FC Barcelona’s new coach Hansi Flick admitted that he is blown away by the “unbelievable” youngsters at the club as the Blaugrana are currently preparing for a pre-season tour.
Flick replaced Xavi Hernandez as Barcelona boss and spoke as the club’s manager for the first time since his appointment and the German talked about several things, including the immense talent La Masia players possess.
“What I can see from the first training session it’s unbelievable. So I have to say thank you to La Masia, because how they develop players - it’s unbelievable,” the German said.
“This quality they give is, it’s really great. Normally when you have this situation, that the experienced or international players are out, and you bring young players in so the quality is a little bit down - but here nothing. You cannot feel this and it’s really nice to see how they improve. I said to them - Ok I want quality, intensity, absolute focus - and they bring it.
“The quality of this team we want to increase and this is the most important thing for me. But when I see the players here, the young players, it’s like - sometimes we want to bring in player who can win a match - but we also have good young players.
“We have to have it so they can improve here, we have to develop them, this is our job. I think this is also a part of the philosophy of Barcelona.”
Flick also discussed the reason why he decided to join Barcelona saying that they play fantastic football and the way of developing players. He also lauded the passion everyone in the club has for football.
“I’ve felt it from day one, the passion that the people have here, the fans, the president… everyone here who works for Barcelona has this passion, the devotion to give their best for this club, and this is also great for us, because we want to be part of this club and we also want to live with this passion, this devotion, because we want to give everything we have to take this club to the next level. I don’t know if we will, but we will do our best," he added.
“When I decided to be a coach, I looked at Barcelona because they played fantastic football. You can see how they develop the players, everyone talks about it and also the passion you feel here is incredible, and that’s why we’re happy to be here. From the first day I could feel it, everyone shows respect, it’s incredible what we are experiencing.”
