How Hansi Flick, Barcelona turned things around in 100 days

Barcelona's first preseason friendly this summer ended in a penalty shootout win over Manchester City, but new coach Hansi Flick was not happy with how his side ended the game against the Premier League champions at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

"He was angry because we only pressed until the 70th minute," Barça president Joan Laporta revealed last week. "I like how demanding he is."

Sources tell ESPN that Laporta is "smitten" with Flick, a coach he has admired for a long time and had even previously tried to hire in 2021, when he first considered firing Ronald Koeman. Flick, manager of Bayern Munich at the time, had just accepted the German national team job, though, and respectfully turned down Laporta's advance due to the timing. The stars finally aligned earlier this year when Laporta decided to sack Xavi Hernández, with the out-of-work Flick appointed as his successor at the end of May.

In just over 100 days in charge, Flick has already made his mark on a young Barça team that has begun the season impressively, winning four of four games to lead LaLiga at this early stage of the campaign. While the team's general statistics -- things like possession, number of passes and ball recoveries -- are not too dissimilar to last season and the sample size is small, but look a little deeper and you can already see evolution. Barça are playing a higher defensive line, pressing better, getting into the final third quicker and lasting 90 minutes.

Off the pitch, Flick has so far successfully navigated the external noise that often brings coaches down at Barça. He has accepted the club's awkward financial situation, refused to complain when the club could not register new signing Dani Olmo early, and has said all the right things about La Masia, the club's youth academy. On the latter, it helps that he's backed up such words with actions by starting three 17-year-olds in the opening three games of the season.

At 59 and after a lifetime in the game, sources close to Flick say his feet remain firmly on the ground. He knows the balloon could pop at any moment and the honeymoon period in Catalonia can quickly end, but for now, a summer of change and the introduction of external input is blooming hope for a Barça side some had written off before the start of the campaign.

With additional reporting from Jordi Blanco

"No nonsense"

If Flick didn't know how intense the Barça hot seat can be, he soon realised when he arrived to sign his contract in May. Journalists and paparazzi camped outside his hotel and a game of cat and mouse followed, as local media battled with the club to publish the first official images of the German in the Catalan city.

By that stage, sources say Flick had already decided that he would try and maintain as low a profile as possible -- if that is even possible as Barça coach -- and to black out the hubbub that surrounds the club. That is something, sources add, his predecessor Xavi could not do. As a former player and Barça supporter, part of Xavi's downfall was that he was so aware of everything being said and where every leak was coming from, which created a tension that was unhelpful for the day-to-day working environment.

Without those distractions, Flick has been able to fully focus on the job. Sources say he keeps his circle within the club strictly to those whom he works with. He is friendly with other staff members and directors, but generally applies a "no-nonsense approach," concentrating on winning matches rather than admirers. Flick even delayed his presentation to the media until the middle of July, giving him more time to prepare and familiarise himself with the club.

When he was finally presented, Flick spoke in English. His regular Spanish lessons are already paying off, with sources saying his comprehension is already good, though the advice from some inside the club is to maintain the relationship with the media in English for now, as it affords him more power in the exchanges and prevents things being misunderstood or misconstrued.

In terms of Flick's communication skills with the squad, there are several English speakers in the Barça dressing room now -- and some German speakers -- but in preseason Thiago Alcantara, who retired as a player earlier this year, helped with translation. Thiago's short-term deal as a coach ended last month because he needs time to sort out some personal issues -- primarily, he needs to finalize his return to Spain from the UK, where he'd been with Liverpool, and where his kids are still attending school -- but sources say Flick hopes he will return. In the meantime, goalkeeper coach Ramon de la Fuente, who has been at the club for over a decade, is performing a similar function.

Sources close to the dressing room say the messaging from Flick to the players has been "direct and concise." Punctuality is one of his bedrock beliefs, but he has not ushered in many rules beyond that. There is no system of fines or punishments in place -- that has been left to the players to self-police -- and the squad have breakfast and lunch at the training ground on a typical day. The pregame "catwalk" at the Olympic Stadium -- players arriving in whatever clothes they want -- has been scrapped in favour of official club wear, while overnight hotel stays pre-game have also been re-introduced for now to enhance team unity.

Fitter and stronger

According to sources, one of Flick's major strengths so far is his ability to delegate. He brought with him Marcus Sorg, Toni Tapalovic and Heiko Westermann to serve as his assistant coaches, but he has also been happy to lean on the new fitness department that was put together by sporting director Deco over the summer. Julio Tous, who previously worked with Antonio Conte at Juventus, Italy, Chelsea, Inter and Tottenham, is the new head fitness coach.

Fitness and stamina was an area Laporta said must be improved this season, blaming the way team fell away in the latter stages of matches for last year's trophy-less campaign. In the five LaLiga games they lost -- two against Real Madrid, two against Girona and one against Villarreal -- they conceded 12 goals after the hour mark, and led four of those five games at least once. Yet they faded in the second half, conceding in the 65th, 67th, 75th, 80th and 95th minutes across the two Girona matches; the 68th, 73rd, 91st and 92nd minutes against Madrid; and the 84th, 99th and 102nd against Villarreal.

"I see a lot of intensity in training," Laporta said last week. "When I spoke with Julio, he told me they are using different methods now. The exercises in training are really dynamic, [there is] a lot of strength work. We have a coach that wants to press until the 90th minute and the fitness staff are happy with the results they are achieving."

Laporta's comments have been echoed by the players, with Pedri praising Flick's impact this week. "We work much harder than before," the midfielder said. "The new fitness coaches are really good for us. We work hard and you notice it in the games. The team doesn't dip after the 70th or 80th minute, it maintains the same fitness levels.

"Flick helps us young players a lot. He's always on top of what we need and you appreciate that. When things have to be taken seriously, though, he does. He does have that element of [being a] sergeant about him, but he's as good as gold when he speaks with the players. He's really close to the players; someone who likes to talk with us. Apart from being serious, he also enjoys a joke, he's not always as serious as he appears."

The early signs are promising. The season is only four games old and tougher challenges lie ahead, starting with Girona on Sunday and then Monaco in the Champions League next week, but Barça appear more durable. They have not conceded a second half goal yet, coming from behind to win two of their four matches, and are typically ending games as the stronger side.

In contrast, last season they conceded an average of 0.63 goals per league match in the second half of games, with 0.24 of those goals coming between the 76th and the 90th minute.

Playing style

It's also worth noting that Barça have been fun to watch through their four matches this season, notably in their 7-0 win against Real Valladolid before the international break. The link up between Pedri, Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha looks promising. There was a real "Barça feel" to the performance, and there have been clear signs of Flick's work since the opening day of the campaign.

The intensity and pressing Laporta craves has been evident. For a start, Barça are winning the ball back much higher up the pitch. Of their ball recoveries this season, 48.4% have been in the middle third and 13.2% in the final third. Last term, those percentages were 45.3% and 9.6%. That equates to winning possession in the final third 5.25 times per 90 minutes compared to 4.5 times last season, while 7.25 of Barça's possessions now start in the final third -- that figure was 6.84 last year.

Due to this improved press, Barça's average starting position with the ball is now higher up the pitch, which means they're beginning attacks much closer to the goal. And once they have the ball, they are quicker to get forward. Flick's Barça average fewer touches per 90 minutes than last season's Barça (748.50 vs. 794.89), but play a higher percentage of passes forward (29.4% vs. 28%) and create more chances per 90 minutes (14.5 vs. 12.0), although those numbers are slightly skewed by the rout against Valladolid.

Fewer possessions per 90 minutes (77.75 vs 84.66) are also being converted into more final third arrivals (41.50 v 40.55). That is thanks to an increase in progressive passes -- forward passes that advance a team significantly closer to the opponent's goal, typically through the opponent's forward/midfield lines -- with Iñigo Martínez and Pau Cubarsí's ability to play out from the back helping specifically in that regard. Pedri, in a slightly deeper midfield role behind Olmo, is also one of the team's leaders in progressive passes.

All together, it paints the picture of a Barça side that is fitter, presses better and, without losing their DNA, are quicker to get into scoring positions. The creativity offered by Pedri, Olmo, Yamal and Raphinha means Robert Lewandowski, who played for Flick at Bayern, can stay closer to the box. Of the veteran Polish striker's touches this season, almost 17% have come inside the area compared to 11% last season. Another 26% are just outside the box in central areas, compared to 19% last year, and he's not straying into wide areas as much. That's equated to four goals in four games from an xG of 4.35.

Those numbers are also helped by a more dynamic supply line. Yamal is another year older at 17 and brimming with confidence after helping Spain win Euro 2024. He leads the league in take ons (15/37 completed), progressive passes received (55) and has contributed one goal and four assists. Olmo, regardless of the debate around signing and the subsequent departure of Ilkay Gündogan, offers more energy than the Manchester City midfielder. He has scored two goals in two appearances already. Raphinha scored a first ever career hat-trick last time out and does not stop running and pressing.

"No excuses"

The reaction around LaLiga has been one of surprise, with few expecting Barça to start as well as they have. Reigning champions Real Madrid are understandably still favourites to retain LaLiga after adding Kylian Mbappé to a superstar-filled squad, but Barça's form offers hope of a genuine title race again.

The early signs under Flick are all the more impressive given the money problems that once again engulfed the club this summer. Continued financial woes meant registering new players was difficult. Olmo, a €55 million arrival from RB Leipzig, was the only significant addition to the squad, but he missed the first two games because his league paperwork was not processed in time. Barça eventually made enough space within their spending cap to register him, thanks to Gündogan's exit and a long-term injury to Andreas Christensen, but Flick has never once lamented the situation. Sources close to the coach say he knew what he was coming into and will not complain.

That said, Flick couldn't have foreseen so many injury problems so soon. Defender Ronald Araújo was injured at the Copa America, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi are long-term absentees and Christensen is now out as well. Pedri, Fermín López and Ansu Fati are among the other players to have suffered knocks during his time in charge.

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These absentees have meant a focus on La Masia, something he has been more than willing to do, but even then there have been setbacks. Marc Bernal, along with Cubarsí and Yamal, was one of three 17-year-olds to start the first three games of the season before he ruptured his ACL. He had been fantastic, drawing comparisons to Sergio Busquets. He will be out for a year. Marc Casadó, Sergi Domínguez, Gerard Martín and Pau Víctor are other former B-team players or youth teamers to receive first-team minutes so far this season.

"Flick immediately understood that La Masia is our treasure," Laporta says. "He knows that the academy is the centre of our project and I am happy he has been so quick to put youngsters into the team. He has been brave. He's a coach that doesn't make excuses."

There is still a sense of caution, as it remains to be seen how far that can take Barça. Sources are keen to point out this is still a young team that, according to a CIES report this week, is only the 15th most expensively assembled squad in the world at a cost of €461m, including potential add-ons, behind Aston Villa, Al-Hilal, Newcastle United and the majority of Europe's heavyweights.

Yet that can also come with an upside. Flick has the chance to mould a team in his image. There even appears to be a degree of common sense and patience around the club with Laporta, so often demanding of silverware, appearing to acknowledge that the process may be more important than the gratification of immediate trophies this season.

"From Flick, we demand that he works hard, is professional, intense and gives us the style of football we like," the president said when asked about expectations. "He is laying the foundations to achieve the objectives we set ourselves, but we have not set out [an objective] to win any specific trophy. What Flick wants is what we want."