Hansi Flick will be a happy man as the summer transfer window comes to a close.
He may not have gotten everything on his wish list, but he was given enough to start to truly build Barcelona in his image.
Raphinha continues to steal the headlines three games into the new La Liga season as Flick’s false nine experiment bears fruit. The Brazilian has already recorded five goals and one assist.
In the end, it will be hard for anyone to compete with Kylian Mbappe in the Pichichi race, but that’s perfectly
fine. Flick doesn’t need one superstar to put up monster numbers. He needs a team of players who know their role, and find ways every game to make contributions big and small.
Anthony Gordon looks like a shining example of what Flick demands in a forward. The comparison between him and Marcus Rashford is quite illuminating, and it doesn’t take a big sample size to draw conclusions.
First and foremost, you have to love the way he does the running, and we’re not talking about big dribbles down the field.
Gordon is a pressing machine. Alongside Raphinha, the defensive work rate has been incredible from the forward line, and it has become contagious. The time it takes Barcelona to win the ball back, by the eye test at least, is better than anything we’ve seen so far in the Flick era.
When it comes to scoring goals, Gordon understands he doesn’t have to be the main man, especially when you are flanked by Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.
The English international is perfectly content with any role he plays with how a goal is scored.
Against Rayo Vallecano, he got an assist, created an own goal, and played several very dangerous balls in front of goal that were right there for his teammates to pounce on. This is a selfless player who only cares about helping his team win the game. Stats be damned.
It’s going to be hard for Karim Adeyemi to claim the starting spot on the left wing. In the early going, it looks like Gordon’s to lose. That being said, Adeyemi has done absolutely nothing wrong so far. In fact, in limited minutes, he’s doing a lot of the same great things on both sides of the ball that Gordon is being commended for.
With the arrival of Gabriel Jesus, Flick has plenty of attacking weapons to work with.
He may not have gotten the Julián Alvarez luxury signing, but he has to be satisfied with the way his players have risen to occasion to show they can put up goals without him.
It’s going to be a long and tough season. The Champions League draw is full of challenging opponents who will test Barcelona’s depth. Real Madrid has also shown they are rival to take very seriously.
So far, however, so good. Barcelona look like an upgraded version of themselves. An even more complete, and dangerous team.
Anthony Gordon was the shock signing of the early summer, and it was symbolic of Flick’s intentions.
This is a team that will be defined not by their talent, but by how hard they work.
If you want the playing time, you have to show you understand the assignment.
