The end of the main round at the European Championship in Croatia is a big disappointment for the German handball team. National coach Christian Prokop has made several mistakes, but is by no means the only loser. There can’t be any rush job. A commentary by SPOX editor Felix Götz.
The sporting achievements and the result match: The DHB team has clearly missed its European Championship goals. The fact that Prokop has its share cannot be argued over.
In the first place is his decision per Bastian Roscheck and against Finn Lemke in the initial nomination of the squad. The plan, which the national coach pursued with it, did not open up to many observers even before the tournament. In retrospect, the decision is no longer understandable. Lemke is too important for the team on and off the table, while Roscheck didn’t set any accents at all.
Prokop’s explanation after the disaster against Spain is also difficult to understand. Instead of admitting his mistake (that’s how the case of Lemke is judged not only by fans and journalists, but also by many players and even Bob Hanning), the 39-year-old once again pointed out that Lemke’s retrieval action before the third preliminary round game was primarily related to the robustness of the Macedonian circuit runners. With all due respect, however, a German national handball team must not base its basic personnel policy on Macedonian circles.
Prokop, who seemed to be partly killed by the media onslaught that was normal for a major event, must be able to chalk up a third mistake. With his permanent changes, at least in the preliminary round, he did the individual players no favours. It happened that one mistake was enough to get back on the bench. Of course, you don’t gain self-confidence that way.
Nevertheless, it would be too easy to place Prokop as the only scapegoat. In the end, no coach of this world throws balls past the goal or to the opponent. Nearly every player has to ask himself whether he has done everything for success.
Some players even have to think about whether they have done colossal damage to the team climate. It is outrageous that players mentioning to journalists during a tournament that they deliberately acted against the coach’s instructions in the past game.
In addition, Hanning has already announced that he will question himself. And that is exactly what the DHB Vice President should do. After all, regardless of who else holds relevant positions at the DHB, he is the clear boss in sporting matters concerning the men’s national team.
It was Hanning who, at the time, succeeded Dagur Sigurdsson as the national coach, for which he was rightfully celebrated. But now it was also the man behind the foxes Berlin who took over the office of the prokop, who was completely inexperienced on the international stage. He even succeeded in getting a huge sum of about 500,000 euros paid to Prokop’s previous employer SC DHfK Leipzig in handball – against some concerns at the DHB.
Hanning’s record, which includes the European Championship title in Poland and the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Rio, has lost some of its glamour after the last sixteen at the World Cup in France and the current disappointment in Croatia.
Nevertheless, the 49-year-old continues to set himself and the DHB team the highest goals. The vision of the Olympic gold is not negotiable, Hanning affirmed after the European Championships. He has to be measured against this – and his fate at the DHB is closely linked to that of Prokop. For this reason alone, he will do his utmost to keep the contracted Prokop in office until 2022.
In any case, the immediate expulsion of the federal coach would be a mistake. There must not be any rapid shots, the EC and the incidents within the team must be analysed thoroughly, calmly and openly.
This analysis must show a clear decision. Either the DHB leadership is 100% convinced of Prokop, or a new trainer is needed. A Larifari decision would be a big mistake.
The office of the national coach is too important for this, but with the home World Cup in 2019 and the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, important tasks for the whole of German handball are on the agenda.