BUNDESLIGA
"FLICK IS TO TAKE UP THE BIGGEST JOB IN GERMAN FOOTBALL AS HEAD COACH OF THE NATIONAL SIDE" BY: FEARGAL BRENNAN
COACH SHUFFLE THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
THE GOOD The start of the 2021-22 Bundesliga season will see a huge game of musical chairs of coaches in the German top-flight play out. It is HansDieter Flick’s decision to leave Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich at the end of 202021 that has triggered a major reshuffle of coaches. Flick is to take up the biggest job in German football as he replaces Joachim Low as head coach of the national side, with Low stepping down at the conclusion of Euro 2020 after 15 years in charge. That gaping hole at the Allianz Arena will be filled by Julian Nagelsmann, with the highly-rated coach ending his tenure at RB Leipzig to head to Bavaria. The domino effect has continued from there with Nagelsmann’s rising stock rewarded by a chance to test himself inside the white-hot atmosphere of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig leaning on their RB Salzburg connections to bring in Jesse Marsch. The Wisconsin-born former New York Red Bulls boss has impressed in his first head coaching role in Europe, winning the Austrian Bundesliga in 2019-20 and 2020-21. However, the most interesting possible chain reaction involves Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt. Edin Terzic’s uninspiring spell in charge of Dortmund in 2021 has persuaded the club to remove him and bring in the exciting figure of Marco Rose from Borussia Monchengladbach. Rose’s loss will be felt deeply by
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SOCCER360 JULY • AUGUST 2021