FLICK DID NOT HESITATE TO BET ON THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF LA MASIA
The unexpected fact in which Hansi Flick surpasses all his predecessors
Published:23/08/2024 - 16:19h
Updated:24/08/2024 - 02:05h
The coach of FC Barcelona, Hansi Flick, has made clear his serious intention to bet on La Masia. This was demonstrated in the match between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF in LaLiga 24/25, where he set a record by closely including youth players in his starting eleven
The FC Barcelona has been recognized throughout its extensive history for having coaches who do not hesitate to bet on homegrown players, that is, from La Masia, a quarry rich in young talents that occasionally nourish the first team with high-quality pieces. Now, with the recent arrival of Hansi Flick as the new coach, serious questions arose about whether the German coach would bet on the youth team players or adopt a conservative stance, avoiding taking major risks.
The Baden-Württemberg native wasted no time in showing that he will bet on young talent from the academy without hesitation. In fact, in his first official match as FC Barcelona coach, against Valencia CF in Matchday 1 of LaLiga EA Sports 24/25, Flick fielded five academy players in his starting eleven: Lamine Yamal (17), Pau Cubarsi (17), Marc Bernal (17), Marc Casado (20), and Alejandro Balde (20); none of them were over twenty years old.
Furthermore, in that same match, he gave the opportunity to two other academy players, Gerard Martín and Pau Víctor, to enter the game. These two, along with Marc Bernal, were three debutants in the First Division. With this, the Heidelberg native set an important precedent, as never before had a coach been seen to debut three young academy players in his first official match as the FC Barcelona coach.
How did other great Barça coaches fare in this regard?
To contextualize what the German achieved in the clash against the 'ches,' it is important to analyze how some of his most prominent predecessors, the most anecdotal for the Blaugrana team in this aspect, fared. For example, Xavi Hernández, who acted as the Barça coach before Hansi Flick and also faced a challenging economic situation, in his first match leading the Barcelona squad (Espanyol at Camp Nou (1-0) on November 20, 2021), only debuted one academy player: Ilias Akhomach.
Another prominent Barça coach, like Luis Enrique, in his debut on August 24, 2014, against Elche at Camp Nou (3-0), also debuted a single reserve team player: Munir El Haddadi. Similarly, Pep Guardiola, in his debut as a coach on August 13, 2008, in the Champions League pre-match against Wisla Cracovia (4-0) at Camp Nou, only gave a debut to a reserve team player: Gerard Piqué.
