With the 2023/24 football season reaching its eventual conclusion, it is now time for change at Barca. After Xavi’s unfortunate departure, reports from everywhere within the Catalan media were able to confirm Xavi’s replacement. It has now been made official that Hansi Flick will over take the reins as Barca’s manager.
Therefore, any semblance of uncertainty surrounding Barcelona’s future managerial prospects have come to an abrupt end. Flick’s acquisition is one that brings a great deal of excitement amongst the fans. Moreover, it is Barcelona’s first instance of opting for a manager who has won it all in European club football. Hence, expectations will be great and the media will certainly be relentless towards the German.
Having completed his official contract signing at the club offices today, it has been confirmed that the 59 year old’s managerial span at the club will span for a guaranteed minimum of 2 years until the June of 2026. Moreover he will bring along two of his own assistants of German descent, namely Toni Tapalovic and Marcus Sorg.
The Managerial Career of Hansi Flick
Hansi Flick’s managerial career took off in 2006 when he became the German National Team’s Assistant Coach under Joachim Low. Prior to this, he had completed stints at Hoffenheim and Salzburg. Nevertheless, his span at Germany marked an era of dominance that was capped off by their historic 2014 FIFA World Cup Triumph.
Following the 2014 World Cup, Flick became a sporting director at the German Football Association till 2017. After a 2 year hiatus, Flick proceeded to sign as Bayern’s head coach in the summer of 2019. The 59 year old’s signing proved to be remarkable as he had an utterly dominant season in 2019/20, winning all there was to win by convincing margins. Most notoriously, Hansi Flick managed the Bayern lineup that gave Barcelona their biggest European humiliation to date.
Following the 2019/20 season, Bayern were not able to replicate their dominance but had an appreciable 2020/21 season after which Flick bid farewell to the club. He then proceeded to take over the German National Team where he failed to replicate his brilliance and was ousted soon after Germany’s embarrassing Group Stage Exit in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
It is now time for Flick to write his next chapter at the Catalan capital, which has been reported to be a dream of his for some time.
What To Expect
Hansi Flick is most notable for formulating teams that are full of goals but may lack in defensive organisation. The German is known to extract a maximal amount of physical effort from his players due to his tendency to counter press accomodated by playing a high defensive line.
This playstyle will most certainly translate into abundant goalscoring against opposition with far inferior talent, somewhere that the Catalans have lacked conviction in the past few years. However against Europe’s best, this playstyle could lead to Barca’s downfall. All in all, Flick believes in a high risk high reward approach which will most certainly guarantee entertaining displays of footballing mastery for the Cules.
One can most certainly expect Flick to introduce physical conditioning of a high calibre, much of what he showed during his time at Bayern. While expecting immediate results could be considered rather premature, Hansi Flick has all the talent at his disposal to create a team that could terrorise European football.
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