Jules Kounde’s form has come in for scrutiny this season, with the France international struggling to consistently find his best form for Barcelona.
Saturday’s game over Real Mallorca brought fresh questions of Kounde, particularly as Jan Virgili gave the defender a tough time at Camp Nou.
A new report from Diario Sport has offered some insight into what Flick thinks of the situation, claiming some of the reasons behind his slump in form is the amount of games he’s having to play and the “psychological
stress” of playing at right-back for Barcelona (!).
Kounde is not only charged with defending but he also has to help out Lamine Yamal in attack. Flick is also reluctant to rest Kounde as he sees him as an “essential” piece of his starting XI, per the report.
It’s pointed out that Flick has tried to rest Kounde, against Real Oviedo and Albacete in the Copa del Rey, but ended up having to bring the defender on.
The Barca boss thinks that despite his occasional lapses, Kounde is simply “too important” to keep on the bench, but he is said to be confident we’ll see the best of the Frenchman in the final months of the campaign.
