Barcelona's Chief Executive, Enric Masip, has never been a stranger to speaking his mind, and has surprised many by openly declaring that he does not see manager Hansi Flick as being at the forefront of the tactical game. Masip is one of the figures who has the ear of President Joan Laporta when decisions are made.
During an interview with El Chiringuito, Masip stated that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is “by far the best coach in the world”, as quoted by Relief. Masip went on to compare Flick to Carlo Ancelotti instead of Guardiola.
“There are two types of coach. Pep who is pure technical essence, work, leadership skills … and then there is another style, which is more of a manager, who does not have as much tactical ability as Pep. It would an Ancelotti, Flick or Del Bosque type.
Barcelona are working on commercial strategies to sign Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor in January after their temporary registrations expire. @RogerTorello
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 20, 2024
Masip also had kind words for Xavi Hernandez, who Flick replaced, despite advising Laporta to sack the legendary midfielder last season.
“The signing of Olmo is a great signing, but the team is the same. To praise what Flick is doing, there is no need to bury Xavi. He arrived at a very difficult stage … the team was ninth or eleventh and he given a dose of hope And the next year they won a Super Cup. He deserved a lot. It is also clear that the version of all the players is much better than last year. It was said that he was ready to retire,” he said Masip.
Asked about his role in Xavi's sacking, Masip had the following to say.
“The assessment is not easy. You can't say that he left perfectly or badly. He made the decision to leave in January, but then he wanted to continue. The president, because of who Xavi is, let him. Otherwise the president will not I had allowed it. My opinion is that it usually does not go well. In a dose of Barcelonisme convinced Laporta.
“In that famous dinner, Xavi explained himself. I advised Laporta that Xavi should not continue… When I left I gave my opinion. There was no unanimity. When I arrived at the president's house they had already spoken and it was decided that he would continue. I am a club man and I spoke with Xavi afterwards. problem with him.”
Certainly Flick's first success is a good basis to argue that his tactical setup has been as good as anyone else's so far this season. While arguably the atmosphere is perhaps the biggest change in the last six months, his offside trap has baffled Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. The upcoming games will be interesting to watch, with Real Sociedad looking like they are suffocating the Blaugrana.
