Since Joan Laporta regained power at Barcelona, his three coaches have carried out various and contradictory analyzes of the different squads. In 2021, Ronald Koeman clung to “this is what it is” to justify the bad results of the Barça team. In 2022, his replacement Xavi Hernández stressed: “This is our reality.” But a year later, the Catalan entity opted for levers—sale of assets—to strengthen the team and Xavi changed his mind: “We have a squad.” The euphoria did not last long. To continue leading the locker room, the Catalan coach asked for “substantial changes” in the locker room. Laporta dismissed him. Then, Hansi Flick appeared, a pragmatic guy who never complains and who in practically all his appearances takes refuge in the cliché of clichés: “I only focus on what I can control.” As if it were not enough to win over the fans and the board, the German bets and bets on grassroots football. “This is the Masia”, celebrates the success of its youth players.
“Flick firmly believes in the squad, in these players, and sees himself capable of competing at the highest level and beating any team,” Laporta justified his commitment to the German coach. “We were surprised by Hansi’s knowledge of the squad and the youth team,” they added from the sports area. “Before coming, I analyzed the team and the players. We saw that we had a lot of quality. We have tried to instill a new philosophy, both in attack and defense. The players have understood it. The positive results have helped us. The players like this style, but there are still things to improve,” completes the German coach.
Barcelona began the season with only 22 players with a first team record and only one change in the team: Dani Olmo for Gündogan. As if that were not enough, he had De Jong, Gavi, Araujo and Christensen injured. “We have 18 players available and that is enough for me, it is not a lot, but it is enough,” Flick explained. He also did not flinch when he lost Bernal, Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo and Fermín. He did not even frown at the serious injury of his captain Ter Stegen. “I have full confidence in Iñaki Peña,” he highlighted after Barça hired Szczesny.
Flick removed Iñaki Peña from ostracism, in the same way that he found the best version of Iñigo Martínez, Alejandro Balde, Koundé and Pedri. The cases of Lewandowski and Raphinha are the exaggeration of their ability to recover footballers. “The coach is largely to blame. Since he arrived he has helped us a lot and we have all improved. This year we are a very strong team, even though we are practically the same. We are sure to achieve great things,” explains Fermín López. So, when at the beginning of the season it seemed that Barcelona had a short squad, too young (23.4) and empty of hierarchy, Flick revitalized the Barça boys, leaders in the League, now also strong in Europe after sweeping to Bayern in Montjuïc on the last day of the first phase of the Champions League, waiting to visit Red Star in Belgrade today (9:00 p.m., Movistar Champions League).
In no position, in any case, has Flick found more competition than in the center of the field. Dani Olmo, Pedri and Casadó mix perfectly in the engine room; However, Gavi, De Jong and Fermín are lurking. All enhanced by German. Yes, even Fermín, who by resume is the weakest on the roster, felt important in the two most important duels of the season: he started against Bayern and Madrid. “It is true that there are many high-quality players in the midfield. But competition is good. We all try to improve. When the coach needs it, I will give it my all,” says Fermín. Flick, for his part, celebrates the unexpected overbooking in the midfield. “Blessed problem, we will play with six midfielders… No, just kidding. “I am very happy to have more players available, but we have to be careful with Gavi, who is back from injury, as well as with Frenkie, Fermín and Dani,” says the Barça coach.
The German coach, in any case, is not surprised by the revitalization of the squad. “When I started with my team we said that we had to create an environment where players can give their best version. And now the atmosphere and mentality in the team is really impressive,” reveals Flick. Barcelona goes from Koeman’s “it is what it is,” added to Xavi’s “it is our reality,” to Flick’s “we are with flow.” “It’s very good to have Pedri, Olmo, Fermín, De Jong… We played well, we won and we scored a lot of goals,” highlights the German. Nobody expected it at Barcelona. Nobody, least of all Hansi Flick.
