According to Sky Sports’ Florian Plettenberg, Hansi Flick will be bringing his trusted coaches into his coaching set-up at Barcelona.
The German gaffer is poised to bring in goalkeeper coach Toni Tapalovic and ex-Germany assistant coach Marcus Sorg with him.
Both coaches have extensively worked with Flick in the past and have a lot of experience. Tapalovic is the former Bayern Munich goalkeeping coach and worked there for 12 years.
He is credited for helping Manuel Neuer become the best goalkeeper in the world and is his close friend. Toni was even Neuer’s best man in his wedding. In fact, after Tapalovic’s surprise exit from Bayern last year, Neuer claimed it to be ‘the most brutal thing I’ve experienced in my career’.
Tapalovic is renowned as a world class goalkeeping coach. He is being brought in to help Marc-Andre ter Stegen eliminate the errors in his game and get even better.
Sorg is even more experienced than Tapalovic. He worked as the assistant coach at Germany under Flick until they were both dismissed in 2023.
The 58-year-old has extensive experience in coaching the Bayern Munich under-17 side. He’s even managed German teams like SC Freiburg and Heidenheimer.
Sorg has a lot of experience in managing young players and getting the best out of them. He is likely to have a positive impact on the likes of Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi. Sorg is also expected to play a key role in linking the senior team with promising youngsters coming out of La Masia.
Xavi and his entire staff will leave Barcelona after the game against Sevilla on Sunday (May 26). Flick’s appointment should be made official soon after that.
