HANSI FLICK & BAYERN MUNICH
Men’s World Manager of the Year, Men’s World Team of the Year
When Hansi Flick sits down for his annual review with the Bayern Munich board, one thing will be clear: there isn’t much room for improvement.
It is less than 18 months since he rejoined the club where he spent five years as a midfielder – playing 139 games and winning four Bundesliga titles – initially as assistant coach to Niko Kovac’s double-winning squad in July 2019.
The Croatian’s second season, however, got off to a rocky start, and he was dismissed in November 2019 following a 5-1 defeat to Frankfurt, with Bayern sitting fourth in the table.
Flick was placed in temporary charge, while rumours swirled around the likes of Ralf Rangnick, Mauricio Pochettino, Erik ten Hag and even Arsene Wenger as Kovac’s permanent replacement.
But positive results kept on coming, making it harder and harder for the board to give the job to anybody else. His first four matches brought four wins by an aggregate score of 16-0, including a highly satisfying 4-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund in When the year ended with a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg, Flick was rewarded with a contract keeping him in charge until the end of the season.
While the early signs were extremely encouraging, few could predict just how fruitful the board’s decision to place their faith in Flick would prove to be.