Hansi Flick clarifies weekend lineup decisions
In separate interviews over the weekend, Bayern trainer Hans Dieter Flick defended some of his personnel decisions in the matchday eight draw against SV Werder Bremen.
| Hansi Flick. |
Footballing analysts noted several questionable moves from the FCB trainer in his side's rather meek 1-1 draw on Saturday. For his part, Hansi Flick thought his choices logical given the circumstances.
The decision to deploy Javi Martinez in a solo-six role in midfield made enough sense to Flick. "Javi has played there several times before, has been with the club for a long time, and knows what the expectations there are," he explained to reporters after the full-time whistle, "That was the optimal place for Javi today."
With respect to Martinez's replacement when Lucas Hernandez succumbed to injury and the Spaniard had to be moved back, Flick praised Leon Goretzka for being "always present", and simply noted "we sometimes have to fill positions creatively."
When asked if he had considered the newly acquired Marc Roca for the role that others perceived Goretzka had difficulty with, the 55-year merely answered "there was no place for Marc today."
The use of 17-year-old Jamal Musiala as a rigidly paired eight alongside Thomas Müller also raised some eyebrows. In a Sunday interview, Flick insisted that the youngster had earned his first start. "He deserved it," Flick said, "he's repeatedly shown his quality in training."
Musiala did lose some early crucial early duels, but Flick thought some of his defensive work and offensive movement made up for the the mistakes.
"On the whole, I'm satisfied with him," he declared, "He had some situations that looked very good and could have led to chances."
