Who is Hansi Flick

Hansi Flick, a German football manager and former player, achieved a lot of fame for his role as assistant to Joachim Low - the man who led Germany to the 2014 World Cup, and then guided Bayern Munich to numerous trophies, including a treble in the 2019/20 season. After a falling out with sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, and because he hadn’t received the necessary support from the hierarchy, he left the club to become the head coach of the German national team. 

But with a points return of just 1.72 per game, his time in charge of the national team was unsuccessful, to say the least. But what really went wrong?

The start of the Flick era - 

After arriving from Bayern, he kicked his reign off with a 2–0 win against Liechtenstein in a World Cup qualification match. Flick’s first test against a major footballing country came in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A against Italy, and ended in a 1-1 draw. Despite being a mediocre result, it made him the third coach to stay undefeated in his first ten matches.

Where it started to go wrong - 

Flick’s leadership of the team came under speculation when he started Germany's 2022 world cup campaign with a 2-1 loss to Japan, and then a 1-1 draw with Spain. Normally, this would’ve sealed Germany’s fate with an early exit, but an abnormal group gave him a lifeline in the third match. Despite beating Costa Rica, Germany still failed to qualify for the knockout rounds, leaving many with major doubts about whether he should be the one to lead this team in the right direction.

A 2-0 win in a friendly against Peru was Flick’s last victory as Germany coach. At this point, many were ready to give him a second chance. But a 3-2 loss against Belgium - a team with stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Yannick Carrasco, yet not a team that should score three against Germany - followed. The subsequent matches highlighted this even further - there was no intra-team collaboration, and their woes were compounded by a leaking defence, a poor attacking conversion rate, and - most of all - a team that lacked the power and energy required in modern football. To boot, Germany were hosting the European Championships next summer - the organising body knew it was time to act. 

As of 22nd September, Julian Nagelsmann has been confirmed as the new manager.