Hansi Flick remains optimistic that his Barcelona side can improve after the awful defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League in midweek.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the coach said there are good signs in training and that he will not change his defensive approach, and once again challenged his forwards and midfielders to contribute in the pressing game to avoid exposing the defenders.
“When we lose and when we concede three goals, it’s easy to say it wasn’t a good game or that it wasn’t the Barça we’d like to see. Ultimately, some people don’t understand what we need to play with that high defensive line. It’s our own style; it’s not just about the defenders. The forwards and midfielders also initiate the press. That’s what I need from the players.
“The blame seems to fall on the defense, but that’s not fair. If we don’t all press effectively, we’ll have problems, I want to make that clear. I said I was optimistic because we did some things well, but we need to improve in attack when we start the press. I want to see what I see in training, and I like what I see. The players are very focused and have a lot of quality. Pedri, Raphinha, and Marcus will contribute even more. I have to tell the players what I see.
“In today’s training session, I saw good dynamism and more intensity, more confidence with and without the ball. That’s what we were missing in the match against Chelsea.”
Flick has talked about the lack of pressing from his forwards and midfielders all season long, and we haven’t seen any meaningful improvement on their effort, especially in big games. The players certainly must take responsibility and accept their part of the blame, but at what point does Flick’s message start to fall on deaf ears if the coach is this stubborn about his tactics?
What if Flick was just a little more willing to adapt and give his team a less risky defensively platform in certain moments in matches? Is that really impossible?
