If Hansi Flick changes Barcelona's playing style and brings home the title, Barcelona fans may accept it. On the contrary, the German coach's time will be difficult to extend.
In November 2021, Barcelona sent Xavi Hernandez back to Camp Nou to take on the role of coach, succeeding Ronald Koeman. At that time, people praised Xavi for "understanding the philosophy" of the team without mentioning the experience factor.
Therefore, even if the former Spanish midfielder has 1 La Liga championship and 1 Spanish Super Cup, this is still a "failed project". Because, with a club legend, the time leading a club will need to be many times longer. Or, the number of titles is also much higher.
Maybe it's his ability, or it's Xavi's "difficulty" returning to Camp Nou at a time when the team was struggling financially. But also because of that, Cule hopes that, with his understanding of La Masia and Catalan blood in his blood, Xavi will revive the reputation of the world's No. 1 prestigious training center.
Xavi does not have quality products in hand, but around them are not the generations of Spanish seniors. And many stars from outside have changed the world.
Barca still won, but too many won 1-0. More importantly, the number of wins is still not enough to compete with Real Madrid in Liga as well as the Champions League arena.
And Xavi stepped down in an confusing decision from President Joan Laporta's board - Xavi announced his departure at the end of the season, convincing the board to stay, and firing him after a few days due to a somewhat straightforward statement by the Spaniard.
In May 2024, Barca chose Flick as his successor. What the 59-year-old coach had with Bayern Munich and the German national team, it seems that Barcelona wants a true "transformation", as he and his colleagues have turned many players into reluctance and disruption.
That serves the very strong pressing style that Flick wants. And Barcelona fans will have two options. Accept a new playing style, new style and hope for success. Or will regret giving up what is called tradition while still not sure whether something new will bring success or not...
Traditionally Barcelona is a beautiful passing style of play. Flick came and is looking to change that, in the context of "moderation" of getting the ball to the finish line as quickly as possible and the final result is the victory.
Flick was not afraid to change when he stated: Each match will have different challenges, and I will sometimes have to go against the teams style. such as sending a midfielder up to attack near the striker, pulling a winger back to defend, or even pushing the central defender up to play as a striker....
In terms of flexibility, that is worth looking forward to. But the problem is, what if Cule likes his team to play on the bench? If Flick - a German - shows his toughness, it is likely that he will need to look back at history.
Barca's history is before Flick, with only 2 German coaches, with Hennes Weisweiler having only 1 season (1975 1976) and Udo Lattek having only 2 years (1981-83). Although Lattek helped Barca win the C2 Cup in 1982, his failure was not being able to promote the talent of Diego Maradona - then 22 years old.
Weisweiler followed a year later due to conflicts with Johan Cruyff - who stated directly that "if elected, Weisweiler would not be a coach" and predicted "he would not be able to play as freely as he wanted".
It can be seen that putting Barcelona and the German coach on the same page is like something opposite. Of course, at this time, when Barca had chosen to "come up the pack", Cule could only wait and see what happened.
