Hansi Flick reveals the truth

It is obvious that this season has not started as Hansi Flick would have liked, beyond the irregular football sensations. We come from a summer full of inconveniences that he has faced with the usual stoic patience: the avoidable war against Ter Stegen, the poor organization of a tour in which he was more important to keep Enric Masip and Albert Luque happy that the proper training of the players, the conflict between Gavi and Fermín, the desire of some detractors (from within the club itself) to get rid of the second, the abrupt departure of a key piece like Iñigo Martínez without the option of a replacement, continue going to the market as the poor cousin of the big players in Europe, register in extremis with the blow of endorsement so that the phantom levers drown the fair play financial or even playing like Johan Cruyff for not having rented Montjuïc with more foresight. Flick's smile is priceless.

With this murky situation as a backdrop, what most worries Flick now is the plague of injuries that directly affects the preparation of the starting lineups. He is more concerned about the infirmary than about who he has on the bench, and that makes maintaining pressure for 90 minutes more difficult. It is in this complicated context that the fitness department, the great exemplary flagship of last season that was so often used to belittle the work it had done, emerges under the spotlight of suspicion.staff Xavi Hernández's. A year ago, the new guru, Julio Tous, publicly promised to reduce the number of injuries by 50% through systematic work that, until then—according to those in charge of sports—had not been carried out at Barça. Twelve months later, the list of muscle injuries is alarming, and players have admitted to feeling tired even though it's not even November yet.

Tous himself said before the summer that not playing in the Club World Cup would give them an advantage, but no one here is flying like a rocket; some have even broken down due to the strain of training. Furthermore, the network of double agents acting as recovery specialists for both Barça and the Spanish national team creates conflicts of interest, as seen with the Lamine Yamal case, in which Flick has been somewhat alone. The coach is seeing that he can't control everything from his German island, surrounded as he is by a sea of structural doubts and players who should show more hunger. The cake, so far, doesn't look good. If they all manage to wear Flick down prematurely, it will be an unforgivable mistake.