Hansi Flick’s secret to success – revitalizing FC Barcelona

A few days ago, Hansi Flick said a seemingly banal sentence: “It’s very nice to be Barça coach.” The German, who has been employed at the prestigious Catalan club since this summer, praised the quality of his players, their passion and desire to learn. Characteristics that one might expect from a top club with proven excellence in football philosophy, training of talent and work methodology. Nevertheless, Flick’s sentence made headlines in the media.

This was because his predecessor, Xavi Hernández, conveyed a completely different understanding of office. The ex-playmaker, a veteran of the club, characterized his job at FC Barcelona as a daily ordeal that he only submitted to because he loved the club so much.

“Being Barça coach is unpleasant, cruel,” said the Catalan, he spoke of “frequent disrespect,” “lack of recognition” or “terrible wear and tear” and predicted to his then-unnamed successor: “Impossible to enjoy it .»

Flick wins and enjoys

Well, so far Flick seems to be doing exactly that: enjoying. Before the Champions League duel on Tuesday with the Bernese Young Boys, eulogies rain down on him. The Madrid newspaper “As” called him the “man of the hour”, and the “Mundo Deportivo” in Barcelona wrote about the “Flick Team”, alluding to Barça’s biggest teams, Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team” and the “Pep-Team”. Josep Guardiola’s team.

The European Cup opener in Monaco two weeks ago was lost 2-1, but an early dismissal was an excuse. With the next gala in La Liga, every little grumbling was silenced again.

There, Flick’s combo strung together memorable performances. Last year’s third-placed Girona won 4-1, current fourth-placed Villarreal won 5-1, and newly promoted Valladolid were dispatched 7-0, their biggest win since 2016. Before the match late Saturday evening (after going to press) at Osasuna, Barcelona had everyone won seven games, with a goal difference of 23:5, and left defending champions Real Madrid behind by four points.

Flick from the Electorate of the Palatinate seems to have quickly created a similar feel-good biotope in Catalonia to the one that allowed his FC Bayern to win a historic title sextet four years ago. The team has a clear style without forcing itself into a corset; their football has a high recognition value without appearing monotonous.

Barça acts more freely and cheerfully than under Xavi, more playful in a positive sense and yet always snappy in high pressing, determined on the way to the goal and sharp in finding the spaces between the opposing lines. Successes, mood and self-confidence enhance each other – in a club plagued by quarrels and debts, football is finally setting the agenda again. “There is a great atmosphere in which the players can develop,” observes Flick, “that is the basis. Everyone feels at home.”

Hansi is lucky – but that’s exactly what he doesn’t have. When captain and goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen tore his patellar tendon last weekend, the eighth top performer was already reported out with a long-term injury. Sometimes the replacements from our own youth who have just been promoted are already indisposed again.

Undoubtedly, the tributes to Flick must be considered provisional because Barça’s season will ultimately depend on medical bulletins. It’s conceivable that given the tight squad and the coach’s intense offensive style, they’ll have to let go at some point. On the other hand: If Flick has already managed all of this without half of the starting eleven – what will it be like when everyone comes back?

Then, they hope at the club, perhaps Barça will win another important European Cup game 4-0 or 8-2. They had to endure corresponding defeats, in 2019 against Liverpool and in 2020 against Bayern. German coaches Jürgen Klopp and Flick were responsible for this, and since then Joan Laporta has been said to have a soft spot for their work.

Laporta has been the president of the club again since 2021, which he headed during Guardiola’s time. What impressed him most about the German school was the combination of offensive concepts and intensity. Flick’s Bayern in particular looked like a perfectly oiled machine.

Now the coach for Barcelona is getting as impressive a return from attacker Robert Lewandowski, 36, as he once did with Munich. The “best nine of the last decade” (Flick) averages one goal per game, and with the 17-year-old talent of the century Lamine Yamal and the tireless Brazilian Raphinha, he forms a diabolical storm trio.

Lewandowski had been put on an internal strike list by Xavi – it was the moment, it is rumored, when Laporta decided to fire the coach. The president knew that with a billion euros in debt, an adequate replacement would not be available.

In these years, the financial bottlenecks are as much a part of Barça as an anthem and jerseys. Little is credited as positively to Flick as his creative pragmatism. Ilkay Gündogan was spontaneously released in the first week of the season, and there are currently five injured in midfield alone. But Flick keeps improvising with players from the La Masia junior boarding school. “He doesn’t look for excuses and works with what he has,” says Laporta. “La Masia is a treasure,” says Flick.

The biggest compliment: “The new Guardiola”

Such words are music to the fans’ ears – no matter what language they are presented in. Flick currently only speaks English, and not only because many Catalans don’t speak Spanish, but he still “connects” with the media and fans. His objectivity stands out positively from the exhausting and often polarizing press conferences of the talkative club legend Xavi.

During his performances, the German has mastered the art of not opening construction sites and still seduces with pleasant details. On Friday he gave a reporter a stick of throat candy after the reporter had previously helped him with a persistent coughing attack with one of these.

Demanding on the training pitch, unpretentious in handling: This is how Flick has presented himself in Barcelona so far. “We have seen since day one that he is a world-class coach,” says defender Jules Koundé, while the newspaper “Sport” already wrote in an editorial: “Laporta has his new Guardiola.” He has been the gold standard in the Barça cosmos since he won a title sextet in 2009. As the first and only coach in Europe until Hansi Flick.