‘I am not far away from Cruyff or Pep’ – Hansi Flick explains vision for Barcelona’s style

Barcelona’s new manager Hansi Flick was officially presented in a press conference alongside president Joan Laporta on Thursday and spoke to the media about his ideas for how Barça should play.

The German represents quite a sharp turn from the tradition of hiring ex-Blaugrana players as coaches and comes from a football culture far different from that of the Catalan club, so there is a natural curiosity to see if Flick Ball will introduce all of us to a type of football Barça haven’t played in quite a long time.

But according to Flick, his ideas don’t differ from those of the most successful coaches in the club’s history.

“I am not far away from the idea Barça played before when they had this unbelievable success with [Johan] Cruyff or Pep [Guardiola]. I want a team on the pitch that is active, with the ball and without the ball, dictating the rhythm of the play.

“[The aim is] to play well, of course, but also to give everything on the pitch and be well prepared. The players have to show how it works on the pitch. For me, it’s crucial that you give 100% in training.

“I am not saying we will win every title, but if we work hard we can achieve and have options to be successful. We know hard work and results count, nothing else, but I am looking forward to this.”

Source: ESPN

Flick’s words are certainly interesting. His number one focus, as was the case during his very successful tenure at Bayern Munich, is to have an active team that is fueled by intensity in and out of possession. The sport has evolved to a place where basically every team passes out from the back, but the most successful sides are those who can score goals in all sorts of ways and are relentless in their pursuit of the ball when they don’t have it.

That is how Flick won everything at the club level in Germany, and that is how he plans to win consistently in Catalonia. Whether or not he can convince his players to do it is another matter, but his ideas are certainly a good place to start.