Tuesday April 13th 2021
Club summit probably after PSG game
Will Kahn decide on Flick and Salihamidzic?
Needed by David
It is still seething at Bayern, before the most important game of the year there is unrest. The duel against PSG could be the last Champions League game under Hansi Flick. Then it should come to the Flick summit with Oliver Kahn. Who does the designated Bayern boss think?
It was a simple sentence, but it had so much more meaning. “We are victims,” said Herbert Hainer on Sunday, “because there is a vacancy at the DFB”. Of course, the Bayern president complained with his statement above all about the inflamed coaching debate, in which the head coach of his club, Hansi Flick, is at the center. A debate that annoys everyone with the record champions. That distracts from the important sporting tasks. But Hainer also indicated: We are a victim because the DFB is hiring us out of our coach. Because Flick tends more towards the national team.
At the wrong time – before the quarter-final second leg at Paris Saint-Germain, the most important game of the year (9 p.m. / in the live ticker on ntv.de.) – it continues to simmer in Munich. Fire source I (trainer debate) is closely linked to fire source II (dispute debate). Hansi Flick has already commented on the speculations several times: By not commenting. In doing so, he repeatedly avoided making a clear commitment to Bayern. “I’ve said everything about it,” it was said ten days ago. Since then, the coach has weighed down any demand with “next question”. The media-experienced coach should also know that the lack of a vow of loyalty to Bayern is fueling speculation about his person.
But in the meantime it seems quite possible that Flick will not make a commitment to his club because he is considering leaving him soon. Because the position at the DFB suits him, who was assistant coach there for eight years and sports director for two and a half years, a little better than day-to-day business at Bayern. Because in this day-to-day business with this alpha-tier collection and ego grouping of the club, as the game director, one has to deal with sports director Hasan Salihamidzic, among others. And with his alpha supporters, first and foremost Honorary President Uli Hoeneß. Keyword: source of fire II.
Big Flick summit is coming up
The fact that Flick no longer cares as much about his sextuple Bayern has to do with the power struggle with Salihamidzic. It’s about squad planning, dealing with proven leadership players (Jérôme Boateng) and the general distribution of power and roles. How things really stand with the inner workings of the fire-source trainer was shown by a single rhetorical question from the 56-year-old on Saturday after the 1-1 draw against Union Berlin: “Do you mean,” he grumbled at the ARD reporter, “I do the whole thing Fun?” According to Hainer, Flick and Salihamidzic do not have to become lovers anymore, but the record champions demand “that they not only work together professionally, but that they both do it out of joy and conviction”.
Joy between Flick and Salihamidzic? That seems impossible now. And the fronts also seem to have been clarified. Hoeneß stands by his pupil Salihamidzic, of course, which again showed their similarly slight appreciation for Boateng. Hainer is also supposed to hold up the sports board, while the chairman of the board, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, is considered a supporter of Flicks. The question arises: Where does Oliver Kahn stand on the subject? As a new strong man at FC Bayern, he may now have to make the first big decision of his career as an official.
According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, a summit meeting will take place this week. The former world goalkeeper should want to find out firsthand in which direction – club or DFB flick is really going. Ten days ago, the designated Bayern boss failed to make specific statements about the future of his head coach. “I’ve spoken to Hansi a lot recently and I couldn’t tell that he had any tendencies towards the DFB,” said Kahn at the time in a somewhat cryptic and complicated way. His statements didn’t sound like he had any idea what exactly was coming next season. Kahn probably wants to get a differentiated picture of this at the Flick summit, when he finally takes over the post of CEO on December 31 of this year.
Leaving could influence the decision
The hot spot of the coaching debate and the hot spot of the dispute have annoyed clubs and professionals for a long time. The fact that a club like FC Bayern has not been able to get the power struggle under control for more than a year, that it has never really been able to put out the interference, does not throw a good light on the record champions. And it is precisely this unrest that could ultimately be a reason that lets Munich fly out of the Champions League. After all: The “joy of the highlight” in Paris will not be taken away by this, assured Thomas Müller before the game.
Should FC Bayern be eliminated, Oliver Kahn could make his decision at the summit much easier: If he takes the side of Hasan Salihamidzic, a separation from Hansi Flick would be despite the mega-year 2019/20 after the next (relatively) early end the next missed title (in the cup it was the bitter bankruptcy against second division Holstein Kiel) understandable. And the coach could finally express his commitment – to the national team.
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