Hans-Dieter Flick

[Devils]

The issue with Flick is glaring and obvious.

His entire system relies on his fullbacks to be the main creative outlet in his team.

It works when you have Davies and Kimmich as your fullbacks. Fullbacks who can basically turn into wingers when in the opponents half.

It doesn’t work when you have boneheads like Balde and Kounde as fullbacks. Two players who have no creative ability or athleticism on the ball.

Either the club backs him and signs some fullbacks that suit his system or he continues to fail.

I don’t see any other serious issues with this team. There are other areas that could be improved but the fullback issue is the massive issue that is causing our downfall.

 

[serghei]

Not so easy as only fullbacks. Davies is also trash in defense. You need upgrades everywhere. DM, striker, fullbacks. A more defensively capable midfielder. Serious money.

For example, instead of Olmo you'd need someone like Rakitic operating near Davies.

Didn't he concede loads at Bayern also in his last season? Not many top teams managed to concede 3 at home vs PSG in CL.

 

[vegitot]

Serghei is flying right now while birdy and bjj are hiding in the deepest cave.

 

[Messigician]

A Barça fan appeared angry after leaving the match before the final whistle, and stated that this anger was due to Barça's draw.

🎙️The reporter: It's not a draw, Atletico scored the second goal while you were leaving the stadium and the result didn't end in a draw but a loss.

🎙️ Barça fan: Damn! F*** you and F*** Atletico.

 

[iniestaGOAT]

FLICK might be the most cuddled manager in BARCELONA history.
Last year the manger was trash, this year its all on the players.

Excuse after excuse after excuse after every shambolic game.

 

[draconifire]

Not so easy as only fullbacks. Davies is also trash in defense. You need upgrades everywhere. DM, striker, fullbacks. A more defensively capable midfielder. Serious money.

For example, instead of Olmo you'd need someone like Rakitic operating near Davies.

Didn't he concede loads at Bayern also in his last season? Not many top teams managed to concede 3 at home vs PSG in CL.

Dont agree we need any Midfielders. Fullbacks and a Striker yes. But no more MF. We are stacked there, and our midfield is playing quite well.
Even the loses can be attributed on us not taking chances. Chances which the MF is creating loads.

 

[Ter Stature]

Midfield also has to work defensively.

 

[Skalman]

Trying to look at our season as whole, are we doing as good as expected with the players we have? only one transfer, (which have played very sparingly and to be honest not have had the impact anyone can be satisfied with) a lot of youngsters, players from Barca B etc. where we ever a title contender really? i think we are being fooled to a degree by our fantastic start. granted some of our losses we should not have lost, period, its bad.

But looking at where we are in the title race are we not pretty much where we expected if we had a good season? Its only so much Flick can do with the players he have, brain farts and mistakes due to Inexperience was always going to happen to this group of players. The big plus so far (Not counting our success in the Champions League) is the way we are playing football, we are fun to watch again (Mostly). I remember under Xavi i was almost dreading to watch the next Barca Match, not so anymore.

 

[serghei]

Dont agree we need any Midfielders. Fullbacks and a Striker yes. But no more MF. We are stacked there, and our midfield is playing quite well.
Even the loses can be attributed on us not taking chances. Chances which the MF is creating loads.

How are you gonna cover a fullback who attacks and is trash defensively with Olmo as midfield cover? It's not like you sign the next Dani Alves just like that to get both attacking flair and beast ability in 1 vs 1 at the back.

You simply have to take precautions as a manager to protect the defense. This is La Liga. Teams here know how to defend and can punish your holes at the back. Which is textbook this season. There isn't a magical fix from players only. We scored plenty of goals in the league and the results are poor. Time to find other solutions.

Our weapon has been to protect the defense by controling the possession and managing the risks on transitions. Now we are crazily exposed on transitions because little is being done to account for spills and turnovers.

Flick's vision may work in very open leagues where the team having better attackers has huge chances to win the games because the smaller teams are naively open, but La Liga is not that league.

You constantly play negative teams that close shop and do damage with their rare but clear scoring chances.

If he can make us put 2-3 goals past every team even in off days, I will stand up and applaud Flick, chapeau to him, but he has to do it. It's not enough to want to do it.

 

[draconifire]

How are you gonna cover a fullback who attacks and is trash defensively with Olmo as midfield cover? It's not like you sign the next Dani Alves just like that to get both attacking flair and beast ability in 1 vs 1 at the back.

You simply have to take precautions as a manager to protect the defense. This is La Liga. Teams here know how to defend and can punish your holes at the back. Which is textbook this season. There isn't a magical fix from players only. We scored plenty of goals in the league and the results are poor. Time to find other solutions.

Our weapon has been to protect the defense by controling the possession and managing the risks on transitions. Now we are crazily exposed on transitions because little is being done to account for spills and turnovers.

Thats why we play high line.
If you want the midfield to defend the flanks then you wont be able to overload the midfield like we do now.
So its a give and take. Flicks system relies on highline to defend, midfield overload and flank play, while counter press to win the ball.

And its not like our MFs dont defend. Casado and Pedri are quite good defending. If you want someone who is better than Casado, I understand that. But thats the least of our problems. He's doing pretty well.
If you are saying Olmo/CAM is not defending, well first thats not Flicks system, second the CAM does the first defensinve action, pressing the opponent ball. Olmo and yesterday Gavi was doing it pretty well.
Even with the spills and turnovers, the opponent is not getting that many chances. We are able to contain them failry well. Our loses hasnt been a bloodbath, its been 1 goal diff, with far less shots taken towards our goal.

If you want us to play differently, or change the Manager. Then I can agree we might need. But at this moment MF signing is least of our concern and there are other positions to fill first.

 

[khaled_a_d]

I don't know if you value this or not, but that's how it is for me. How do you know that, for example, Xavi didn't make some tactical adjustments because he knew the squad he had was not capable to play something more daring? How do you know he didn't adjust to simply increase our chances to win a championship against a net superior rival?

Xavi for sure did make adjustments. I've no doubts.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what Xavi has done for us as a coach. Although I fully think his time was over.


But I will go back to first point, a coach make adjustments, but never change ideology. Unless he is a pragmatic one, the Zidane and Ancelotti of the world. EV was essentially the only coach we had this way, as we see his approach with a young team in Bilbao is totally different than Barca.

Xavi was consistent with what he showed in Qatar for example, when he had the upper hand in the league in the squad. Xavi was always Van Gaal student rather than Pep, whom Xavi himself displaced a a player under LVG. His football reflects that. Xavi always struggled to balance attack and defense, and when he had to choose he mostly choose to cover defense, which is the correct choice btw.



It is also important to realize Xavi choose many of the players, Kounde was signed with clear idea that he will be a converted defensive RB, Flick for example needs a Kimmich rather than a Kounde. Again, not criticism against Xavi, but highlighting the different approach and the painful changes needed, which we might never have.

 

[serghei]

Xavi for sure did make adjustments. I've no doubts.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what Xavi has done for us as a coach. Although I fully think his time was over.


But I will go back to first point, a coach make adjustments, but never change ideology. Unless he is a pragmatic one, the Zidane and Ancelotti of the world. EV was essentially the only coach we had this way, as we see his approach with a young team in Bilbao is totally different than Barca.

Xavi was consistent with what he showed in Qatar for example, when he had the upper hand in the league in the squad. Xavi was always Van Gaal student rather than Pep, whom Xavi himself displaced a a player under LVG. His football reflects that. Xavi always struggled to balance attack and defense, and when he had to choose he mostly choose to cover defense, which is the correct choice btw.



It is also important to realize Xavi choose many of the players, Kounde was signed with clear idea that he will be a converted defensive RB, Flick for example needs a Kimmich rather than a Kounde. Again, not criticism against Xavi, but highlighting the different approach and the painful changes needed, which we might never have.

I know his time was over. With the way our club is, a manager doesn't stay more than 3 seasons even in the best of times, let alone now.

I don't think the signings we made are the issue. If you look at things, we had little money for many positions that needed cover and we improved the team pretty well all things considered.

Pep started with a LVG template also in 2009, the team was far more conservative than his 2011 iterration (you also have to factor in that the players were mostly world class). If you look at 2009 Barca and compare it to 2011 Barcelona it's quite different. It's perfectly normal if you ask me for managers to start by implementing a more conservative framework, built using basics from their formation years, and then add their own spin, as they get more daring, also due to having more job security.

 

[khaled_a_d]

I don't think the signings we made are the issue. If you look at things, we had little money for many positions that needed cover and we improved the team pretty well all things considered.

It is the direction rather than them being an issue. It isn't a bad or good signing, but rather fit.
Kounde is a good signing for me, but if Flick was the coach in 2022, you think we should have had signed him or looked in another direction?

 

[serghei]

It is the direction rather than them being an issue. It isn't a bad or good signing, but rather fit.
Kounde is a good signing for me, but if Flick was the coach in 2022, you think we should have had signed him or looked in another direction?

Let's say we had 500m to invest in players next summer. Even considering that I don't know if Flick is good enough to give him a chance to build a team of his liking.

I believe he shows enough promise that you have to give him a chance, but I am really not sure if he is the real deal or simply delusional. Look at Ange at Tottenham, you see him in some games, he looks like an immense manager. Schooled Pep 4-0 at his own stadium. Then he goes and loses vs some bottom team and at the end wins jack shit.

You think Flick's ideas are extremely sound? I don't. English teams and German teams play with pressing and intensity all the time and want to score many goals and all that, but they still ship in goals naively all the time and when you draw the line you realise you're very close to looking like a winner, but rarely get it done.

What I want to see is him improving and solving issues the squad has now. If he does it he is a success for me.

 

[serghei]

Consistency is a tricky thing. Sometimes it is not about pushing the players to be immense every match, but about making sure they don't need to be to win.