After a few months marked by the ‘Xavi soap opera’, the Catalan is finally leaving the FC Barcelona bench for next season. After many names were floated, such as Rafa Márquez or Thiago Motta, the club has chosen Hansi Flick.
Although it is true that the Culés do not have very good memories of this coach, as he was the architect of the 2-8 defeat against Bayern, he was the one the fans were most excited about. Although the coach was sacked from the German national team, Flick left his mark on football after winning the six-team title with Bayern.
What is clear is that Flick has been pushing hard for a chance to coach Barça next season. What is certain is that he won’t have it easy, as he finds himself with a team in need of considerable change in an attempt to reverse last season’s poor showing. Although this does not impress the German, as he was faced with a very similar situation when he arrived in Munich.
Now Flick will have to decide which pieces to keep and which to leave. What seems clear is that the system employed will be a 4-2-3-1, which was the one he used with both the German national team and Bayern.
The German coach will, first, have to make a decision in defence, as with the return of loanees Eric García and Lenglet, he has six centre-backs in the first team. We will also have to see how he deals with the Joãos situation, although it seems that Flick isn’t counting on them much next season.
Another important point will be Ansu Fati. It seems that the coach wants to give him a chance because he thinks he can return to the level he showed before the injury (even though his loan spell at Brighton was disastrous).
In terms of signings, many names are being bandied about, although Kimmich is the one with the strongest buzz, as he has a year left on his contract and would be reunited with the Bavarian coach.
But for there to be any possibility of bringing in players, there must first be a significant sale. The players who would have the biggest market, without being the youngest academy players, would be Araújo, Raphinha or de Jong, although it seems that Flick considers the latter to be essential for next season.
In reality, Flick has very little experience as a head coach, having only coached two clubs and one national team. While it is true that with Bayern, he achieved glory, with Germany things did not go so well for him.
What we did see during his time in charge at Bayern is that he is a coach who places a lot of importance on the physical, something that has always been neglected at Barça. The physical improvement is something that will do the team a lot of good, given the plague of injuries they suffered last season.
We will have to see what decisions Flick makes this summer in relation to the squad and what results he gets, as the expectations of the Culés with him are quite high.
Main image: @FCBarcelona_es.
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