FC Barcelona have announced sacking manager Xavi Hernandez after their underwhelming season came to an end. Shortly after this announcement Hansi Flick was announced as his replacement signing a deal until 2026. Both Xavi’s sack and Flick’s replacement has triggered a lot of discussion among football fans. While some are arguing whether it is right to sack Xavi or not, others are debating if Hansi Flick is the right choice or not.
Here we discuss why Hansi Flick is the perfect replacement for Xavi Hernandez.
Flick’s system of play
While in charge of Bayern Munich, Flick developed the name ‘Flicki-Flaka’ in the media to characterize the mixed gegenpressing and possession based style of football the team played.
Flick consistently deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation at Bayern Munich featuring a high defensive line that encourages their double pivot and full-backs to adopt positions where they can press the ball as it approaches the midfield third, and to screen and block against switches of play.
In Bayern’s 8-2 win over Barcelona en route to winning the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League, 3 out of their first 4 goals came within 10 seconds after regaining possession as Flick likes to keep passing lanes short with players much closer to the ball.
Another tactic that Flick uses to create space on one side is to begin the play on one side of the field and gradually draw the opposition to shift to the ball side.
Flick’s system is similar to that of Pep Guardiola’s during his time at Barcelona, a system Barcelona have been trying to recreate ever since he left with little to no results. Having Flick take over the rein can see Barcelona getting back their identity which had multiple times seen them conquer Europe.
Success as a manager
Despite spending majority of his coaching career as an assistant coach, Hansi Flick has managed to show success anytime he was given the full rein. In July 2000, Flick became a manager of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg side TSG Hoffenheim, winning the league and gaining promotion to the Regionalliga Süd in his first season at the club.
On 1 July 2019, Flick joined Bundesliga club Bayern Munich as an assistant coach, under the management of Niko Kovač. When Kovač left Bayern by mutual consent on 3 November 2019, he was promoted to the interim manager position. In his first match in charge, Bayern defeated Olympiacos 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 6 November 2019.
After a satisfying spell as interim coach, Bayern announced on 22 December 2019 that Flick would remain manager until the end of season. During the 2019–20 season, Flick successfully guided Bayern to win the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Champions League, thus completing the continental treble for the second time in the club’s history. He was subsequently named German Football Manager of the Year by sports magazine kicker, and also won the UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year Award.
The following season, he led Bayern to win the 2020 UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla. He also led Bayern to win its first ever sextuple after winning Club World Cup in February 2021 by defeating Mexican team Tigres. On 17 April 2021, Flick announced that he had told the club he wanted to leave at the end of the season.
Though his spell in the Germany men team is not quite good, this could be attributed to the standard of players available to him.
Ability to work with existing players
Despite inheriting a team deemed not good enough for Bayern Munich board that led to the sack of Niko Kovac, he took over this same team and ended conquering Europe and the world football with the same squad. Barcelona currently are in a financial ditch and affording top players to revamp the team will be difficult. Hansi Flick is a perfect solution to this problem as he tends to use his players in ways that could bring out their best potential. So if Barcelona needs a coach that could win trophies while spending less, Flick is the right choice.
Can Hansi Flick restore Barcelona to their former glory
While it will not be realistic to expect a full transformation in just a few weeks or months, Hansi Flick is sure to improve the team drastically and this improvement will only get better as he recruits more talents into the team. Whether he will eventually restore them back to their former glory, that remains unknown. But what is sure is of all the coaches available right now, Hansi Flick is the best choice.
