Flick is looking forward to "turning over" when he enters Barcelona, and three old acquaintances are an important foundation for him to build a team

Beiqing Sports

2024-05-25 09:26Published on the official account of Beijing Beiqing Sports News

With the official announcement of Xavi's departure and his departure announcement, the Barcelona legend and his parent club have come to an end, and the team is about to embark on a new journey. According to a number of Spanish media reports, former German national team and Bayern coach Flick will take over Barcelona, according to the news of "World Sports", Barcelona will announce Flick's coaching next Monday local time, and the two sides will sign a one-year contract with another year extension option.

Flick's name is still familiar to the outside world, and the member of the coaching staff who won the 2014 World Cup for Germany began his coaching career in 2000, and after five years in charge of Hoffenheim, he became an assistant to the then new German coach Loew in the autumn of 2006, a position he held for eight years. After winning the Hercules Cup in Brazil, he left his position as assistant coach of the national team and joined Bayern Munich five years later as the team's manager.

During his year and a half at the Bundesliga giants, he won two Bundesliga trophies, a Champions League, a Club World Cup, a UEFA Super Cup, the German Cup and the German Super Cup, and he was named European Coach of the Year in 2020. It can be said that during his time at Bayern, Flick won all the trophies that a high-level professional club could have won in just 1 year, 7 months and 27 days.

However, what no one expected was that Flick, who had achieved such success at the club, did not have a satisfactory record after coming to the German team, with a winning rate of only 48% in his 2 years, 1 month and 9 days in charge, especially during the 2022 World Cup, the German team was eliminated in the group stage, and the performance was a disaster. After leaving class in September 2023, Flick was idle until Barcelona contacted the German coach.

According to Le Monde Sport, although the details of the contract are still being finalised, Barça could opt for a one-year contract with a clause for a further year, depending on the target. On Wednesday, Flick had a telephone conversation with Barça's sporting director Deco and finally reached an agreement on the intention to come to coach, and it is reported that the German has already received praise from Barça president Joan Laporta.

It is also reported that Flick will only bring two assistant coaches to Barcelona this time, while the club will provide goalkeeper coaches and fitness coaches. Specifically, the goalkeeper coach is likely to be de la Fuente (the same name as the Spanish manager) who has been with Barcelona for many years, while the choice of the fitness coach is currently unknown. Barcelona is expected to officially announce Flick's signing next Monday local time, and hold an unveiling ceremony on Tuesday.

So what is the attitude of the outside world towards Flick's arrival? German football legend Mateus gives his opinion: "I'm very happy for Flick. He has been linked with Barcelona for a long time, the club has shown interest in him, Flick has been patient and now he can join an absolutely world-class club. Flick's style is very much in line with Barcelona's, and he wants his team to be attack-oriented and play attractive games. He now has three key players right now, Ter Stegen, Gundogan and Robert Lewandowski, which is very important. In the German national team, he had Gundogan captain, which speaks to the special relationship between them. Under Pep Guardiola, Barcelona once displayed breathtakingly beautiful football, and Flick is expected to bring that magic back. ”

From this statement, it is not difficult to see that Mateus has high hopes for Flick, but he doesn't know if the German coach, who has a mediocre coaching record in the past two years, can complete a "salted fish turnaround" in Barcelona and prove himself again.

Text/Beiqing Sports Zhang Kunlong

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