Bayern once again the champion of Germany – and it should be attributed to Flick
Bayern Munich won eight successive Bundesliga titles on June 15, when they defeated Werder Bremen 0:1, with Lewandowski scoring the winning goal. After this game, they are 10 points clear of Borussia Dortmund, and the success is mainly due to the effort from Hans Flick.
How did the German coach change the game of Bayern?
On November 2, 2019, Bayern were beaten by Eintracht in the 10th round of the Bundesliga 1:5. Then the Munich team took fourth place in the table, trailing the leaders Mönchengladbach by 4 points. An overly readable attack (crosses from the flanks and often unsuccessful attempts to pass through the centre), ineffective pressure (lack of structure and excessive reckoning on the individual actions of specific players), the number of goals conceded, all this characterized Niko Kovac’s team. The Croatian specialist turned a team that could win the Champions League into a collection of scattered football players. And he was rightly sacked.
Hans-Dieter Flick, who subsequently signed a three-year contract with the club, was appointed as an interim manager of Bayern Munich. At the end of the 31st round of the Bundesliga, Bayern were leading by the following indicators: goals scored (92), goals conceded (31), possession (61.9%), shots per game (18.2) as well as the accuracy of passes (87.0%).
Flick returned to the Munich team not only statistical leadership but also the psychology of the winners.
Bayern Munich’s championship should especially delight the people from New Zealand, whose 21-year-old youngster Sarpeet Singh is a part of the German team. He even made his debut for the first team on December 14, 2019, and is the first player from New Zealand to play in the Bundesliga, since Wynton Rufer. An incredible achievement for a youngster, who умут led to creating a fan-base of Bayern’s supporters in his homeland. And this fact was not overlooked by the gambling industry in the country, which primarily because Singh decided to incentivize customers by offering bonuses on the Munich team. Most notably, Playamo, one of the leading venues in the country was at the forefront of casinos that organized promotions. Sometimes they included the reserve team of Bayern as well because Singh is playing there.
Champions in the minority
Indeed, it was not difficult to guess: Lewandowski and Müller returned to Bayern for a match with Bremen, who missed a meeting with Mönchengladbach (2:1) because of the yellow cards.
True, the championship match turned out to be difficult for the Munich team. Firstly, Werder Bremen defended compactly according to the 5-4-1 scheme and occasionally counterattacked.
Secondly, in the 78th minute, Canadian Alphonso Davies was sent off. Bayern quite successfully stretched the time through passes and corners but allowed several positional attacks. It is symbolic that the goalkeeper Neuer played the decisive role in the time spent in the minority, having pulled the ball out of the left corner after an attack by Osako.
So, the Munich team defeated Werder Bremen with a score of 1-0 and for the thirtieth time became champions of Germany.
How Flick changed Bayern?
We can distinguish several components of the Munich success in the current season:
- Full control in the midfield, allowing you to launch attacks effectively. Key figures in this area are Joshua Kimmich and Thiago Alcantara.
Kimmich is the best in Bavaria in terms of efficiency – it is he who very often drops to the central defenders to play the ball. Firstly, his presence allows the team to create a numerical advantage at the beginning of the attack. Secondly, he likes to transfer the ball to the half flanks, where high-speed wingers operate – most often Gnabry and Coman, as well as Davies.
Kimmich and Thiago control the ball in the centre and are under pressure from the opponent. The freedom of movement for them is provided by the central defender David Alaba, who is able to move higher.
Since Thiago is often injured, Leon Goretzka plays more and more often in tandem with Kimmich. It seems that this combination is also successful: Leon can both play the ball, and take away, as well as join the attack.
- Development of attacks through the flanks: on both, Bavaria spends 37% of the time. The key pairs in these zones are Gnabry/Davis (left) and Coman/Pavard (right).
Firstly, the Munich team uses overloads when the wingers move to the half flanks, and the extreme defenders rise almost to the front line.
Secondly, Bayern quickly switch attacks between the flanks (usually through the same Kimmich). The Flick team fully controls the final third of the field, and also gets an additional opportunity to crack the low block: the opponent closes the flanks, which leads to breaks in the middle.
- The Müller – Lewandowski link works effectively. First, the statistics speak for them: Thomas is the best assistant to the Bundesliga (19), and Robert is the best scorer (31). The Pole no longer has problems with the execution of moments, and he even more competently chooses the position in the box (30 goals scored inside the penalty area).
Müller is useful in counter-pressing: he regains possession himself and reacts to the actions of partners, instantly playing out through a short pass. He and Lewandowski complement each other: the Pole can go deeper to fight to the ball, and the German moves forward to press and open for the passes.
Conclusion
“It was expected,” – many will say that about the championship of Bayern. But this position seems erroneous because Flick had to not only correct Kovac’s mistakes but also inculcate his own style. And this is in the face of increased competition in the Bundesliga, where several teams claimed the championship just before the restart after a coronavirus pause! You can’t call the thirtieth championship of Munich easy – it is more likely labour.
Now Bayern have the final of the German Cup against Bayer and the Champions League. It seems that the Munich club can be called its main favourites.