Barcelona announced that Hansi Flick would be taking over from Xavi Hernandez on Wednesday, after the German coach signed a two-year deal with the club. He will not be presented to the media or the fans though.
In stark contrast to Xavi’s arrival, which saw him give a press conference and speak to the fans at a jubilant Camp Nou, Flick will not be presented publicly until July. The reason, according to Sport, is that Flick feels he should acclimatise and settle in at the club first, before facing the press. It will also give him time to improve his Spanish – he has been learning it for several months, but it is not yet clear what his level is like.
Barcelona did release a video of Flick though, where he explained that it was an honour to coach Barcelona, that he believed in the Masia academy, and shared a similar view of football to the philosophy to his new club.
Hansi Flick's first words as #FCBarcelona coach. pic.twitter.com/rCaAcujBMm
— Football España (@footballespana_) May 29, 2024
President Joan Laporta will speak to the press this week though, in order to offer explanations as to why the club U-turned on their decision to back Xavi in the space of a month. Laporta has maintained silence throughout the last two weeks, leaving Xavi to answer questions about his future.
The public handling of the matter has been one of the fiercest areas of criticism from Laporta’s detractors, and he will no doubt face plenty of scrutiny next time he takes questions. That will be the case for Flick too, but perhaps the biggest issue could be his Spanish. While there is a group of players that speak English in the dressing room as their lingua franca, Flick will no doubt need to be able to communicate convincingly in Spanish in order to win over the local core of players.
Flick, learn these words: “It was (x) fault”.
Replace “x” with sun, grass, referees, opponents fans cheering too loud.
God knows youre gonna need them in your (short) tenure PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA