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Soccer

"Hansi Flick has been absolutely brilliant" | Damien Delaney

Damien Delaney dropped into Off  The Ball on Monday night where he looked at the dynamics that l...



Soccer

"Hansi Flick has been absolutely brilliant" | Damien Delaney

Damien Delaney dropped into Off  The Ball on Monday night where he looked at the dynamics that led to Hansi Flick taking over at Bayern Munich.

Flick led the German champions on an unprecedented run to take the Champions League crown at the weekend, having taken over from Niko Kovac in November.

"You'd have to wonder what was going on behind the scenes between Hansi Flick and Niko Kovac," said the former Crystal Palace player.

"Was he behind closed doors saying 'you need to change things, you need to do x, y and z?' Or did he keep his cards close to his chest because he was potentially getting the job?

"That is always a question that has interested me when assistants take over and change the setup completely.

"They change training, they change meeting times, they change everything. I don't know if Hansi Flick did that but he would have had some serious problems that he was inheriting.

"Although you could say he was part of those problems. Maybe Kovac was such a headstrong guy that he didn't listen to his staff.

"I'm pretty sure Hansi Flick has minuted meetings where he was telling Niko Kovac 'you need to change this, you need to do this, you need to be a bit less abrasive.'

Given how Kocac was Flick has clearly tried a different path, with success.

"That was the criticism that he was very abrasive, very direct with the players and a lot of the players lost interest in him very very quickly," said Delaney of Kovac.

"So you'd wonder was Hansi Flick kind of pulling the rug from underneath him as things were falling apart because he knew he was going to get into the job.

"All that aside, he came in and picked them up. He got Thomas Muller flying again, got a really well-organised, well-drilled team, and implemented some fantastic bits and pieces tactically in a very short space of time.

"They became one of the most feared or deadliest attacking teams in Europe for a very very long time.

Delaney is fascinated by the dynamic of the assistant being promoted having witnessed it himself.

"It happens so often, I've seen it so much and you see the assistant come in. He's like 'right, clean slate now, we're changing training,' recalled Delaney.

"All of a sudden the assistant manager changes. They become different people or they try to be something they are not, it's a weird dynamic.

"Whatever he [Flick] has done, it's been brilliant and he's been fantastic.

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Read more about

Bayern Munich Champions League Damien Delaney Hansi Flick Niko Kovac Thomas Muller