Hans-Dieter Flick

[MontenegrinCuler]

I’ll be honest with you guys. We as Barça fans, have underestimated the difficulty in returning to our former highs. Unlike 2003, when the club was in a similar situation, we managed to bounce back and win 4 UCLs in 12 years. Now ofc, nothing lasts forever and the cycle of decline restarted and we truly reached rock bottom in 2021. Now we are slowly rebuilding, we have exponentially slashed our debts, we won our first LaLiga in 4 years, we reached our first UCL quarter final in 4 years and should’ve reached the semi the same year but unfortunately that was not the case. What we have to do now, is believe the players. They will rest now and realise their flaws and hopefully 2025 will be our year!!!!

Yeah, I agree. With the players we have and the accumulation of world class talent present in this team I have very little worries about our comeback to the biggest stage of European football. It will inevitably happen. It's mostly about being patient because since Laporta took over, there are only signs of improvement not regression.

I think we will need to reinforce some of the positions with players that fit our football style and then the stage is fully set, but even now we have a good shot at a lot of trophies including the CL.

 

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

The reason Slot has managed to take Klopp's squad on to another level is that he has added the touch of pragmatism that some here have been asking of Flick.

Slot's Liverpool are not as exciting to watch as Klopp's, whilst still being a great watch and are always looking to get on the front foot. Not once, have they 'parked the bus' this season at all.

But they know how to see games out, they know how to manage moments in the game when the opposition is pressuring them, they know when they have to grind out a result when the game is not flowing like they expected it to.

As a results, Liverpool, despite having two full backs that have defended quite poorly this season, have the joint best defensive record in the EPL and are quite clearly the best team in Europe right now.

That's all we are asking for. Nothing too drastic. Just add the touch of pragmatism that Slot has provided for Liverpool.

 

[serghei]

I’ll be honest with you guys. We as Barça fans, have underestimated the difficulty in returning to our former highs. Unlike 2003, when the club was in a similar situation, we managed to bounce back and win 4 UCLs in 12 years. Now ofc, nothing lasts forever and the cycle of decline restarted and we truly reached rock bottom in 2021. Now we are slowly rebuilding, we have exponentially slashed our debts, we won our first LaLiga in 4 years, we reached our first UCL quarter final in 4 years and should’ve reached the semi the same year but unfortunately that was not the case. What we have to do now, is believe the players. They will rest now and realise their flaws and hopefully 2025 will be our year!!!!

We are supppsed to have this difficulty in a time of financial turmoil. I am a romantic realist personally. In good times I want us to chase our dreams because we have the tools to do so, but in bad times I prefer to adapt more out of pure necessity to do so. All of our great eras were built with superlative players, you can never dissociate the success we had with the quality of our former legends. I am skeptical we can replicate that kind of success without a great squad.

 

[Messigician]

Why are we even broke

Fatporta should cut out the dinners then coz we shouldn’t even be broke no other club is

 

[delancey]

Give the guy a fucking break. He’s serving up the best football since Pep! Enjoy it! If he is too inconsistent, he’ll get the axe eventually! But let him cook… it’s X-mad after all! 😜🤘🎁🌲

 

[jamrock]

The reason Slot has managed to take Klopp's squad on to another level is that he has added the touch of pragmatism that some here have been asking of Flick.

Slot's Liverpool are not as exciting to watch as Klopp's, whilst still being a great watch and are always looking to get on the front foot. Not once, have they 'parked the bus' this season at all.

But they know how to see games out, they know how to manage moments in the game when the opposition is pressuring them, they know when they have to grind out a result when the game is not flowing like they expected it to.

As a results, Liverpool, despite having two full backs that have defended quite poorly this season, have the joint best defensive record in the EPL and are quite clearly the best team in Europe right now.

That's all we are asking for. Nothing too drastic. Just add the touch of pragmatism that Slot has provided for Liverpool.

This.

 

[serghei]

There are scenarios where Flick can stay on the job even if he wins nothing this year. We can't miss out on a potentially top manager simply because he is not gonna bring immediate success. It would be a superficial way of looking at a team's path. So we can very well win nothing and Flick could still be worth backing depending on how we look in time, whether there's progress in some areas or not.

But an ETH scenario where his team basically shows the same kind of problems consistently, in repeated seasons, losing points regularly vs weaker sides, is simply not possible at Barcelona.

For me, I can totally understand a bad day where you dominate an opponent like we did vs Atletico and fail to convert, ending up losing the match. Not great of course, still a loss vs a team we are used to win against in the league, but I can accept it short term. But matches like Celta, Betis, Sociedad, Osasuna, Las Palmas, these are very difficult to tolerate if they repeat consistently.

We simply need to wait and see. This could be early phase of a successful medium-term project, where a top manager takes time to implement his ideas in a new football culture. The flipside is Flick could be a type of manager that doesn't really get progressively better, and the flaws you see in the first months are gonna also be there after 1-2 seasons.

2nd part of the season will be quite interesting. We need answers to many questions.

 

[TheStig]

Can't see Flick staying if he doesn't win something. He doesn't have any credit and even LL champion and legend didn't survive a trophyless season under Laporta.

I guess Laporta's mouth will be full of going back to roots, tiki taka, Cruyff system...

 

[serghei]

Can't see Flick staying if he doesn't win something. He doesn't have any credit and even LL champion and legend didn't survive a trophyless season under Laporta.

I guess Laporta's mouth will be full of going back to roots, tiki taka, Cruyff system...

I think he can survive a season of no titles if the team does nicely in CL especially, not multiple of those though.

 

[Maradona37]

The reason Slot has managed to take Klopp's squad on to another level is that he has added the touch of pragmatism that some here have been asking of Flick.

Slot's Liverpool are not as exciting to watch as Klopp's, whilst still being a great watch and are always looking to get on the front foot. Not once, have they 'parked the bus' this season at all.

But they know how to see games out, they know how to manage moments in the game when the opposition is pressuring them, they know when they have to grind out a result when the game is not flowing like they expected it to.

As a results, Liverpool, despite having two full backs that have defended quite poorly this season, have the joint best defensive record in the EPL and are quite clearly the best team in Europe right now.

That's all we are asking for. Nothing too drastic. Just add the touch of pragmatism that Slot has provided for Liverpool.

I think this is a very good, balanced post.

Nobody is saying Flick isn't a good coach, or doesn't have a good understanding of the game. But Slot knows when to slow games down, when to shut them down, when the team is leading, rather than keep attacking when unnecessary. He gets the balance right. I haven't seen that with Flick in the games I have watched of Barca (and it's noticeable at his previous teams too).

Ally that to him playing veteran players constantly, and not rotating his squad enough (I know depth is a problem though in some positions), well it's asking for trouble in the second half of the season. Your final paragraph sums it up:

Nothing too drastic. Just add the touch of pragmatism that Slot has provided for Liverpool.

He is easily capable of doing this - it isn't a very difficult thing to implement for a good coach - getting the rest of it right, the attacking patterns and general patterns of play is harder usually. All he has to do is add a dose of balance and, if the team is winning by two goals say, just play sensibly and not keep leaving gaps at the back and playing a basketball game. It will help in that particular game and it will also conserve energy for future matches. You don't have to be entertaining for every minute of every game. Football seasons are long and tough and don't work that way - you can't go full pelt and intensity like that for 38 league games over 9 months.

 

[Birdy]

The reason Slot has managed to take Klopp's squad on to another level is that he has added the touch of pragmatism that some here have been asking of Flick.

Slot's Liverpool are not as exciting to watch as Klopp's, whilst still being a great watch and are always looking to get on the front foot. Not once, have they 'parked the bus' this season at all.

But they know how to see games out, they know how to manage moments in the game when the opposition is pressuring them, they know when they have to grind out a result when the game is not flowing like they expected it to.

As a results, Liverpool, despite having two full backs that have defended quite poorly this season, have the joint best defensive record in the EPL and are quite clearly the best team in Europe right now.

That's all we are asking for. Nothing too drastic. Just add the touch of pragmatism that Slot has provided for Liverpool.

Slot has changed the way Liverpool play, he hasn't added 'pragmatism' to Klopp's idea of football

- Klopp's football is based on genenpressing and constant direct balls over the top to attack the last line of defense, and force opposition into errors in critical areas
- Slot's idea of football is completely different: patient buildup, baiting the opposition press until the moment is ripe to progress the ball to the final third

- What people (including you. No personal offence. I am only talking views here) see and mislabel as 'pragmatism' is simply the slow and cautious buildup that translates to a certain tempo in the game. Nothing to do with 'pragmatic'/'unpragmatic' approach.

Klopp's football is indeed more exciting than Slot's. Because it's much more boring to follow a slowish circulation of the ball in the first third than watching constant bombarding in the opposition's box

In short,
Either you want another type of football (in that case, you haven't realized you want that or are afraid to say it)
OR you want something that simply does not exist, like centaurs and chimeras

 

[Birdy]

matches like Celta, Betis, Sociedad, Osasuna, Las Palmas, these are very difficult to tolerate if they repeat consistently.

Your buddy Xavi had 20 or more of that kind of matches in his title winning 22/23 season,
where we won 1-0 due to luck and Stegen or both, while we were as bad (if not more) as the said games of this season

I don't remember you bashing Xavi about it.

You can't have it both ways.
Decide what you want first

 

[jamrock]

Your buddy Xavi had 20 or more of that kind of matches in his title winning 22/23 season,
where we won 1-0 due to luck and Stegen or both, while we were as bad (if not more) as the said games of this season

I don't remember you bashing Xavi about it.

You can't have it both ways.
Decide what you want first

You don't win 20 of those games by Lucky buddy.

Just like you don't go 1 in 7 due to bad luck.

This isn't K.O football, league football reveals all.

 

[Birdy]

You don't win 20 of those games by Lucky buddy.

Just like you don't go 1 in 7 due to bad luck.

This isn't K.O football, league football reveals all.

'You don't win X by luck'
Another arbitrary axiom

If I had time I could pull up all the xG charts for those games to see that each one was lucky

 

[jamrock]

'You don't win X by luck'
Another arbitrary axiom

If I had time I could pull up all the xG charts for those games to see that each one was lucky

You could they would be irrelevant, you don't win 20 games 1-0 by luck.
Again like you are 1 and through bad luck.