It has been a difficult few days for Barcelona, who have gone into the international break having suffered consecutive defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla. And on the back of these, fingers have been pointed at head coach Hansi Flick.
Flick’s style of play has attracted a lot of plaudits during his time as Barcelona manager, but lately, it has also been criticised – particularly in regards to the tactics used against PSG. And another of those to go along with this has been former Real Madrid player Toni Kroos, who spoke on the Catalans during his Einfach mal Luppen podcast (via Diario AS).
“Barcelona have one of the most attractive styles, if not the most attractive in all of Europe, but I think they take too many risks.
“On a bad day for Pedri or Lamine or Raphinha, any team can hurt them and beat them, you can knock them out of the Champions League. That happened last season against Inter, and this season, they will come up against a team of that type that knocks them out.
“Starting from the 75th minute, you notice that everyone is more fatigued, and you see them not changing their style to close the spaces. If you’re tired and don’t change your way of playing, it becomes very obvious how exposed you are.”
Does Flick need to make big chances to his style of play?
It must be noted that Barcelona’s players were especially tired against PSG and Sevilla, and this contributed to these respective defeats. Flick was without the likes of Raphinha and Fermin Lopez for both games, while Lamine Yamal was also absent for the trip to the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on Sunday.
Barcelona’s squad is thin, with sporting director Deco having been unable to make the desired signings because of the club’s well-documented financial problems. This has meant that Flick’s options are limited – made more so by regular injury issues, so there is scope to say that these recent concerns would not be present if everyone was available.
