Three players spoil the victory over Celta Vigo and rebel against Flick
It was a tense match. Very tense. Barça couldn’t afford to miss a chance to maintain their lead against Madrid, and things didn’t go well, so nerves were palpable. The tension built up to such an extent that three players lashed out at the coach, something unseen this season.
Barça’s players are fully engaged. Everyone wants to play, but Flick has a very clear idea of his starting eleven and rotations, leaving aside a group of five or six players who practically don’t play at all. Two of them had clashes after the match. Ansu Fati kicked a cooler on the bench and threw his bib to the ground in front of the coaching staff, annoyed at having heated up the entire second half and not getting any opportunities.
The relationship between Ansu and Flick is very tense. And it’s because the player’s entourage believes the coach hasn’t treated him well. They feel cheated since the start of the season and also don’t understand why he has publicly exposed the youth player, implying that he wasn’t training properly. The anger is monumental because Ansu feels good physically and believes the coach won’t give him opportunities.
The tension is sure to explode at the end of the season with exit negotiations that could lead to problems. On balance, everything has a solution, but Ansu could prioritize a termination without forgiving Barça a single euro, and the club, in that sense, isn’t willing to do so. His agent, Jorge Mendes, will have to tread carefully and act diplomatically to avoid a complete clash.
Héctor Fort’s anger, a player who has barely played this season, was also surprising. Flick, who was euphoric at the end of the match, celebrated the victory by greeting every player he met along the way. And the youth player refused to hug him. Not only that, but he didn’t want to take him into account, to which the coach responded by whispering in his ear.
It seemed as though Flick or the coaching staff could have assured Fort that he would get minutes in this match, but the unexpected complexity of the result would have meant a change of plans. Whatever it was, it’s clear that Flick doesn’t count on him, and that’s why Barça is looking for a right-back in the market to complement Koundé, who plays all the time.
And the latest case was Ferrán Torres. The striker was furious when he was substituted in the second half. And he had scored and was the most active attacker up until that point. Ferrán didn’t understand anything and didn’t greet Flick, kicked a ball that was on the ground, and shook off assistant coach Marcus Sorg when he tried to calm him down.
In the case of the forward line, it seems that the hierarchy in the dressing room always prevails, and the starting trio carries a lot of weight. And when the striker plays, his substitution always seems obvious, even if he doesn’t deserve it. The anger, in this case, quickly passed after the comeback, and Ferrán could now be decisive at the end of the season if Lewandowski’s injury is confirmed, as he could be out for around three weeks.
Flick is facing problems in the locker room with just over a month to go before he can secure the treble. The tension is sure to increase as problems are now brewing, but the coach isn’t going to budge from his ideas and is clear about who is and isn’t a starter at this point in the season.
Source: SPORT
