Hans-Dieter Flick

[JamDav1982]

Pep also won the CL when he went double pivot and got the best out of Rodri etc.

Hardly proving someone right who argues so strongly about single pivot being the most effective.

You miss the point that it took Barca losing Inigo on a free to bring in the players did.

So it took weakening the defence to do that...they didnt just choose GK/LW over CB.. they weakened CB to do that and it is not a choice anyway. Folk expect more then injuries and players leaving for free again to free up room to spend 25m on a player and salary for a season.

This idea the club acted magnificently with their choices is just shite as it shouldnt take that to sign players at all and have so little room in market.

The reason Barca couldnt sign a CB is they have largely fucked up the FFP and needed more injuries etc to even sign the players they did.

Garcia making saves is Jamrocks get out clause if Barca win.

Yet claims Flicks system even Neuer couldnt save conceding so many.

 

[FinBarcelonafan]

PS the fact that flick values Garcia passing more than Christensen defending, is a flick problem.

I have no issues with him benching Araujo a player I like

I have no issues with him placing Garcia at RB over kounde another player I like given his slow start to the season.

But no self respecting coach who values defending is going to look at Garcia and say yes you are my CB to play along side Cubarsi, when Christensen has been class for us when fit, class for Chelsea and this season has played well for Denmark in multi games.

He's short, slow & weak, not the qualities you need for a CB

Garcia Cubarsi Christensen Balde should be our starting defense until kounde inevitably finds form & pushes Garcia out.

Couldn't agree more
Garcia isn't starting material. Again last game he caused penalty. Yes you can say bad luck, but it happens to him all the time.

 

[serghei]

And this is the problem when someone mentions what Lucho would do with this squad. Or Pep in the years before.

Lucho bought 3 CB within two years, never mind what he did in the attack (literally buying an entire attacking line up) or midfield.

With Barca, he demanded a historic summer transfer to join.

Pep finished 4th in his first EPL, before making an overhaul to the squad and dominating. When joined Barca, he did the same and demanded a big transfer budget.

Top coaches don't make mediocre players good, they replace them. Flick Germany stint and his age tanked his value that he had to accept working in environment like that. The Lucho and Pep of the world would demand different defenders than the one we have.

Big managers usually hate to adapt simply because the players can't keep up with top level requirements. They have low patience for these types of failures.

That being said, if replacing underperforming players with better ones is not posssible, top coaches would eventually access the option of tactical adjustments.

I would say Flick is not yet in a situation where he is forced to make chances to how we play, but the recent performances flow in this direction. We still have to try and up our intensity, get key players back, work on motivation, etc.

 

[jamrock]

No one has ever said coaches improve mediocre players.

The team flick started with, and combined with the 3 players added since he got here, which improved all the critical areas of the team is a much much better team than what lucho & pep started with, not a relevant example.

Mediocre players don't in 3 years win 2 league titles and make 1 CL QF & 1 SF, with fine details separating them from making progress 1 step further in the competition.

Pep & lucho aren't going into a CL SF with Martin as the only LB and make zero adjustments for that, pep is known to over adjust in the CL to minimize his teams weak areas for Christ sake.

The best managers make adjustments others like wenger & flick don't.

Their is a reason why those two have double trebles, while flick has a covid treble and some act as if it's anywhere close to the same accomplishment.

They also are perfectly aware they are managing state backed clubs & the resources that that come with, they aren't stupid enough to come to Barcelona and except us to do the same thing even at our financial beat. Lol.

They like flick will understand we need to address critical areas in a orderly way, which is what we have been doing since he got the job

 

[JamDav1982]

Flick absolutely will not be happy with what has happened to the squad and most likely the lies has been told.

Brining in a GK and Rashford doesnt negate from the fact the planning has been poor and to make those signings they make the defence weaker and late in day with him unable to do anything about it.

Martin as the only LB is due to poor handling of FFP and never adressing areas of weakness in the team that have long been needed for depth.

The fact they adress other areas doesnt change that all it is doing is juggling areas to leave others weak when never should be the case.

 

[Barcaman]

Unironically, it is insane how Flick is playing more Cruyffian football than Pep Guardiola did. No one really remembers but Tiki Taka was only played under Pep’s Barcelona, Cruyff’s team controlled possession but was way more attacking and unbalanced just like Flick’s Barcelona

Van Gaal's Barca looked unbalanced too. But probably duo to likes of Bogarde, Reiziger at the back.

 

[iniestaGOAT]

Pep & lucho brought in new player and always made adjustments to their system, what has flick showed he's willing to change across is 3 jobs?

Absolutely nothing, so giving him prime pique & puyol with no adjustments in tactics will end the exact same way is my point

Flick has shown us nothing!!!!

Only thing he has shown he is why he deserved to be meme'd after than German stint

I dont ever say this about someone, especially after such a great season
Flicks a fucking fraud!!!!!!

 

[Barcaman]

Flick absolutely will not be happy with what has happened to the squad and most likely the lies has been told.

Brining in a GK and Rashford doesnt negate from the fact the planning has been poor and to make those signings they make the defence weaker and late in day with him unable to do anything about it.

Martin as the only LB is due to poor handling of FFP and never adressing areas of weakness in the team that have long been needed for depth.

Bet he's unhappy with loads of stuff. No 1:1, no big signings, mess with preseason on, cancelled and back on, losing Inigo few weeks before start of the season, not knowing if he would lose Fermin too. Not to mention stadium shenanigans.

All the while having to endure Spanish federation and ref bias and bullshit

 

[JamDav1982]

Bet he's unhappy with loads of stuff. No 1:1, no big signings, mess with preseason on, cancelled and back on, losing Inigo few weeks before start of the season, not knowing if he would lose Fermin too. Not to mention stadium shenanigans.

All the while having to endure Spanish federation and ref bias and bullshit

Clearly but the usual apologists try to make out Barca have been calmly reinforcing areas of squad needed.

Can see clear as day what trying to do.. 'Garcia and Rashford are good signings so dont moan about other areas of team'.

That ignores the point that folk are pointing at those two ADDED to others area of team should be achievable.

They have made a complete mess of FFP.

To even sign Garcia and Rashford it took.. losing Inigo on a free late and to shock of Flick, most likely giving up future income on Trincao and pushing back loss of FFP space to next season by claiming it now due to injuries.

The board are constantly making short term decisions at expense of future years due to their own shambolic handling of finances and FFP space.

No planning just day to day and blame anyone else but them.

Usual folk lap it up.

 

[Barcaman]

Clearly but the usual apologists try to make out Barca have been calmly reinforcing areas of squad needed.

Can see clear as day what trying to do.. 'Garcia and Rashford are good signings so dont moan about other areas of team'.

That ignores the point that folk are pointing at those two ADDED to others area of team should be achievable.

They have made a complete mess of FFP.

To even sign Garcia and Rashford it took.. losing Inigo on a free late and to shock of Flick, most likely giving up future income on Trincao and pushing back loss of FFP space to next season by claiming it now due to injuries.

The board are constantly making short term decisions at expense of future years due to their own shambolic handling of finances and FFP space.

No planning just day to day and blame anyone else but them.

Usual folk lap it up.

Always been this way sadly. Maybe Nunez was different as he's been there for a long time but time ran him over at the end there.
It's a fan owned club where politicians run things shortsightedly. Same as with governments.

Often remember what King Louis the XV of France said: Après moi le déluge.

 

[draconifire]

With all the defence talks. Here's an analysis I did this June.

Got this infographic from Reddit. Source is FBref.
I have been suspecting this to be true. We have improved defensively in terms of shots on target, ie opponents' chances.
Its better than every season since 2014, except 2022 when Xavi played us very defensively, and even then we only conceded 6 shot more on target more than 2022.

Massive props to Fuhrer Flick, and our 2 CBs, Inigo and Cuba, and our backline.

Now, having said that, it also shows we conceded more goals from those shots except for the 2023 season. That shows that the quality of chances from the chances created are of higher lethality. 1v1 and such.
I was right in looking for a keeper that is better at 1v1 and those type of situations. Safe to say Garcia will be a massive improvement in this aspect than Tek and Mats. I believe he can at least save 5-6 of those 1v1s that we conceded this year.
So we are improving on this front.

Now in terms of CBs, we really need Tall and fast-paced CBs in our backline. Most of the chances we create is the result of counter or simple 1v1. If we have a fast cb we can easily mitigate a few of them. Both Inigo and Cuba are not the fastest of the bunch, and hence they have to perform way above and beyond in the initial season,n and will always drop off when crunch time comes in April.

All in all, getting Garcia or looking for a new GK is a step in the right direction. Flick has implemented a system that Maximises the attacking output a team can have, while also reducing the amount of risk it generates. The only problem with this system is that the risk we generate is of higher quality. I believe this risk can be mitigated with correctly profiled personnel in the team rather than changes in the system. GK that is good in 1v1 with decent enough shot-stopping ability. One or Two CB that are fast paced and quick at their feet, who can nulify those Counter attacks and 1v1 more effectively.
Going for a CB of this profile should be our priority this summer. Either a Backup or even a starter like Van de Ven or Bastoni like fast and tall CBs. Getting a good RB would enable Kounde in CB, who is also quite fast.

Also big @Joan input also collaborated with mine.

View attachment 13319

In my defense, I was bored. GA, xGA, SoTA, and the bars represent GA/PSxGA calculated across all goalkeepers who played during the season.

Additionally, xG data on FBref is only available from 2017 onwards.

And then mine:

Ok if I am correct, you are taking both LaLiga and UCL stats combined?
So, according to this, and also considering LaLiga stats I analyzed, it's somewhat the same picture.

Firstly, our GKs seldom ever outperform. Even when they do, it's not by that much. And we sometimes even outperform our xGA. LOL. That alone should have made the board look for better GKs and the Goalkeeping coach.

Secondly, I think the total SoTA data you have might be a bit faulty. Its either SoTA for all competition, but then GA is only LaLiga + UCL. We had 59 SoTA in UCL, 4.21 SoTA per game.
Its along the lines of what we usually have in UCL, 2020 & 2018 were better with 3.7 & 3.5 respectively, while 2019 & 2022 were quite a bit worse with 5.3 & 5 respectively.
Anywho, we both are at the same conclusion by the looks of it.
Our defensive structure seems to be generating almost the same SoTA as before, while also increasing our Goalscoring ability and control over the match.

IMO we should look for Taller and faster defenders. This with Garcia on goal, should vastly mitigate a lot of our problems.

Our conclusion was, the defence would improve massively if we get a Taller, faster CB that can mitigate some of the xGA we create.
This was before Inigo left. Now we are even worse.

 

[RedxMAK]

Van Gaal's Barca looked unbalanced too. But probably duo to likes of Bogarde, Reiziger at the back.

Yeah due to our average defence, we once bottled a 3-0 lead against Valencia at home and lost 3-4, think it was January or February 1998. Odd loss to say the least…

 

[serghei]

I would say the squad improved marginally compared to 2023. Yeah, some players improved, Pedri, Ferran, now we have Yamal, but the progress has been baby steps on squad level if you put the magnifying lens. I would say the improvement is not substantial even with the good players in this side. Some regressed in some aspects.

Flick has done excellent work with these players overall, when looked at his entire time with us so far. You can't be too upset with him and picking at straws looking for flaws and arriving at the conclusion that he has his own issues. Of course he does, but the squad should step in here and help him cover those.

What we should correct and set clear is the sistemic overrating on some players in this team, protecting them and inflating their ego gratuitously for nothing. It is a risky approach to hand over praise, fame, and status so easily.

Many are overrated by the press and the fans, using intangibles like "eye test", "talent", "good on the ball". This is, in part, why we haven't been able to play consistently well and deliver great results in a durable manner, no matter the style used by the coach. The players have to grow and understand that they are simply not elite yet, arguably not even very very good some of them. You have to earn that level and keeping doing it. They haven't even really started to. If there is any complacency setting up, it's hard to justify it.

We have clear directions to follow to get this squad ready. 2 fullbacks, a new leader in defense with both speed, height, and good technique, a DM to unshackle Pedri and even De Jong partially, a new CF, you get dizzy when you think about the crazy sum for our current situation that could fund all that, which would allow us to close in on likes of PSG. You get those, like all your rivals do, and then it's fair game to boot the managers that show consistent problems. It's even recommended. Deco the same. We can't even know yet if he is any good as a SD.

 

[Temptation]

Young Hansi

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Young Hansi

View attachment 14182

View attachment 14183

Wtffffff, where is his hair now 😭😭