Hans-Dieter Flick, who took over from Nico Kovac following his dismissal after just ten
games this season, has improved Bayern Munich. A former player for the Bavarian team, Flick
was Joachim Low’s assistant for eight years with the German national side, helping to
win the World Cup in 2014; he also worked as Sporting Director for the German FA.
Although this is his first head coach role since leaving Hoffenheim in 2005, when the
side were not even in Bundesliga 2 Flick has already demonstrated a steady hand, tactical
understanding, and the ability to coach highly talented players.
It’s indisputable that Flick’s Bayern are a stronger proposition than his predecessor’s.
By every key metric – points, goals for and against per game, and expected goals for
and against per game – Flick has made Bayern stronger.
He’s also improved Bayern’s pressing game, making it more ordered and ultimately more
successful. This is shown by looking at four metrics:
Passes per Defensive Action, where a lower number indicates a more intense press
Pressed sequences per game, which is the number of sequences where the opposition has three
or fewer passes in a sequence, and the sequence ends within 40m of their own goal
And shot and goal ending high turnovers, which show the number of sequences that start in
open play and begin 40m or less from the opponent's goal and end with either a shot or a goal.
Flick’s Bayern press better and achieve better results with that press. While Kovac’s
Bayern were well organised, Flick has instilled a greater degree of proactivity in both the
press and the counter press. Bayern mostly use a 4-2-3-1, which becomes
a 4-1-4-1 in a defensive posture. Kimmich anchors in front of the defence, while the
other midfielder, normally Thiago, and the 10 align to create a man-orientated band across
the middle. Robert Lewandowski will press the opposition centre backs, while the wingers
can push up should the ball go wide. Bayern will also press in the wide spaces
effectively, either by pushing the full backs high on the ball side of the pitch, leaving
an effective three at the back, while the winger and a midfielder push across to cut
off passing lanes back infield. Because Alphonso Davies and Benjamin Pavard are so athletic,
they can push up quickly. And the positional brilliance of Kimmich ensures that even with
a kind of back three, Bayern are rarely caught short if the ball beats the wide press.
Davies and Pavard merit further mention for their part in how Bayern have added impetus
to their attacks out wide. Flick likes to employ a kind of bait-and-switch on the flanks,
overloading one side, often the right, before moving the ball rapidly to the other. This
allows the incendiary Davies to use his pace, dribbling, and eye for a pass or shooting
chance to find space to attack. Davies is already staking a claim to be one
of the world’s premier left-backs, acting as an auxiliary winger in attack, but with
the pace and recovery skills to do his defensive duties ably too.
David Alaba, Davies’ left-sided defensive partner, has also been crucial at centre back.
When Kimmich drops off, this allows Alaba freedom on the left to dribble the ball forwards
and launch pinpoint passes that break the opposition lines. He can also free Davies
on the left, or even hit longer passes to the wide players. This gives Bayern a hugely
effective deeper playmaker, as well as Thiago in midfield, compensating them for their lack
of an orthodox playmaking 10.
However, in Thomas Muller, Bayern have a player who can still wreak his own form of havoc
from the hole behind Lewandowski. Muller’s value is shown by the fact that he has the
highest ‘xG sequence start’ value for any of Bayern’s players, which is the total
xG value of open play shot or goal ending sequences that a player has begun.
He’s also top for shooting chances created where his only involvement is creating that
shooting opportunity. This is because Muller is constantly finding
space between the lines, taking the ball from Alaba or Thiago or from out wide, and sending
it immediately on to another player in a shooting position. Muller lacks the dribbling ability
to carry with much success, but he’s brilliant positionally and at linking the play, as well
as weighing in with six league goals.
Muller has played fairly equally as a right-sided wide attacker and in the hole, and while Bayern
like attacking the wide areas, they’ve also improved at working the ball in tight spaces
centrally, where Lewandowski can drop off, Serge Gnabry or Kingsley Coman cut inside,
especially on the left, and a midfielder pushes up to create overloads centrally.
Flick has taken Bayern’s strengths under Kovac and added to them, improving wide attacking
and making it more dynamic, improving positional play build-up in the centre, and making Bayern’s
pressing game more effective.
Add to all this tactical sharpening up the fact that Bayern still have the league’s
strongest squad in terms of consistent quality and it’s clear why Flick has been able to
elevate them. By added purpose and finesse, in pressing and in possession, Flick has ensured
that the Bavarian giants are firmly in the hunt for their eighth consecutive Bundesliga title.