Will Flick be Barca's Klopp? There are still shortcomings in success

Mitch watches the ball

2024-05-31 18:22Posted in Shanghai Super League Scout, Football Tactics Analyst and creator in the field of sports

When Laporta "decisively" let Xavi out of class and then turned around to hug Flick, it was bound to be a gamble.

Few German coaches have been successful in Spain, especially at Barcelona, but Flick is indeed the best coach Barca can hire at the moment. So what is missing from him becoming Klopp of Barcelona?

01. Flick's transition between attack and defence: Wing speed and back forward are key

a. Starting speed on the wing: Flick's success or failure

From the original treble-winning Bayern, we can see that the team not only has an excellent winger group, but also has two fullbacks with excellent offensive ability.

It is even said that it is precisely because of the presence of Alphonso Davies and Kimmich that Flick uses two players who are very aware of the ball and can be used as strikers at any time.

The year of Bayern's treble was also Alphonso Davies' best personal form. Many Barcelona fans will say that their right-back Semedo was "ravaged" by Alphonso Davies at the time, but in fact, Semedo may have been the most uncomfortable person in defence.

When he was in charge of the German national team, it was precisely the full-backs who were far less capable than Bayern, which had a great impact on Flick.

Let's take a look at this transition between attack and defence, Busquets passed the ball to the feet of De Jong, who couldn't hold it and was intercepted. Then Bayern's counterattack was to give the wing, and then drive the overall formation forward.

Under Flick's system, there will be a lot of wide starting speed and crosses to the core, and then through the back row forward to complete the final fatal blow. Barcelona's lack of strength makes them especially unable to withstand Bayern's style of play.

b. Scoring efficiency on the back insertion: the key to Flick's success or failure

Compared with the success of that Bayern team, Flick's failure in the German national team is first related to the gap in the ability of the full-backs. Raum's side has taken on too much of the load, and when the team can't score goals as quickly as Bayern Munich does, it leaves a hidden problem.

At the same time, the team did not have a high-scoring center forward, and Flick once trusted Havertz to increase the back row forward, but it is clear that during the World Cup, the scoring efficiency of the back row has not been able to go up, which has become a fatal injury.

Putting Kimmich in a midfield position proved to be an unwise decision. However, Flick's style of play is clear, and his team will have a preference for mid-to-long shifts or overhead balls to unleash the opportunity to sprint and play deep.

The key point was that after following up on the flanks, Kai Havertz and Muller in the middle rushed to the box together to flank goal.

Against Japan, the team can break the deadlock with penalties, on the one hand, the wingers without the ball can hit the back post of the Japanese penalty area, and at the same time, Havertz and Muller in the middle have been outflanked, and the formation is very Flick.

The foul of the Japanese goalkeeper after the attack was also very helpless, because the opponent had outflanked more points in the middle, and once the ball came out, it was a must-go opportunity.

Flick coaches Bayern and the German national team, and the impact of the players is still relatively eye-catching. This style of play, which combines the ball transfer with sprints to take advantage of space, is very effective when tearing apart defences.

The problem is that no team can sustain such intensity for 90 minutes, and Bayern's success has the advantage of a physical reserve period due to the interruption of the schedule. The defeat of the German team is that the team obviously played a one-sided scene, but it was unable to expand the score and buried hidden dangers.

As you can see, Flick's side don't have to start from the wings, but their power in the back row is a good fit to unleash with a ball over the top.

So it makes sense that Flick admires Pedri's creativity and sees him as a key player to rely on in the future. Because at Barcelona, he's going to need someone to send some shifts and overhead balls. It's just that the German team got too many opportunities, but it couldn't break through the Japanese team's defense again, which became the biggest failure.

02. Flick is a good coach: Failures at the World Cup were accidental

a. Reversed by Japan: There were too many chances

The biggest Waterloo of Flick's coaching career was the 1-2 defeat of Japan in the first game of the World Cup group stage, which also made his reputation deteriorate sharply.

The problem is that in that game, the German national team, which had a high possession rate of 74%, which was three times that of the opponent, only scored one goal in 26 shots. The expected goal of the German team is 3.09, and the expected goal of the Japanese team is only 1.46, you must know that in the first 70 minutes of the game, the German team is one-sided and oppressive of the opponent.

Raum had plenty of open opportunities this time around, and he was a threat forward. The problem was Gundogan in the middle, who scored a penalty but missed too many good chances to score.

I don't know what it would be like for Flick to meet up with his old acquaintance again and see Lewandowski and Gundogan (who scored more goals last season, also related to his Barcelona penalty taker) when they met again with their old acquaintances.

Because under Flick's style of play, there will be a lot of sprints and forwards, and the opponent will easily be unable to keep up, but there will also be more mistakes by the players on this side.

This time Gnabry went back to Hoffman, which was even a bit redundant. If Gnabry is in good form, he can score on his own. However, Flick's team focuses on multi-player forward insertion, and the efficiency of the second row is also extremely important.

In the 70th minute of the game, this time the cross went into the penalty area, and the German team had three attack points near the small penalty area of the Japanese team.

It's a pity that Gnabry kicked over the head and didn't take advantage of the very good opportunity, allowing the goal to pass by him, which also led to the Japanese team to complete the reversal later.

b. After a lot of sprints, there is a danger of not being able to score a goal

As can be seen from the statistics, Musiala completed 77 sprints in the group stage of the World Cup with Japan.

With such a large consumption and output, if it cannot be reflected in the score, there will still be hidden dangers in the future. So Flick needs to have enough consistent scoring points, and in the German national team, he lacks a Lewandowski in his prime.

A lot of people say Flick has to have a centre-forward, which isn't quite accurate. Of course, with a centre-forward, it is beneficial for his team to cross directly into the penalty area, and then the back row is forward.

However, Flick's real killer move is the ball from the back and the speed of the wing push when the attack and defense are switched. This time, after Nico Williams was cut off, the triangle pass and advance played by the German team from the back was too successful, and Sane got a one-on-one in an instant.

The problem is that Sa Sine did not even complete the shot after getting a single shot. What Flick lacks is not a center, but a decisive scoring point.

It is worth noting that Flick's tactical system does not necessarily have to be in possession. Because his team has a strong starting speed in the transition between attack and defense, even if the opponent can control the ball, as long as they can play their own characteristics, they are still very threatening.

In the second round of the World Cup against Spain, Germany led their opponents by 1.29 to 0.62. The number of shots on goal is also 11 to 7, even if the possession rate is not high, but the quality of the attack is not low.

03. Flick's tactical weakness: may be magnified by Barcelona

a. If the back-hand wing is suppressed: Flick will have a lot of problems

As mentioned earlier, Flick's team doesn't have to be a strong winger because his full-backs have a lot of assists. However, when the fitness is declining, if there is someone on the back flank who can suppress the opponent, it will be beneficial to Flick's offensive and defensive balance.

The loss to the Japanese team was because the opponent arranged Kaoru Mikasa to play in the backhand, which brought a wing advantage. Takuma Asano and Takumi Minamino in the front court were interspersed with great strength, and they just hit the hole after the physical decline of the German team players.

This time, Kaoru Mikasa held the ball and pressed the German flank and then passed back, and then hit an overhead ball into the penalty area, Junya Ito's shot and Sakai Hiroki's follow-up shot almost scored, which was a warning to the German team.

The wings couldn't hit the counter-attack, and the movement slowed down after the stamina of the back. Flick's side are very aggressive and oriented, and they can easily be penetrated by the opposition in the latter stages of the game.

Japan's equaliser is still the same thing, and Kaoru Mikasa's attack with the ball is still a key starting point. Takumi Minamino took the ball on the ribs and crossed it, the goalkeeper interfered, and the follow-up Doan Ritsu scored with a follow-up shot.

b. Focus on local compression: it will be broken by points

On the other hand, under Flick's defensive logic, the focus is on oppression and local concentration of forces. In the season after Bayern won the treble, the Champions League was eliminated by Paris, in fact, because of the team's defensive logic, Neymar was broken by points.

Neymar dropped back hard and he could start the overall push forward from the middle circle. Bayern then moved closer to Neymar to make up for their mistakes, but Mbappe moved fast off the ball and could make the most of the space.

This ball Neymar almost single-handedly broke the defense, the key is Alaba forward this step, the position is very aggressive. So when Neymar faced a two-man attack, he played a wall collision with Di Maria, and directly penetrated Bayern's defense.

Then surrounded by 4 people, Neymar selflessly shared the ball, allowing Mbappe to score easily.

The loss to Japan was also due to the fact that the central defender was too aggressive, and Schlotterbeck directly let go of Takuma Asano, and it was too late for him to react after the opponent took the ball.

Especially after the physical decline and still maintain a high position, if the defense line does not have a strong enough sweep point and confrontation point, it will be a big problem. This style of play is also common in Barcelona, and the team's ability to tolerate mistakes is weaker, which may only magnify Flick's weakness.

Conclusion:

The combination of Flick and Barcelona should play better content in the attacking end, and may even play some good games.

But if he wants to really succeed and win important titles, I am afraid that he needs to fill in the elements he needs in the central axis and winger position, otherwise it will magnify Barcelona's loopholes.

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