Today could turn out to be a historic day for FC Barcelona as the new coach, Hansi Flick, undertook his first press conference as the Blaugrana team’s trainer. The German tactician talked to the journalists for more than an hour and talked about different aspects related to the new project that he has started.
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, one of the subjects that Flick touched upon in this presser was the style of play that he would adopt at Barcelona. He is one of the very few coaches in the recent history of the Catalan club who has not been previously associated with the Blaugrana club in any manner.
Taking hints from his previous stint at Bayern Munich, it was expected that Barcelona would take a markedly different playing style under Flick than they took under Xavi. However, in this presser, Flick ensured that his team would not be too different from some of the most successful teams in the club’s history:
“I’m not far from the idea of how Barça played before, when they achieved success with Cruyff or Pep. My idea is to have an active team on the field, that wants to show what they can do with and without the ball. It’s important to take the initiative and decide what they want to do.”
“It doesn’t matter if we play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, what I want is for us to play beautiful, technical, good football, and for everyone watching the game to see that the team gives it their all.”
However, the German was clear that the team would have to work a lot before the titles can start coming to the Barcelona cabinet:
“My goal is also to win titles. But just wanting something doesn’t mean it will happen; you have to work for it, and that’s why we have the staff. Everyone helps us, and that’s the point. I’ve said it many times, it’s important to win titles, but to do that, you have to play many matches and take it step by step.”
After managing Bayern Munich and the German national team, his role at Barcelona marks the first time he is working outside of Germany. Although he did not explicitly state whether Bayern or Barcelona is the bigger club, he expressed confidence that the passion everyone has at Barcelona will enable him to succeed here.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to compare clubs and say if Barça is bigger or not than Bayern. I left my comfort zone in Germany. Bayern is a very big team, and what I can feel here is that there is a lot of passion, and this is incredible. Everyone has this passion for Barça, and I love that.”
His reference to Cruyff and Guardiola will certainly raise the hopes of Barcelona fans for the next season. But there is no doubt that with the shortage of resources at Barcelona and the strength of competing teams like Real Madrid, it will be a challenge for Flick to get his hands on a trophy.
