RDF tactics
- Sep 1, 2023
- 6 min
Hansi Flick - How He Made Bayern World Champions - Tactic Analysis - FM21 Tactics
In his first season at the club, Hans-Dieter Flick has seamlessly achieved success with Bayern Munich in stunning fashion. The former Bayern player achieved widescale success as Germany’s assistant coach, winning the World Cup as Joachim Low’s assistant in 2014. Flick has now taken his former side to new heights with all his international management experience, creating the most exciting Bayern Munich team since the days of Ribery and Robben. In the 2019-20 Bundesliga season, Bayern won 26 of their 34 games, scored 100 goals in the process, and won the league by 13 points over arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund. They fared arguably even better in the Champions League, winning the competition scoring 43 goals in the process. That’s right, they’ve averaged 3.91 goals per game in the toughest competition in club football. How did they achieve that? Here is a Tactical Analysis of Hans-Dieter ‘Hansi’ Flick’s Bayern Munich.
THE FORMATION
With a great mix of experience and youth, Hans-Dieter Flick has taken on the same approach formation-wise as his predecessor, Niko Kovac, and adopted the 4-2-3-1 formation. However, Hansi Flick’s 4-2-3-1 looks very different from Kovac’s, and it shows on the pitch in Bayern’s success over the last couple of seasons under the German manager.
THE EXCELLENT COUNTER-PRESS
These days, a feature of almost all of the world's best teams, Bayern Munich press from the front with intensity and aggression. The 4-2-3-1 aids ideally in their triangular shape in the press, with the double-pivot rarely needing to become engaged due to the intensity from the front four. Not just are they fantastic at winning the ball back high up the pitch. They are one of the best in the world in that regard.
Their narrow attacking shape is also very effective when Bayern loses the ball as players are positioned close to the ball, enabling them to press effectively. This also gives them a chance to win second balls or rebounds before their opponents get to the ball.
That said, given Hansi Flick’s impressive pressing statistics this season and their increased goal-scoring from winning the ball back within 40m of their opposition’s goal, it's no surprise, in the top 5 European leagues it's Bayern Munich who have the most successful pressure's in the attacking 1/3 per 90 (45.8) They use a rather man-oriented approach when the opposition builds up, trying to regain possession high up the pitch or force them into making errors.
BUILD-UP
Bayern have averaged 61.4% possession under Flick this season, and key to possession-based sides, Bayern retains possession but at a high tempo, aiming to get the ball forward in the advanced thirds. Bayern attempt to create numerical overloads using both the back four and the double pivot, allowing them to progress and transition from the build-up phase to the attacking third. By creating an overload during the build-up, Bayern always has a free man, making it easier to play through any press and operate between the lines. If opponents are using a low-block, they will invite a press from the opposition to give the attacking players space to roam and operate.
image from https://breakingthelines.com/tactical-analysis/how-hansi-dieter-flick-brought-the-magic-back-to-bayern/
Bayern plays focuses on gaining attacking momentum and getting the ball into the front four as quickly as possible to have possession in the attacking third, where Bayern are certainly most dangerous.
DEVASTATING ATTACK
Bayern have become the best side in Europe going forward under Flick. Compared with Europe's top 5 leagues, Bayern has scored the most goals (78) with 3 goals per 90, and 35 of those 78 goals have come from the main man Robert Lewandowski.
Bayern look to crowd the box, or in analytic terms, overload the box with plenty of runners penetrating different spaces. If the ball is worked out wide, then the crosser would have plenty of available options inside the box. With runners coming in, Bayern can often cover most spaces inside the box.
image from https://breakingthelines.com/tactical-analysis/how-hansi-dieter-flick-brought-the-magic-back-to-bayern/
In addition to building their attacks, Bayern Munich love to attack down the wings. This is evidenced by their average of 26 crosses per game in the Bundesliga this season (the highest). Bayern have attack down their left side 39% so far in the Bundesliga this season, down the right is 36%, meaning in the league, they hardly attack centrally, and they are ranked 15th with attacks down the middle (25%) But their counter-pressing has also become very effective to how Bayern attacks as their high press creates counter-attacking opportunities. When winning the ball using their very high engagement line, players are already in advanced positions and in a forward motion, quickly turning a defensive situation into an attack resulting in little long shots and most shots in the 18-yard box.
Bayern’s wing attacks tend to overload and isolate, meaning they control and overload one side during the build-up, opening space for the opposite winger to move in central areas. By overloading on one side of the pitch, the defending team will shift over, and that's how the opposite winger finds the space to penetrate and exploit. Though, it's not just an attacker that benefits from the free space. Often we have seen, when space is created for the left flank, the left-winger may tuck in a lot more narrowly, allowing Alphonso Davies to be the one to exploit that open space.
Concluding their attack, Bayern like to attack directly by passing into the path of the pacey wingers. They constantly look for a direct route straight to goal once the ball has been won on the counter-press giving their opponents very little time to organise. Also, with their counter-pressing, when Bayern takes the crossing route, they have deeper players making forward runs inside the box, and if defended well, Bayern will have a man or two outside the box ready to sweep up and put Bayern on the attack again.
CONCLUSION
Hansi Flick has dramatically improved Bayern Munich since his arrival. The Bavarians are excellent at winning the ball back, better at finding the back of the net after winning the ball back, and look on all accounts a dangerous side going forward. With the fantastic partnership of Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, plus the rising talents of Alphonso Davies and Musiala, Bayern Munich have so much to offer going forward and could hurt any team on their day.
That's my tactical analysis wrapped up and credits to TheMasterMind site for help with the script, and you can read their 2019/20 analysis here.