Hansi Flick Stands by His Barcelona Philosophy Despite Real Madrid Defeat
The German coach defends his playing idea, admits to defensive injuries and backs Lamine Yamal and Raphinha ahead of the Alavés clash.
The Barcelona coach, Hansi Flick, reaffirmed his playing philosophy on Friday, which he believes is "the best" for the Blaugrana side, despite the last two defeats against Paris Saint-Germain (4-2) and Real Madrid (1-2), and stressed that he will stick with it "until the end".
In the press conference ahead of the league match against Deportivo Alavés, the coach highlighted his work, though he admitted his players must learn from the mistakes they made in the last two games.
"We won the first eleven matches and now we have had two defeats. We have to get back to winning ways. I am 100% convinced of our playing idea, which I believe is the best for this team. We will keep going like this until the end," said the German coach.
Flick made these remarks in the final question of the press conference, when asked about the statement the club issued on Thursday reaffirming "full confidence in the squad and the coaching staff" after the board meeting.
"I spoke with the president and Deco. It's nice. I know the situation. We have lost two games in a week, but I fully trust my team. Nothing has changed. I don't see a lack of mentality. I am very happy to be here," he added.
Defensive absences and the winter market
In this regard, Flick recalled that the season "is a very long road" and that the last two defeats are "reversible", so he urged his players to win Saturday's match against Alavés, a team that "knows very well how to defend", he warned.
"We accept the defeat against Real Madrid and we have to learn from it. We have injured players in Jules Kounde, Xavi Espart, Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen. We are missing four players in defence and it is not easy to manage. We have to find solutions," he stressed.
In this sense, the coach is considering using midfielders Brian Fariñas and Frenkie de Jong in the right-back and centre-back positions respectively to rest one of the four healthy first-team defenders (Gerard Martín, Pau Cubarsí, Joao Cancelo and Alejandro Balde).
However, Flick did not rule out strengthening the backline in the winter market: "We always look for the best for the team and how to improve it. We have a few weeks ahead and we discuss many things with Deco, Bojan and my coaching staff. If we can do something, maybe we will".
On Alejandro Balde, the German manager said he may not have the confidence or "the conviction" to play the way the Blaugrana team requires. "Balde needs that confidence to play at his best level," he added.
Lamine Yamal, Ancelotti and Raphinha's call-up
Another of the main names at the press conference was forward Lamine Yamal, who on Monday finished third in the Ballon d'Or behind Harry Kane, the winner of the award, and Kylian Mbappé.
On his pupil, he said that, despite not winning the award for best player of last season, he is "very focused" on continuing to grow as a footballer.
"I am very proud of Lamine, because he reacted very well. What I see in training is that he is very focused and that is how champions respond. And it is very good for the team that he is on this path," he revealed.
Flick also gave his opinion on the decision of the Brazil coach, Carlo Ancelotti, to call up Raphael Dias 'Raphinha' for the November friendlies against Japan and Singapore.
It should be remembered that the Blaugrana captain ended up injured in the last international break and missed two matches for his club because of it.
On his forward's call-up, Flick said he cannot "do anything" about it and that "it is not the best" to play two friendly matches in Singapore. "If he can manage his minutes a little, I would be glad," he said. EFE
