When Hansi-Dieter Flick was appointed as Bayern Munich’s interim manager in November, there was a widely hheld view that he was merely warming the seat for a higher calibre coach going into this summer, with Mauricio Pochettino and Massimiliano Allegri potentially waiting in the wings. Fast forward six months, Flick is the first Bayern manager to win at least 22 of his first 25 games in charge, dating back to their promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965.
Pochettino and Allegri still remain unemployed, yet their next destination won’t be Munich; Flick was given the full-time job in April, signing a contract until June 2023. Flick’s tactical acumen has made Bayern into a feared giant that can compete on all fronts, recovering a level of balance and efficiency that has been missing since the departure of Pep Guardiola in 2016.
Under ex coach Niko Kovač, Bayern never quite established a preferred formation or a consistent starting 11. Flick, however, has consistently employed the 4-2-3-1 shape, with 10 out of the 11 starting players remaining constant. Continue reading