Hansi Flick talks Ansu, Yamal, Araujo, Gavi, Roberto, Nico, De Jong, La Masia, transfers, tactics

Hansi Flick was officially presented as the manager of FC Barcelona earlier today in front of the media at the club premises, accompanied by Joan Laporta.

After being welcomed by the Barça chief, the German tactician took the floor and opened up on how his appointment came upon, as he revealed:

“I want to say that I am very happy. From the first minute, before signing my contract, we had dinner and the president gave me a letter translated into German in which there was something written that made me feel that it is an incredible club, very big, and everybody helps and has that respect.”

Having taken charge of the team for a couple of weeks already in pre-season, Flick gave an assessment of what he has seen at the club thus far, saying:

“I am very happy with the first few weeks. We have a lot of players from La Masia, I am very grateful for the work done in La Masia with these players. It’s very good, we had a great time and the first thing I saw was the quality and the intensity,” he remarked.

“We work very hard in training, we have wonderful young players who want to give 100%. And I can feel it from the board, from the staff, from the coaches… the coaching staff is new and the club has made great efforts to bring them in.

“You have to create this atmosphere for the players, to be able to develop them and take them to a higher stage in their career. And that’s what I’m going to focus on,” he added.

Once his speech was done, Flick opened the floor to questions from the media and touched on a plethora of topics, including his plans for the team, transfer targets and players at his disposal, among others.

Tactics and squad

One of the biggest talking points has been the possible change in the style of play at Barcelona with Flick in charge, but the German stated that his ideologies are very close in line to that of Barça, saying:

“I’m not far from the idea that Barça have played before, when they achieved success with Cruyff or Pep. My idea is to have an active team on the pitch, who want to show what they can do with and without the ball.

“They can decide what they want to do, initiative is important. It doesn’t matter if we play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, what I want is for us to play a beautiful, technical, good game, and for everyone watching the game to see that the team gives everything.”

The German manager then went on to touch on the unfortunate injury that Ansu Fati suffered earlier this week, saying:

“At the moment we have a lot of players in every position and we can choose. As for the situation, it’s a pity because Ansu in the first few days has done some very good training, he was getting fit and he showed it on the pitch.

“It’s not good not to have him here and not to have him on the tour, but we have to accept it and we have to help him to come back stronger. Injuries don’t always come at the best time, you have to accept that.”

As for the US Tour, he added: “There are 30 or 31 players we will take to America, we want to see them all.”

On getting to work with German players in the squad, he said: “Ter Stegen visited us yesterday, Gündogan we will see in America, he will come straight there. Darvich is one of the La Masia players and we’ll see how he develops.”

There will be a lot of focus placed on physical preparation and intensity under Flick, as he confirmed: “Every team needs to work harder. We are working on the physical and tactical side. It is very important to do that.

“I’ve seen that we need to improve in these aspects, how we defend, not just offensively, when you want to play well going forward the defence has to be very solid and that’s what we’re working on.”

Flick also touched upon the plethora of players currently out with injuries such as Ronald Araujo, Gavi, and Frenkie de Jong.

On Araujo, he said: “Whenever a player of this quality gets injured it’s not good for the coach or the club, but we have to accept it. He has had surgery and now he will start his recovery.

“I hope he will be back as soon as possible. He has the stability in defence that we need but we will see how we cope without him.”

Regarding Ansu, he added: “He was playing as number 11, on the left, in training we have seen him in this position but there is the option for him to play as 9. Now he is injured and we have to wait. Let’s hope he comes back and makes a stronger return.”

On De Jong and whether he is ‘untouchable’, he replied: “What is an untouchable player? When you give 100% and have a good performance and great results everything works well.

“Frenkie is a fantastic player, he has shown that, he is recovering well and following the plan, I hope to have him in the squad and then we’ll see.”

On transfer plans

Regarding Barcelona’s plans to sign a new defensive midfielder, which have seemingly taken a backseat of late, Flick remarked:

“At the moment I am very happy with what I have seen here with players in the squad who can play in this position. It’s good that all the players know what they have to do and what we ask of them.”

When asked about the club’s interest in Nico Williams, Flick opted to stay diplomatic on the matter, saying:

“What I have learned in this job is that Nico is not a Barça player and I have nothing to say about that. He is playing for another club and I concentrate on my team. I can’t add anything more.”

Flick, on whether he prefers a left winger or a pivot, said: “The right is also very important. The left, the centre… everything is very important.”

On La Masia players

One of the concerns for Barcelona with any incoming new manager was going to be whether they would trust talents from La Masia, which Flick insisted he would.

“Of course, we can do it by bringing players from La Masia into the first team. They do a fantastic job with the youngsters. I’ve been able to see how they play, how they work, they have great quality,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be fair to name names because I see them every day and I see how they improve every day. There are some very interesting players and we will see how they develop in the next few days.”

There was a lot of praise for Lamine Yamal, as Flick said: “He did a great job in the last year. Step by step at this level, I saw what he did at the European Championship and it was incredible, but great players have to keep working and developing.”

“It is important that he has his feet on the ground, he is a great person, I have spoken to him and he will give us very good moments and he will bring us a lot of things. He can do better and that will be our part, but he is on the right track.”

Flick also spoke highly of Gavi, saying: “Gavi is always on fire when he is on the pitch. He wants to come back quickly but he has to be patient, we will give him the time he needs and I hope he can spend 14 or 15 years playing in this team. He has already shown what he can give to this club.”

Regarding former captain Sergi Roberto and his future, he remarked: “He’s not a Barça player at the moment’.”

Objectives

Discussing whether Barcelona are in a position to win La Liga next season, Flick replied: “La Liga is an important competition and it’s good to work hard on the objective, but at this club, you always have to fight for all the titles and that’s what we are here for.

“We all love the club and we will work hard but in a few weeks I will be able to answer with more details.”

On the team’s prospects in the UEFA Champions League, he added: “Obviously, winning titles is what we are here for with my team. When you are a player or a coach you have the option to win titles and that is our objective, that’s what we like to do.”

The Barcelona job comes with immense pressure and scrutiny but Flick insists that it will not be an issue for him, saying:

“It’s my job, I’m the Barça coach and I know what’s going on. Results are important but in the end you have to play well, give everything on the pitch and prepare well for the games, and the players have to show it on the pitch.

“In training it’s very important to give 100% because then you can do it in the match. If you train at 60% you can’t play at 100%. There is no pressure, I will cope very well and I have my family to help me.”

The Barcelona manager also touched upon the addition of Thiago Alcantara to his coaching staff, stating that his addition helps him and the team.

“In training, Thiago can play in the middle (jokes). With Thiago, who has just retired and is in a bad moment, we spoke and I told him if he wanted to see how the pre-season works in the preparation weeks you are always welcome.

“He thought about it and you can see him in the training camps. It will be a good option to see how he evolves. It’s great to have Thiago because he’s a great person.”

Source: Barça One