"Egos kill success": Flick's worrying barb at his players

BarcelonaBarça have taken seven points out of a possible nine at the start of the La Liga campaign and have shown that they have a squad that, if they put in the work, will allow them to compete for everything, but Hansi Flick is worried about the international break. He doesn't like some of the things he's seeing on the pitch (and likely in training too). In the first matchday, he criticized his players for not being more ambitious by playing with nine players from the first half against Mallorca, and yesterday, after the draw (1-1) against Rayo Vallecano in Vallecas, was even more forceful.

"Egos kill success," he stated in the small, shabby press room at Rayo Vallecano's stadium. He said this when asked about the transfer market, which closes at midnight on Monday, and the possible departure of Fermín, who played the last half-hour of the match yesterday. "I'm looking forward to the transfer market being over; I don't want egos. Egos kill success. Last year we were a team and we must continue like that," he explained. Furthermore, Flick considered that his team made many mistakes: "We lacked intensity, we can do better. We should have scored more goals in the first half. I'm not happy with the team. We lost a lot of balls; we have to do better, we made a lot of mistakes."

Flick admitted that he had brought this criticism to the locker room after the match because he wanted his players to hear his opinion before the break: "Yes, I spoke with them because most of them are leaving with their national teams, and it was better to analyze the game at that moment." Barça will not play again until Sunday, September 14, when they host Valencia in their first home game of the season. The question is whether it will be played at the Camp Nou or the Johan Cruyff Stadium.

Brilliant performance by Joan Garcia

The only player who escaped Hansi Flick's criticism was Joan Garcia, who gave his first performance as Barça's goalkeeper in Vallecas, saving four clear goals with improbable saves. "Joan Garcia had a fantastic game. I'm very happy with him because he stopped Rayo's scoring chances. He's fast, plays very well with the ball at his feet and under the goal line, and he didn't make any mistakes," said Flick. The former Espanyol goalkeeper's performance helped Barça avoid its first defeat of the season.