Who is Hansi Flick, everything you need to know about the coach
Hans-Dieter “Hansi” Flick is a German football coach who gained great prominence especially for his work as coach of Bayern Munich. He was born on February 24, 1965 in Heidelberg, Germany.
Flick had a modest playing career as a midfielder, playing mainly for lower-tier German clubs. However, it was as a coach that he achieved significant success.
Flick began his career as an assistant coach and youth team coach at several clubs, including Bayern Munich itself and the German national team. He also served as assistant to Joachim Löw during the period when Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
In November 2019, Flick was appointed interim coach of Bayern Munich following the dismissal of Niko Kovač. Under his command, Bayern performed impressively, winning several major titles, including the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League and the German Cup.
His tactical approach was praised for his emphasis on possession, high pressing and attacking play, as well as his ability to motivate and effectively manage a group of talented players.
Despite leaving Bayern after the 2020-2021 season, his legacy as a successful coach at the club is indisputable, and he is considered one of the most respected coaches in European football.
Player career
As a player, Flick was a midfielder who played 104 games for Bayern Munich and scored five goals between 1985 and 1990, where he won four Bundesliga titles , as well as one DFB-Pokal title , and played in the European Cup Final 1987. . He later played 44 games for Cologne before retiring from professional football in 1993 due to injuries. His last spell as a football player was with Victoria Bammental, from 1994 to 2000.
Flick never played for the Germany national football team , but made two appearances for the Germany under-18 team , in the group stage of the 1983 European Under-18 Championship on 15 and 17 May 1983, in a 1–0 victory over Sweden and in the 3–1 victory over Bulgaria , respectively.
Career as a Coach
Hoffenheim coach
In July 2000, Flick became manager of Oberliga Baden-Württemberg side TSG Hoffenheim , winning the league and gaining promotion to the Regionalliga Süd in his first season at the club. After four failed attempts to reach the 2. Bundesliga , he was relieved of his duties on 19 November 2005.
Red Bull Salzburg assistant coach
Later, Flick briefly worked as an assistant to Giovanni Trapattoni and Lothar Matthäus and sports coordinator at Red Bull Salzburg . He stated that his work under Trapattoni, one of the world’s most renowned coaches, taught him many things, particularly about tactics and developing relationships with players, but also said that he disagreed with Trapattoni’s defense-first approach. .
Assistant coach of the German national team
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| Thomas Müller with then assistant coach Hansi Flick in the German national team, in May 2014 (Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images/Onefootball) |
Flick was appointed assistant coach of Germany on 23 August 2006. Although not listed as an officially recognized coach by the DFB , due to Joachim Löw ‘s dismissal in the previous game, Flick was technically the German coach in the UEFA Euro 2008 quarter final against Portugal on 19 June 2008, which ended in a 3–2 victory for Germany. After finishing second at UEFA Euro 2008 and third at the 2010 FIFA World Cup , he reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2012 and won the 2014 FIFA World Cup as Germany’s assistant coach. He became sporting director of the German Football Association after the 2014 World Cup until 16 January 2017.
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| German Football Team (credit:wikipedia) |
Bayern Munchen coach
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| Hansi Flick, former Bayern Munich coach Photo: MANU FERNANDEZ / AFP |
On 1 July 2019, Flick joined Bundesliga club Bayern Munich as assistant coach under the management of Niko Kovač . When Kovač left Bayern by mutual consent on 3 November 2019, he was promoted to the role of interim coach. In his first match in charge, Bayern defeated Olympiacos 2–0 in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League on 6 November 2019. After a satisfactory spell as interim manager, Bayern announced on 22 December 2019 that Flick would remain as coach until the end of the season.
In April 2020, Bayern Munich gave Flick a new contract lasting until 2023.
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 Coach 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 their first sextuple after winning the Club World Cup in February 2021 by defeating Mexican team Tigres .
On 17 April 2021, Flick announced that he had told the club that he wanted to leave at the end of the season. He expressed his desire to coach the German national team , given his previous work as an assistant to current German national team coach Joachim Löw. Flick left Bayern with one of the greatest winning records in modern football history. During his tenure, Bayern lost just seven games and won seven trophies ( Bundesliga twice, DFB-Pokal , Champions League , DFL-Supercup , UEFA Super Cup , Club World Cup ). Bayern went undefeated in the 2019–20 Champions League , the first team in European League/Champions League history to lift the trophy with a 100 percent winning record, and have won 23 consecutive matches in all competitions out of 16 February 2020 and September 18, 2020, a record in German professional football. Flick also coached Bayern to a treble , the second treble in Bayern’s history. Flick had one of the highest winning rates in football history, winning 83% of his games and helped Bayern average 3.0 goals per game across all competitions. In October 2020, Flick won the European Coach of the Year award , an award for the best football coach in Europe’s top football leagues .
German national team coach
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| Alex Grimm / Getty Images Sport / Getty |
On 25 May 2021, the German Football Association announced that Flick had signed a three-year contract from 1 August 2021 to serve as coach of the German national team , and replaced his former manager Joachim Löw after UEFA Euro 2020 . On 2 September 2021, Flick won his first match 2–0 against Liechtenstein in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match . On 4 June 2022, Germany drew 1–1 with Italy in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A , and thus became the third manager to remain unbeaten in their first ten matches, after Sepp Herberger and Jupp Derwall . This series would end on 23 September with Germany losing 1–0 to Hungary in the same competition.
At the 2022 FIFA World Cup , Germany were eliminated in the group stage for the second time in a row, finishing third in their group despite winning the final match 2–4 against Costa Rica . Flick received criticism for his substitutions, especially against Japan in the tournament opener, which they lost 1–2.
Flick was fired on September 10, 2023, the day after a 4–1 friendly defeat against Japan, the team’s third consecutive defeat. Flick lasted two years in charge and had the second worst score of 1.72, ahead of only Erich Ribbeck with 1.50 points per game. He was also the first Germany coach to be fired in the history of the role.
Barcelona coach
On May 29, 2024, he was announced as Barcelona’s new coach. The German coach signed a contract until June 2026.
Hansi Flick’s tactics
Flick has consistently deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation at Bayern Munich, featuring a high defensive line that encourages his double pivot and full-backs to adopt positions where they can press the ball as it approaches the midfield third, and to protect and block against game switches. In Bayern’s 8–2 victory over Barcelona en route to victory in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League , 3 of the first 4 goals came within 10 seconds of regaining possession, as Flick likes to keep passages short with players much closer to the ball. Another tactic Flick uses to create space on one side is to start the game on one side of the field and gradually have the opponent switch to their side of the ball.
While managing the German national team, Flick experimented with a back three system with indifferent results.
Titles of Hansi Flick
As a coach
Bayern Munchen
- German Championship: 2019–20, 2020–21
- German Cup: 2019–20
- UEFA Champions League: 2019–20
- UEFA Super Cup: 2020
- German Super Cup: 2020
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2020
As technical assistant
German national team
- FIFA World Cup: 2014
As a player
Bayern Munchen
- Bundesliga: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89 and 1989–90
- German Super Cup: 1987
- German Cup: 1985–86
