Skip to main content

The German Boss in Barcelona, Is it a Right Move?

Image
By

 


Barcelona is set to hire a German boss to lead the team next season, which raises questions about whether it is the right decision.

Barcelona has gone through a disappointing season as a reigning La Liga champion. They have failed to live up to the expectations of their fans and have been inferior to their archrival, Real Madrid, both in the standings and in El Clasico. What’s worse, the internal conflict seems to have come to the surface, especially between the boss, Xavi Hernandez, and the sporting director, Deco, plus the president of the Catalan giant, Joan Laporta.

After months of uncertainty, including two U-turn decisions, management has finally moved on from the former Catalan midfielder. They have reportedly appointed a German boss, Hans Flick, to be at the helm of Marc Ter-Stegen and Co.

Many fans may be delighted to learn that a proven Champions League winner has agreed to take over as manager. Flick was the gaffer when Bayern Munich won a treble in the 2019–20 season, plus the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in the same year.

However, one should bear in mind that the 2019–20 season was an unusual one. The season was disrupted by the pandemic, resulting in the delay of several top league completions. Two European major leagues, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie, were even halted in the middle of the season. Bundesliga was the only major league that restarted the league the earliest, meaning that they completed first as well in August, whereas at the same time, other leagues such as La Liga, Premier League, and Italian Serie A had just resumed their competition. It happened to take place in the same month as UCL continued with a single-leg match in the knockout stages.

Such circumstances gave a significant advantage to the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 teams to maximise their chances in the UCL. The semi-finalists in that season came from both Germany and France, including Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, PSG, and Lyon. Bayern was the only experienced team in the Champions League, so they undoubtedly won the title in the end.

Another piece of evidence to show how Hans Flick is probably not as incredible as expected was his team’s campaign in the 2020–21 season and his surprisingly woeful spell with the Germany national team. Bayern might still have been the best in domestic competition in 2021, but their continental campaign ended in the round of eight after losing to Mauro Pocchettino’s PSG. Moreover, Die Mannschaft under Flick failed terribly in the 2022 FIFA World Cup by collecting only four points, as well as suffering a humiliating defeat versus Japan at the opener.

Regarding his move to Barcelona, let us hope he can turn things around, as the Catalan side had fairly negative records under German gaffers before. There were two of them in the past. They were both high-profile ones, and Blaugrana put their fate on their shoulders to bring back their glory days, only to see another disappointment in return. Here are those two German bosses in Barcelona.

Hennes Weisweiler

Hennes Weisweiler was the first German coach signed by Barcelona in the summer 1975 as Rinus Michels’ successor. He was already known as the leading figure in Borussia M'Gladbach's glorious years in the 1970s. He had just won the Bundesliga and UEFA Cup in the 1974–75 season. It was his third and first title, respectively. Weisweiler was confident that he could deliver silverware for the Catalan side, especially with two Dutch stars from the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, in the team.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out as expected. He was dismissed after losing 1-0 to Liverpool in the UEFA Cup semifinals. They only finished second in La Liga, despite winning in El Clasico. Their campaign in the Spanish Cup was not satisfactory either. Consequently, Blaugrana went trophyless again.

His issue with the team’s star, Johan Cruyff, only made his stint even worse. The German boss was so unfortunate during his stay there since Cruyff took an instant dislike to him, probably due to the Dutch’s inability to have the freedom he had under his previous manager. 

Udo Lattek

The second German boss in command of the Catalan giant was Udo Lattek. Unlike his predecessor, he had a slightly better spell there. Lattek had won a number of silverwares, such as five Bundesliga titles (three for Bayern and two for Gladbach), one DFB Pokal, one European Cup with Bayern in 1974, and one UEFA Cup with Gladbach in 1979.

Despite his trophyless stint at Dortmund from 1979 to 1981, Barcelona was still interested in signing him. The former striker had a fine campaign in his first season. Despite only finishing second in La Liga below Real Sociedad, Lattek managed to guide Carlos Rexach and Co. to clinch the UEFA Winners Cup in 1982 after thumping Belgian side Standard Liege 2-1 in the final, which happened to be held in Camp Nou. His team was also sitting above Real Madrid in the final standings.

Nevertheless, in his second season, Lattek was having a hard time optimising the potential of their new signing, Diego Maradona. Despite the win in El Clasico, Barcelona was beaten 3-1 in the UEFA Super Cup against Aston Villa on aggregate. He was soon replaced by Cesar Luis Menotti, Maradona’s former coach on the national team.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Goalless Games in EURO, when both Goalies were Heroes

By
  A number of goalless games in EURO deserve better credit as they mark the top form of both goalkeepers. Goalless games are probably considered the dullest part of football. In every tournament or competition, there is bound to be one or more. Naturally, such matches never attract fans, as most would see how both sides missed shots on goals or spurned chances. However, the stalemate could also demonstrate how goalkeepers from both sides were in top form and almost equally denied the shots to keep the clean sheets. In short, some goalless games are not about the duels of forwards but the contests of the defenders on both ends of the backline, but the goalkeepers’ show. In EURO 2024, three games have resulted in a stalemate. Two of which are in the final games of Group C, when both clashes saw no goals at all. Yet, both England vs. Slovenia and Denmark vs. Serbia are not regarded as the best goalless games since both goalies’ saves were not dominant. Such matches are rare. Here ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 1970 FIFA World Cup: Shaping the Modern Game

By
  The 1970 FIFA World Cup can be considered the cornerstone of the modern World Cup. Many of the elements we now know in every four-year staging of the biggest football event were introduced at this edition of the World Cup. Mexico 1970 was the first World Cup held outside of Europe and South America. The CONCACAF country was selected as the host at the FIFA Congress in October 1964, beating out other candidates like Argentina. Various breakthroughs were made by FIFA to standardize the rules, allocate team spots per confederation, and globally promote the World Cup and football in general. The 1970 World Cup Fun Facts The 1970 Mexico World Cup had several interesting facts, especially regarding the new match regulations used for the first time. Here are the highlights from the first World Cup held in North America: Israel, Morocco, and El Salvador made their debuts. North Korea boycotted the qualifiers, refusing to play against Israel. Morocco only bro...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Tribute to Diogo Jota, his rapid rise in Pacos de Ferreira

By
  In memory of Diogo Jota, his rapid rise in the early career with Paços de Ferreira undeniably proved how his talent truly was. The departure of Diogo Jota recently has undoubtedly shocked the football world. The Portuguese international was still at the peak of his career when he lost his life in a car accident with his brother, Andre Silva, a Penafiel man. The Liverpool forward was still 28 years old and had just tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend and the mother of his three children. To pay tribute to the former Wolves frontman, the beginning of his career with the modest Portuguese side, Pacos de Ferreira, deserved more spotlight apart from his golden years with The Reds. It was where the world began to see the quick rise of the Massarelos-born striker on the pitch in his teens. He joined Pacos at the age of 16 after his talent was spotted by the team’s scouts when he was still 13 years old. At that time he was still playing for the local side, Gondomar SC. ...
Post a Comment
Read more