Farewell, Flick: A letter to our historic coach

Oh, Hans-Dieter Flick. Very few FC Bayern coaches have been as universally loved as you were able to become in such a short period of time. In less than two years time, you accomplished something that only one other coach had ever accomplished, the sextuple.

You accomplished history in such a short time that it just doesn’t seem real that you are leaving. You brought us something we have been striving for since 2013, Champions League glory. You exorcized the demons of years past by not falling in the quarterfinals or the semifinals like we have so many times. You took a talented but incohesive team under Niko Kovac into a well oiled gegenpressing machine that quite literally steamrolled everyone in our path. Nothing showcases that better than your historic drubbing of Barcelona last year that spawned a flurry of memes.

While we struggled this year behind a historically bad defense, we also scored goals upon goals that made us forget it. We didn’t achieve UCL glory this year and fell to our victims from last year, Paris Saint-Germain 3-3 on aggregate. But, it was a fight without our three of our best players. We should have stood no chance, yet you took us to the precipice.

What happens next, who knows. This will be easier to swallow if you take over the reigns from Joachim Löw at Die Mannshaft. But either way, you established yourself in the lore of FC Bayern Munich’s storied history in under two years. From an interim manager to Bayern’s permanent chief, thank you.

Farewell Flick. Thanks for the good times.