new coach in Antonio di Salvo, who will make his debut this Thursday; but di Salvo has taken over a team that started qualifying for the 2023 European Championship in Georgia and Romania with two wins. In addition, he is not a stranger. For five years, di Salvo worked as the first assistant to the previous U-21 coach Stefan Kuntz.

For the outside world, who had speculated on the previous U-19 coach Hannes Wolf as Kuntz’s successor, di Salvo’s promotion may come as a surprise. For the inner world, the decision was only logical for him. “He is an analytical and meticulous worker and has an outstanding approach to the team,” said Joti Chatzialexiou, the sporting director of the national teams of the German Football Association (DFB), at the presentation of the new U-21 coach. “The overall package convinced us.”

Di Salvo was an important member of the Kuntz team

Di Salvo, 42, former professional with Bayern, with Hansa Rostock and 1860 Munich, is highly valued in the association. Stefan Kuntz never made a secret of the fact that, especially in his early days with the U21, he would have been pretty lost without his assistant. When Kuntz took over the team in 2016, his last job as a coach at the then second division club LR Ahlen was 13 years ago. The successes of the young national team with three European Championship finals and two European Championship titles were therefore not an exclusive merit of Kuntz, but a joint effort of his entire team.

“You noticed that the two of them get along and give everything together for the cause,” says Niklas Stark from Hertha BSC about the relationship between Kuntz and di Salvo.

Stark was one of the leading players in the U-21 team, which became European champions in 2017. And he was the captain of the U19s, which won the European Championship in 2014 when di Salvo was Markus Sorg’s assistant coach. “It has always been a pleasure for me to travel to the national team,” says Stark. “You felt comfortable there, and Toni definitely played a part in it. He manages to be the right mix between boss and friend. “

When Stefan Kuntz left the U21s and the DFB last month to become the new national coach in Turkey, he would have loved to take his entire team with him; apart from di Salvo also the second assistant Daniel Niedzkowski, goalkeeping coach Klaus Thomforde and the analyst Jannis Scheibe. But the DFB prevented that for good reason.

The association expects nothing more from di Salvo than the continuation of the Kuntz era – just without Kuntz. His role as an experienced warrior with great merits is to be taken over by the new assistant coach Hermann Gerland, 67, under whom di Salvo played for a short time with the amateurs of FC Bayern Munich at the beginning of the millennium.

The orientation: positive and always forward

“There was no reason to change a lot,” says di Salvo. “It’s about small details.” He has his own way of conveying things, his own sense of humor, his own way of addressing. And he wants to preserve all of this “because I want to be authentic”. Regarding his idea of ​​football, he says: “The direction is positive and always forward.”

In di Salvo’s debut this Thursday (6.15 p.m. / ProSieben Maxx), his team will face runners-up Israel, who also won the first two games. Not only the U21s have a home advantage in this game, but Antonio di Salvo too. In any case, it is a nice coincidence that his first assignment as a U-21 coach takes place in his native Paderborn, of all places. “It wasn’t planned,” says di Salvo. “But of course it’s a special moment for me.”

But not only because of the home advantage, the new U-21 coach says: “I am confident that we will continue to be successful.” He has five debutants, including former Herthan Luca Netz, for the first two international matches against Israel and on Tuesday Appointed to his squad in Hungary. However, radical changes are not to be expected.

Kuntz’s style is also his style, says di Salvo. “We have the same way of thinking when it comes to team management or the game idea.” They didn’t even have to say too many words. Sometimes Antonio di Salvo and Stefan Kuntz just had to look each other in the eye and realized that they both had the same thought.