After Andorra’s fall, Bernd Storck to continue in current roles at MLSZ
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Hungary head coach Bernd Storck will continue in his current roles after a meeting with the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ) leadership on Thursday 15th June.
- During the course of its work MLSZ would like to achieve its long-term, strategically planned aims which underpin its decisions.
- Since 2010 the Hungarian men’s national team has gradually improved on the international stage.
- The development started by a previous head coach SĂ¡ndor EgervĂ¡ri was speeded up by PĂ¡l DĂ¡rdai and turned into success by Bernd Storck.
- The qualification for Euro 2016 and the group win in France was Hungarian football’s greatest achievement in decades.
- The national team has been unable to overcome the challenges presented in this World Cup-qualifying campaign.
MLSZ believes in executing systematic, professional work in the interests of a long-term, strategic plan. Defining and guaranteeing terms is easier in many areas than in connection with the leadership of the men’s national team which generates the greatest interest. Between 2010 and 2016 the following developments were made under MLSZ’s leadership in connection with the national team and with the help of several head coaches.
In July 2010 SĂ¡ndor EgervĂ¡ri, one of the country’s most successful domest coaches, became the national team’s head coach having previously won Hungarian league titles with MTK in 1999 and 2003 and Dunaferr in 2000. In addition, he had already led the Under 20 national team to the bronze medal at the 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup in Egypt.
EgervĂ¡ri’s tenure lasted three years and three months before he resigned in the wake of the 8-1 loss away to the Netherlands. The team had steadily welcomed more and more new faces, at least two young players making their international debuts in each year of his reign. The national team took several steps forward during his stewardship, finishing third in its qualifying groups for both the European Championship and World Cup. Indeed had the current rules applied to the Euro qualifying campaign, third place would have earned the team a play-off place for qualification to the finals.
Following EgervĂ¡ri in the job was Attila PintĂ©r but he led the squad in only one competitive match so his stint is hard to realistically evaluate. The multiple Hungarian league champion and cup-winning coach carried out his duties with gusto and dedication but in the interests of success he was not able to separate himself from the circumstances created by the negative external perception of his personality.
As a consequence and despite the strategic plan in place, it became evident that MLSZ would need to make an intervention and decision which it would not normally have expected to make.
Formerly a player with 15 years’ experience in the German Bundesliga, 61-times capped Hungarian international PĂ¡l DĂ¡rdai remained a Hertha BSC youth coach when he took the reins as national-team head coach in late 2014. Under his leadership the team’s game solidified, each match being characterised by discipline, organisation, precision and self-confidence. Tempo in training and his method of motivation were new in Hungarian football. Primarily, DĂ¡rdai trusted the players who had already proved themselves and therefore brought GĂ¡bor KirĂ¡ly back into the international fold. Although MLSZ would gladly have kept DĂ¡rdai for a long time, the federation accepted his wish to return to Hertha BSC to focus on his position there as full-time head coach and thus he exited his role of national-team supremo.
In his place and tasked with continuing the work already started, MLSZ brought in their incumbent Sporting Director Bernd Storck. The German coach had proved as the head of the national youth teams that he could arrange appropriate preparation and with courageous leadership and effective football fully develop Hungarian talent. Storck proved this at full international level too when, after Attila PintĂ©r (one match) and PĂ¡l DĂ¡rdai (five matches), he led Hungary in their final four matches to a third-place finish in their qualifying group. The head coach successfully implemented the principles of the qualifying campaign thus far and assumed full responsibility with his own backroom staff for the play-off against Norway, both legs of which were won as qualification for the European Championship was secured, and all the while he was starting to integrate young players into the team.
The Hungarian national team had therefore once again earned the right to appear at the European Championship for the first time in 44 years but it also performed outstandingly at the tournament. Storck had, similarly to PĂ¡l DĂ¡rdai, played a large number of youngsters and with the help of established players had produced a stable, disciplined style of play in achieving meaningful and more successful results. The team finished top of its Euro 2016 group, scoring five goals in the process with every outfield squad member given an opportunity by Storck to step on to the field of play.