Barcelona may not have been to their best in recent competitions, but in the end are still good in hunting the three major trophies this season. Hansi Flick has already delivered the performance of the Blaugrana far beyond expectations this season.
One person who has such a good insight into how he did this when someone is Thiago Alcantara. The former Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Barcelona midfielder joined Flick's Coaching Staff in the preseason to help him with the transition before he left La Liga's eve. At the Laureus Awards he explained that he had seen it.
“What Hansi created with the players and what he has maintained, we are very proud,” Thiago explained to Cadena Ser.
“Because of both the players and the project, I expected this performance. In the end it was about giving them the resilience to play the way they do this season and give them a more dynamic approach to the game than they are used to. If you give young players so extra something, things like that happen.”
Nor was he the feeling that Barcelona would be intimidated by the prospect of winning a Treble.
“The word Treble does not scare you; it has been achieved earlier. It remains the goal of the world's biggest clubs, such as Barca. It is not the motto from game to game, but every training session and every day of rest is enjoyed.”
Thiago would work closely with the midfielders of Barcelona during the preseason, and had warm words for Pedri, one of the best players in Barcelona this season.
“Pedri is an incredible player, whom I would not only consider the best midfielder in the world, but also one of the best players in the world, if not the best at the moment.”
Flick will undoubtedly be grateful to Thiago for his help, because someone is able to give both players insight into the ideas of Flick and to drop an insight into the club culture. It was talked about that Thiago could return to the coaching staff halfway through the season, after he had resolved tax regulations in January, but that was deleted. It is not excluded that he could return in the future.