“Hansi supports our system” — Brazzo weighs in on Hansi Flick’s squad planning

There has been no shortage of support from the players, staff, or fans of Bayern Munich for Hans-Dieter Flick, the present caretaker manager. It seems increasingly like a question of time before the club signs him to a long-term contract. One major factor in that decision is Flick’s involvement in building his squad.

According to Sport Bild, Flick wants to have more say in squad planning if he signs a long-term contract with Bayern. That is never a given at Bayern, even for big-name coaches such as Louis van Gaal! However, Flick has showed his mastery in squad management when Bayern was and still is weathering an injury crisis in defence.

By playing left-back David Alaba at center-back, a position Alaba first played during Pep Guardiola’s tenure at Bayern, he managed to draw the best out of Alaba and rewind some of Jerome Boateng’s best years. Flick also integrated Alphonso Davies and Joshua Zirkzee in the first team, two promising youths, in the quest to supplement an injury-hit squad and turn them into worldbeaters.

His adeptness at managing a paper-thin squad and his trust in the youth has not gone unnoticed. Bayern director of sport Hasan “Brazzo” Salihamidžić told the media that Flick’s instincts suit Bayern’s own approach of cultivating superstars rather than buy a finished product every year. Per TZ journalist Manuel Bonke, Brazzo had this to say:

Hansi supports our system. He knows that we will not be in an economic position, nor would we want to be, in which we spend a great deal of money every year for finished players. We also always have to train talent with quality to reinforce and develop our team. We have now succeeded with Alphonso Davies, and Joshua Zirkzee is also positioning himself well with the pros.

Despite being one of the richest football clubs in the world, Bayern has always taken the stance of steering clear of big-money signings — and rightly so. But to continue to compete at the highest level in an exploding market, the Bayern bosses have stated that the club wouldn’t hesitate to spend big when the need arises.

This shrewdness has kept Bayern wealthy and able to flex their financial muscle when they need rather than hitting the transfer market every time. Hansi Flick looks to be tailor-made for Bayern’s vision of squad building.