Hans-Dieter Flick

[JamDav1982]

Fisnik is a striker is he not?

At least this season when top teams have taken notice.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Barcas best players are Pedri, Frenkie, Yamal and Raphinha.

Players need to be brought in to make all of their lives easier and a clear plan of a team built for them.

Flick is trying it.

That is true. Those 4 are the core of the team and probably the most consistent ones among outfield players.

We need more players who are as consistent, and would fit those 4.

 

[khaled_a_d]

But how do we fix Pedri and De Jong having to do so much leg work without adding a stronger properly box to box midfielder? Don't think it's possible.

By closing the space and not making them outnumbered.

Fullbacks and wingers are big factors in that. One player, regardless who he is, won't fix it.

 

[serghei]

By closing the space and not making them outnumbered.

Fullbacks and wingers are big factors in that. One player, regardless who he is, won't fix it.

Top teams have other players that need be blocked also. Like fullbacks. It is traditional for wingers to be primarily tasked with blocking fullbacks. Fullbacks are also busy with opposing wingers. You can't spare a midfielder and be outnumbered in middle of the park as often as we do it.

So when you have Hakimi and Mendes causing havoc, that is mostly on Rashford and Yamal. But when you have 3 vs 2 superiority in midfield that's on the midfield.

What Flick is doing is opposite of Lucho. Lucho plays with 3 midfielders and even brings a new player in midfield play by using a false 9 instead if a traditional winger. Flick does the opposite, dispatches of a midfielder for an extra attacker. Mostly like he did with Bayern when he used all of Gnabry, Lewa, Muller, and Perisic. His system is light in control and midfield dominance, and heavy on pressing and quick transitions.

This gives his teams midfield superiority. That's before wingers and fullbacks get into the mix.

 

[khaled_a_d]

So when you have Hakimi and Mendes causing havoc, that is mostly on Rashford and Yamal. But when you have 3 vs 2 superiority in midfield that's on the midfield.

But this isn't accurate, fullbacks and wingers closes spaces to midfield all the time and make the team more compact, that doesn't mean being an inverted fullback, but about being agile and smart one.
PSG is actually a great example of that, all wingers and fullbacks are in synchronised movement that leaves smaller spaces for midfield to cover.

 

[serghei]

But this isn't accurate, fullbacks and wingers closes spaces to midfield all the time and make the team more compact, that doesn't mean being an inverted fullback, but about being agile and smart one.
PSG is actually a great example of that, all wingers and fullbacks are in synchronised movement that leaves smaller spaces for midfield to cover.

When you defend deeper. Not if you use those attackers to press high.

PSG don't press high that much compared to us. Ferran Torres had 37 pressing runs vs PSG. I doubt Barcola, Ramos, Mayulu had 37 combined. No wonder the man was dead in min 70 or so.

What you say is valid if we'd change our pressing approach. In the entire first half PSG barely pressed us and let our CBs sit on the ball quite a lot. If you do that, sure, this puts the attackers closer to midfield by default almost. This would allow us to reinforce the midfield. But then this is one of the main differences between Spanish and German football style. German style always puts emphasis on phsycality, as the founding element that supports the aggressive press.

 

[khaled_a_d]

When you defend deeper. Not if you use those attackers to press high.

PSG don't press high that much compared to us. Ferran Torres had 37 pressing runs vs PSG. I doubt Barcola, Ramos, Mayulu had 37 combined. No wonder the man was dead in min 70 or so.

What you say is valid if we'd change our pressing approach. In the entire first half PSG barely pressed us and let our CBs sit on the ball quite a lot. If you do that, sure, this puts the attackers closer to midfield by default almost.

It is true regardless the game plan, you need ypur lines closer to each other. One element always affects the other. You press high, you must have a high line, otherwise you leave more space in midfield. You sit a bit deeper, you don't press higher.

The main thing is to be compact as a team, midfield trio does only half of the job, the second half is done by the other two lines. One extra midfielder won't make that much difference if minimal changes are done in defense and attacking approaches.

 

[serghei]

It is true regardless the game plan, you need ypur lines closer to each other. One element always affects the other. You press high, you must have a high line, otherwise you leave more space in midfield. You sit a bit deeper, you don't press higher.

The main thing is to be compact as a team, midfield trio does only half of the job, the second half is done by the other two lines. One extra midfielder won't make that much difference if minimal changes are done in defense and attacking approaches.

Even if you have a high line if you constantly press absurdly high... the team is longer than ideal, unless you put that line at halfway line. Which is not recommended in the first place.

PSG is simply smarter than us with how they alter between pressing and compact defending. They will often press more when teams are more tired, many better variations on tactical level.

Arsenal are smarter too. Another team that would switch between different approaches super fast.

They have better players obviously, but there's more to it. Also worth nothing that the best Liverpool under Klopp was with 3 hard intense players in midfield. Henderson, Fabinho, Milner. Ball winners, hard defenders. Not a playmaker in sight there.

Flick is unfortunately overly ambitious to the point of naive. There is always a trade-off involved. Everyone said how much better Klopp Liverpool would have been with a better midfielder on the ball, but players who are better on the ball, or very creative, come a cost in other areas.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Even if you have a high line if you constantly press absurdly high... the team is longer than ideal, unless you put that line at halfway line. Which is not recommended in the first place.

PSG is simply smarter than us with how they alter between pressing and compact defending. They will often press more when teams are more tired, many better variations on tactical level.

Arsenal are smarter too. Another team that would switch between different approaches super fast.

PSG are smarter, and also vastly superior squad all around. I had them as favourites almost all of last season.

But pressing or sitting deeper isn't my point here. It is simply that there are many alternatives to improve midfield, rather than signing a 3rd midfielder. Improving other areas will automatically take of the load from Pedri & Frenkie

 

[serghei]

PSG are smarter, and also vastly superior squad all around. I had them as favourites almost all of last season.

But pressing or sitting deeper isn't my point here. It is simply that there are many alternatives to improve midfield, rather than signing a 3rd midfielder. Improving other areas will automatically take of the load from Pedri & Frenkie

I know, but imo if you'd give the same set of players to both, say PSG squad, Flick would go all in, stuff Barcola and Doue both, drop a midfielder, ask them to press non stop, and end up losing most of the time vs this Lucho PSG team. This PSG is simply a superior side in most if not all aspects to the PSG side he faced as a Bayern coach also. And he didn't really dominate even that PSG with Tuchel.

I do not think Flick would play Fabian Ruiz plus Vitinha and Neves and keep a player as talented as Barcola on the bench. No way.

He is a top manager, but there is something off compared with the best of the lot. Of course, we're talking about best 2-3 managers already, masters of the game so to speak.

 

[jamrock]

I'm the only Barcelona fan on here allowed to speak about PSG with any authority, lol I'm kidding.

Some interesting views.
It's also interested how when speaking about them some go straight to their FBs, they look at the XI specifically & say that's the one thing we don't have compared to them, so that must be their secret sauce.

 

[serghei]

Of course if you have a player like Hakimi instead of Balde for example and some others on different positions improves things. But then if you'd have these players the target would be far higher for Flick. We'd not tolerate bad seasons lightly. Conceding 7 vs Inter, etc.

 

[khaled_a_d]

I know, but imo if you'd give the same set of players to both, say PSG squad, Flick would go all in, stuff Barcola and Doue both, drop a midfielder, ask them to press non stop, and end up losing most of the time vs this Lucho PSG team. This PSG is simply a superior side in most if not all aspects to the PSG side he faced as a Bayern coach also. And he didn't really dominate even that PSG with Tuchel.

I do not think Flick would play Fabian Ruiz plus Vitinha and Neves and keep a player as talented as Barcola on the bench. No way.

He is a top manager, but there is something off compared with the best of the lot. Of course, we're talking about best 2-3 managers already, masters of the game so to speak.

This is hypothetical and we will never know. Flick achieved a lot in a short first team club career. This is essentially his 4th season, so it is tough to say what would happen.

Lucho had the freedom to built a team of his own, essentially there is only 5 starters remaining before he joined. And most of their depth player joined after he arrived.

So, sure, he is more likely to get more of a squad that he built for his ideas. But what if it was Flick spending those zillions to build a squad that fits his own ideas? You think he wouldn't have a team clise to how good and functional PSG are? Again, we will never know.

The only club Lucho worked under such restrictions were in Rome and Celta, and he didn't leave good memories in the former and had solid season in the later for their expectations, in both Barca and PSG he had the means to build the best team in the World.

Flick didn't have this privilege, even in Bayern. He was interim coach in his first year, and Bayern SD at the time fellt like they were the ones deserving credit and didn't support him much, so he left to Germany.

I have my doubts that Lucho will manage to keep the team at same level beyond this year, he is good tactically but he is also dependent on man management and this things wears down fast. Flick also has one more here at most, and then we will have to find a new coach. Maybe Busquets will be ready for @Messi983 pleasure

 

[khaled_a_d]

Of course if you have a player like Hakimi instead of Balde for example and some others on different positions improves things. But then if you'd have these players the target would be far higher for Flick. We'd not tolerate bad seasons lightly. Conceding 7 vs Inter, etc.

It isn't necessarily Hakimi and Mendes.
Balde and Kounde from 2nd half of the past season would suffice, assuming health, which wasn't the case against Inter. Remember that Eric and Martin played as fullbacks in CL SF. I am not sure many managers would be glad to have that.

Current version of Balde and Kounde don't help, and their backups aren't even remotely close to being decent IMHO.

 

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

I am not the biggest fan of his high line, nor of his team selection at times ( It was madness not to start URUGUAYO yesterday ) but the man put his balls on the line last season and proved us all wrong with a treble.

To do what he did last season with the defenders he had available was nothing short of a miracle and should mean he has considerable credit in the bank for any semi-reasonable Barca fan.

He will have my backing, regardless of how high his line is, or how bad the performances become, until he gets a chance to be somewhat active in the transfer market.

He deserves to have the chance to see what he can produce when he is allowed to spend money and fans should temper their criticisms, however justifiable they are, until such a time.