Hansi Flick revealed why he was “concerned” about Barcelona’s first-half performance against Elche, as the Blaugrana went on to secure a dominant 0-5 win to kickstart their LaLiga campaign.
Much has been made of Barcelona’s lack of an out-and-out striker, but finding the back of the net was not a problem for the clinical visitors on Sunday as they scored with five of their seven shots on target.
Raphinha and Fermín López both bagged braces, while Karim Adeyemi also found his way onto the scoresheet on his competitive debut for the club and Anthony Gordon registered two assists on his first outing in Blaugrana.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Flick praised Raphinha’s mindset and flexibility to play in any required position, explaining that “he’s the player for me who is a good example for intensity, a good example for improving this and also to start the pressing.
“When he’s doing this, the other players are following him and this is great. This, for me, is a captain.”
Flick also confirmed that, despite an impressive performance from the Brazilian, he will speak to Deco – Barcelona’s Sporting Director – “after the game” about signing a natural centre-forward.
“Deco and I speak very often [about] what we can do, what is important. It’ll be also next week, so we’ll wait.”
“We are really happy that we won 0-5 and [got] three points because this is a fantastic start for us,” he told the media.
But while it proved to be a comfortable win in the end, the opening stages provided cause for concern for the German head coach, who explained that he “was concerned because we lost too many balls.
“This usually isn’t our game, so we have to control a bit more the ball. That’s what I want from the team, but in the end, we had a clean sheet and it’s fantastic because we also defended very well, and five goals against this team is also good.
“Elche played fantastic football. I really love to see how they play football; how they play out is very brave and it’s really great. For us, of course, we want to use the spaces they give us and after the substitutions we made it really good.”
Amidst reports that Alejandro Baldé is nearing a move to Manchester United, Flick opted to leave the defender out of Sunday’s matchday squad but denied that he had asked the 22-year-old La Masia graduate to leave the club.
“I am not asking him to leave,” he clarified.
“Because I felt that there is something with him, I spoke with him this morning. In this moment, I have this feeling, and it’s better that you get clear, make your thoughts, and then we speak tomorrow again. He agreed about this because too many things are in his head, so this is why he’s not here.”
Xavi Espart, also a product of the club’s famed youth academy, deputised for Baldé and impressed Flick with his fitness and work ethic.
“His level actually is very good so I love this, again a player from La Masia at this level.
“For him it means nothing if he plays on the right side, as a number eight, as a number five on the left side… this is amazing.
“You don’t have to find a lot of words, he knows what to do and with the ball he’s fantastic.”
Leave a Comment