By Alfredo Echenique Lugo
25 Jul 2024, 11:27 AM EDT
“I could feel from the first second I arrived at the club that it is impressive,” were the first words of Hansi Flick as coach of FC Barcelona. And this Thursday the official presentation of the German as the new coach of the culé team was made.
Flick arrives at the Spanish side with a contract until 2026 and with the club going through a difficult financial and sporting moment. Therefore, the main objective of the strategist who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014 as an assistant, is to win titles with the Catalan club.
“It is my objective. I want to win titles here. I am not going to achieve it just by saying it. As I said before, it is good to win, but first we have a lot of matches. Step by step. In football it is always good to win titles. In the end it is better to win than not to. I do not like to coach teams that do not compete for anything,” said the new coach of the Spanish club.
One of the first topics that Flick touched on in the press conference was the tactical system that he intends to implement at FC Barcelona, making it clear that he wants a fairly offensive team.
“I am not far from the idea that Barça has been playing with. I want a team that is active on the pitch. With or without the ball, I want them to be active and know what to do. To set the pace of the game. It doesn’t matter if we play 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1. We want attacking football,” he explained.
Flick also touched on the level of the current squad and the bad news of Ansu Fati’s injury. He had returned from his loan and was shaping up to be a player to be reckoned with this season.
“We have a lot of players in every position. It’s a shame Ansu’s injury because he’s been incredible and in incredible form these past three days and he’s shown it on the pitch. It’s a shame he’s not here,” said the coach.
Flick spoke about Lamine Yamal
Without a doubt, the star of this season for Barcelona will be the young winger Lamine Yamal. At just 17 years old, he is coming off an excellent Euro Cup and led Spain to win the championship.
The team’s new coach also spoke about how important Yamal will be and how he will have to manage him to keep him grounded.
“He has been incredible over the last year. Step by step at this level and he finished very well at the Euros. The great players continue to perform and I hope he continues like this. I also hope he keeps his feet on the ground. He is in the team and I am sure he will give us great moments. But even he can improve and that is up to us as coaches,” emphasised Flick.
Flick’s first test as a coach will be on July 30 against Manchester City in the United States for the pre-season tournament. While he will officially make his debut in the Spanish League on August 17 against Valencia.
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