With the appointment of Hansi Flick as head coach, FC Barcelona will be experiencing something relatively new next season, as the new manager’s style and philosophy are completely different to what is understood as Barcelona’s traditional style of play.
Given his time at Bayern Munich, there has been speculation in mainstream and social media that the German manager will place a great deal of emphasis on the physical aspects of his new club’s players.
There is some truth in this, as Flick believes changes of pace and intensity are key elements of today’s football and that good athleticism is just as important for a player as other technical aspects.
However, according to SPORT, this does not mean that Flick is obsessed with his players’ physical preparation.
The German coach is not going to let his team prioritise brute force at the expense of good football and will place an emphasis on circulating the ball and applying pressure while never giving up on intensity and physicality.
The emphasis on quality football is also evident in the German manager’s preference for a double pivot in midfield rather than a destructive single pivot, which was one of the reasons why Guido Rodriguez’s transfer was frozen even though the Argentine was very close to a move to Barcelona.
As it stands, however, Flick also believed his team lacked energy last season, especially when facing Europe’s top teams, but the German coach believes this can be significantly improved by implementing a daily routine aimed at improving his players’ focus.
In fact, Barça were aware of the problem and wanted to alleviate it even before Flick was appointed as the team’s coach, but since Flick took over, he has already been in contact with the man in charge of this side of the team, Julio Tous, and the two trainers work in perfect harmony.
