The 1-0 win over Getafe last night allowed Barcelona to extend their winning run in La Liga to seven games. This start to the league campaign is already proving to be one of the best in the team’s history, and the German coach is already among some of the most notable Barcelona coaches in history to have led their teams to such a successful start.
The fact that Flick has got these results without some of his most important players makes this achievement even more praiseworthy. While some players like Araujo, Christensen, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Ter Stegen, and Bernal, have been injured, the German had to over-rely on some other players.
One such player is the defender Jules Kounde, who has played every possible minute of the season up to now. Last night, he accumulated another full 90 minutes under his belt and has also been playing at a very high level for the Blaugranes irrespective of such a high demand on his body.
Being a starter at the right-back position, it can be argued he will need some rest in the coming days to keep performing at his best level. However, the German coach did not believe he needed to substitute him because of his very good fitness level. Speaking to the press after the match, the coach praised Koundé as ‘unbelievable’:
“Jules has been playing as a right-back for the French national team as well, and he’s been unbelievable. He’s 100% fit and consistently performs at a high level every three days, which is really good. You don’t have to worry about substituting him, and he thrives on improving and pushing himself further. It’s really great to see.”
As already reported, Kounde is one of the most hard-working players in this Barcelona squad. He works regularly even outside of the sessions organised by the club, and takes a lot of care of his body. Thus, there is some merit in Flick’s comments about there being no need to substitute him.
