Manager of Barcelona Hansi Flick is the flavor of the month in Catalonia, having led the Blaugrana to the top of the table playing entertaining football and more recently, beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Even his most ardent supporters did not see his start to life in Barcelona going so well.
Despite defeats at AS Monaco and Osasuna, there is little else Flick could have done better so far, and any doubts about his ability to adapt have been quickly dispelled. So far, Barcelona has seen better in every aspect, like AS Diary describes They say that the German coach has three different approaches to life as a manager: one for the press, one for the fans, and another for the players.
Hansi Flick: “The match was great. The team was able to recover after a bad spell. We have a young team with a lot of potential.” pic.twitter.com/UkdV98fd2P
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 23, 2024
With the players, Flick is a “tough manager” and a coach who is close to the players. He motivates the players, and so far he has gotten the best out of them. With the press, Flick does his best to keep a low profile, avoid difficult questions, and keep the headlines in sight. His lack of Spanish is the perfect excuse to stay under the radar. Meanwhile with the fans, Flick is also very personable. The German “never says no to anyone”, and always stops at the entrance to the training camp to sign autographs.
There is little doubt that one of the concerns with Flick's appointment would be his ability to understand and adapt to such an idiosyncratic club as Barcelona. Now their lack of language skills and ignorance of the “environment” are underwritten as an advantage. Much of Barcelona's success has come with managers who have known the club before, but so far Flick is following in the footsteps of Frank Rijkaard.
