Flick contravenes Hoeneß' view on Boateng: "He's worked very hard to get himself back up to this level"
Bayern head coach Hans Dieter Flick had no qualms about contradicting views expressed by his club's honorary President made on a recent RTL broadcast.
Asked to deliver some post-mortem following Germany's shock 1-2 defeat to North Macedonia on Wednesday evening, Bayern's retired club president Uli Hoeneß weighed in on the most controversial topic hounding the country's uninspiring Nationalmannschaft.
The German footballing legend wholeheartedly endorsed the return of Thomas Müller to the national team, yet stopped short of recommending that Bundestrainer Joachim Löw consider taking back Müller's FCB teammate Jerome Boateng.
Asked about the statement at an afternoon Friday press conference, Bayern trainer Hansi Flick made clear that he did not concur with Hoeneß' assessment.
"That's his opinion," Flick told members of the assembled media, "I know that here at Bayern München, we always support our players."
Flick's unapologetically definitive opening-statement was followed by more precise praise for the 32-year-old 2014 World Champion.
"He faced an unquestionably difficult situation and responded with incredible improvement," Flick said of Boateng, who was thought to be done at the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign and rumored to be headed for semi-retirement in the lower leagues, "He's worked very hard to get himself back up to this level and played incredibly in the last few games."
Perhaps aware of the fact that his statement might insinuate that he was only pleased with Boateng's most recent work, Flick added some more context.
"He was also one of the anchors who assured we won the triple," Flick continued, "I'm extremely grateful to him for that. He's a player who can be an asset to any team. Ultimately, it's up to Joachim Löw to decide [for or against] that."