A lot goes into being a good football coach.
There’s the tactics, which usually is the thing that gets people talking, but just as important is the man management, and the ability to control a dressing room.
Barcelona managers will always be measured, first and foremost, by what they accomplish relative to Real Madrid.
In Hansi Flick’s first two seasons in charge of the Blaugrana, he has won five trophies, while Los Blancos have won none. In head-to-head games, Flick was victorious in six out of seven
Clásicos. For comparison, Pep Guardiola went five for seven.
There will be plenty of necessary talk over the summer about what’s needed to get Barcelona in a position to compete for a Champions League title. Pressure will be on the German manager to prove he can take the team to the next level. It’s fair, that’s how the modern game works at a club the size of FC Barcelona.
What has made Flick so special, however, was his stabilizing influence, at a time when Barca desperately needed it.
So many coaches before him have cracked under the pressure of coaching under the bright lights at the Camp Nou. For as good as Xavi was as a coach given the circumstances, even he had trouble staying cool in the face of media scrutiny, and the weight of expectations that culers have.
It’s not that Flick isn’t an emotional coach, he’s human after all. What he did so well was keeping his emotions in check, and channeling them into the moments that mattered. He has been a leader by example for his players.
Flick means business, but he isn’t loud about it. His actions do the talking, and as a result, he earned the respect of the dressing room, and over two years he never lost it.
Real Madrid has had the polar opposite experience over the past two seasons. No leadership in sight. Egos ruling the day, making failure inevitable.
Flick has had to make tough choices with player selection. There were some quiet rumors of discontent here and there from some camps, but overall, players accepted his decisions, the best interest of the team always prevailed over that of the individual.
Winning cures everything after all.
Barcelona hasn’t been perfect, but they have been remarkably consistent, especially in La Liga. That’s what it takes to become a champion.
As it currently stands, they are 14 points above Real Madrid. It wasn’t even a close race. Their goal differential, for the second year in a row, is ridiculous, once again going above 60 goals. If they win their last three games, they could hit 100 points on the season, and aren’t far away from scoring 100 goals too.
This is dominance, and there’s no Messi in sight. This is Barcelona turning the page to a new chapter. The future is now, and in spite of the big challenges on paper, it looks very bright.
There are great players. Lamine Yamal and Pedri chief among them. The MVP of this season, however, making it two season in a row in my book, is Hansi Flick.
He’s the best signing Barcelona has made in a long time.
Whatever challenges lie ahead, the Blaugrana are lucky, at least, to have a proven and trusted leader at the helm.
Someone who can bring a group together, hold them together, and make them into something greater than the sum of what they are individually.
With a coach like that in charge, you can believe that this iteration of Barcelona is just getting started.
If there’s one thing we learned this year in Spain, it’s that steady leadership is the best leadership.
