Despite the contract until 2023, coach Hansi Flick leaves it open whether he will still be a coach in Munich after the summer.
At a distance: Sports director Salihamidzic (right) and trainer Flick
It creaks and crunches at Bayern. The Munich team under coach Hansi Flick won everything there was to win last season. They became cup winners, champions, supercup winners in Germany, won the Champions League, the European Supercup and were crowned club world champions.
This year they have already been eliminated in the Cup against Kiel, in the championship six laps to go the lead over Leipzig is “only” five points. And in the Champions League you failed in the quarter-finals at Paris Saint-Germain.
The future of coach Flick beyond the summer is not clear. And that doesn't necessarily have to do with athletic performance. The 56-year-old is not happy with his current work situation despite his contract that runs until summer 2023. Flick is sure to be attracted by the prospect of succeeding team boss Jogi Löw after the European Championships. Primarily, however, the tension with sports director Hasan Salihamidzic triggers the dissatisfaction, Flick and the 44-year-old clash at regular intervals over squad and transfer issues.
What's next? Leroy Sane has got used to the flick system better and better and has started more and more often.
Transfer theater
Flick had made no secret of the fact that he would have liked to see David Alaba's contract extended. And now there was also the fact that Jerome Boateng will not be extended either. However, both form the A's central defense at Flick. He trusts two players who have no future at his club.
But it is Salihamidzic who insists on being primarily responsible for transfer issues. He is supported by the honorary president and chairman of the supervisory board. Uli Hoeneß has always been of the opinion that it is the job of a Bayern coach to get the best out of the player material that the club makes available to him.
However, Flick receives support from CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. But he will hand over a number of competencies to Oliver Kahn in the summer before he will inherit him entirely from January 1, 2022. So the former Bayern goalkeeper is the key figure in the Flick coaching game. But Kahn is diplomatic. He currently avoids making promises that he may not be able to keep. In addition, like Salihamidzic, he is currently part of the Bayern board of directors, whose boss he will only become after the turn of the year. Until then, the cause of Flick is officially Rummenigge's top priority.
Kahn will also be careful not to get caught in the tension between Rummenigge and Hoeneß in the next eight months, which is currently described as “hypothermic”. What especially Hoeneß contributes with his comments on RTL . Most recently, he recommended team boss Löw there to forego Bayern player Boateng at the EM.
Kahn's confidant currently appears to be President Herbert Hainer. The ex-goalkeeper feels close to the former Adidas manager in terms of modern corporate structure. Kahn relies less on a culture of controversy and more on modern personnel management. When the first conflict between Flick and Salihamidzic broke out a year ago, Kahn moderated the debate between the two.
Real with old boss
On Wednesday, the Champions League winner faces Bayern before the end. Liverpool lost the first leg to Real Madrid 1: 3. With the Spaniards, President Valentino Perez was elected into his sixth term, he has been in office since 2009. The building contractor was president and builder of the “Galacticos” from 2000 to 2006. Back then, the best players in the world were brought in, including Zinedine Zidane, who is now Real's successful coach.
Sergio Ramos made the headlines. The injured captain tested positive for Corona. The central defender is missing against Liverpool as is Lucas Vazquez. The winger had prepared the lead in an exemplary manner in the 2-1 win against Barcelona on Saturday, but then sustained a cruciate ligament injury.
