Flick's manual for success in football... and in life

BarcelonaIf Hansi Flick sends a message stating that egos must be controlled within the locker room, It's necessary to be alert. He sees it better than the press, the environment, Barça directors, members, fans, and social media users with an anonymous name. He's there, in the locker room, every day. We're not. Flick was Joan Laporta's great success, the key man in turning the situation around at the club. He has earned to be heard and respected. He has shown to have sanity and character.

He sends the message when it's time. At the beginning of his second season, when he's tired of seeing how everyone assumes this Barça can win everything. No, in football, as in life, things cost money. Barça has a surplus of talent, but if you don't work hard, titles don't fall from the sky. You don't find them on a tree branch ready for you to grab. Flick has worked at Bayern and the German national team, and in both places he's learned how they can victorious projects collapse in a relatively short period of time. He doesn't want the same thing to happen at Barça.

Convinced as I am that things will go well, I can't stop thinking about everything that case hides. Behind Flick's words, there are important lessons. One of them would be that it's true that praise can make you weak. We've spent months, including yours truly, saying that we're in love with this Barça and its game. We weren't lying. It's been years since I've enjoyed a team this much. It's impossible for all this not to affect you, if you're a player. Not just on social media, in talk shows, videos, or articles. Everywhere you go, people whisper in your ear that you're the best, that you'll win everything. It won't be easy to manage.

And that brings us to the second point: the importance of choosing your surroundings wisely. When you're rich and famous, people will approach you who will leave you in the lurch if one day fortune abandons you. People who want to boast about being your friend, who want to do business with you, who aren't interested in the person, but rather in the character. People who can damage players' egos. A new lesson: how important it is to find people who truly love you, who give you key advice, who listen to you if necessary. How important it is to create united and sincere groups. A good, united, fun football dressing room can be unstoppable. Flick knows this. On the other hand, players who listen more to outsiders, ill-advised, can end up ruining years of work, as he has done. Mallorca captain Dani Rodríguez. Lessons that go beyond football, but that Flick applies to the sport. Let's heed them.