Although they’ve sent a message to the rest of Europe with their emphatic wins over Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, Stan Collymore says Hansi Flick and Barcelona still have work to do.
The Catalans seemed to be in a real mess at the end of last season with Xavi Hernandez the coach one minute and not the next.
Fortunately for the club, Flick has come in and not only steadied the ship, but got Barcelona playing with an identity again, though not necessarily one that their supporters have been used to. His influence has been obvious too.
Hansi Flick has been brilliant for Barca
Barca are much more vertical now and hit both Bayern and Real consistently on the counter attack, even by playing a very high defensive line that caught Kylian Mbappe out in particular.
Six points clear at the top of La Liga tells it’s own story, but Collymore thinks it might be a little too early to suggest that the club are ‘back.’
“When Barcelona were hit by near bankruptcy they needed to look in their near view mirror, not the rear view. It forced them to confront a few facts,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“They were no longer able to compete in the space race with Premier League clubs for the best players. Unable to outspend them, which seemed trendy and funky beforehand, Barca had to start thinking about being organic in their growth.
“They had to look internally at what they had rather than letting players move on, adding to the grand ecosystem that is European football in the process.
“Fast forward to today and Hansi Flick is doing a fantastic job. I think he’s fairly understated in his post-match comments, but he gives off the aura of a manager that can manage players.
“All you want as a player is to go in from Monday to Saturday and look at a manager that you respect because you know he has the experience to be able to guide you. Flick gives that off in spades.
“From a club perspective, with a very prodigious young talent in Lamine Yamal, everybody can see that, once again, Barcelona is a very fertile environment for young players.
“La Masia players will think ‘he’s only two years older than me, I can do that,’ and that’s the biggest compliment I can pay the club.
“Does it mean that they’re back?
“I think there’s still plenty to do, but when you are beating teams of the caliber of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich by multiples of goals, it’s fair to say that if you could add consistency on and off the pitch to that, you are going to get back to where you feel you need to be quicker than most clubs, because of the size of Barca.”