Barca's NEW Gameplan is EVIL transcript

Flick Barca is mustwatch TV [cheering] watching Handy Flick TV because it is go go go. >> I mean there's a reason that even Pep Guardiola has talked about how much he loves watching these guys play. [music] But I guess [music] just passively. >> Now, while this team has some glaring weaknesses that I will discuss later in the video, their strengths are impossible to ignore because what this team does going forward, it's beautiful to watch.

Bara made a ton of new signings in the summer and pretty much all of them have hit the ground running. Let's start with Anthony Gordon, aka Draco Malfoy, aka Princess Diana. This guy has been better than anybody could have anticipated. There was a lot of question marks around why he was signed, myself included. I'm like, why are Barca signing a Road Runner for that much? Yeah, there's a reason that Flick and Deco and Barca are in the positions that they are in and I'm doing YouTube.

He's been fantastic. Fit right in. He looks like the perfect Hanzi Flick winger. He's fast. He presses endlessly, unlimited work rate. I mean, I guess that's the same thing as pressing endlessly, but you guys know what I mean. And he loves taking defenders on. Bara desperately needed someone on the left hand side who could be direct. And with Rafinia moving into the middle, Gordon has just fit in like a glove. He makes those runs in behind.

He's always available to get the ball. And now that he's been surrounded by better players, he's playing at another level. Like, let's make it very clear. When I doubted Gordon, I still highlighted his strengths in all of my videos. But the level that he's playing at now is something that nobody saw at Newcastle or even at the World Cup. Within a few months of being with this Barca team, they've improved every single element of his game.

Now, there are some Premier League fans that are trying to push this narrative that Gordon only looks good because La Liga is an inferior league. This isn't true. Number one, he just has more eyes on him now. In fact, people were glazing his back heel to Rafiniah and a clip came up that he had done the exact same back heel at Newcastle. >> Little Harvey Barnes up there as well. It's Anthony GORDON FOR NEWCASTLE. IT'S HARVEY. >> It's just nobody was paying attention.

But the other factor is that he's surrounded by better players playing in a system that highlights his strengths. For example, that back heel he did at Newcastle, it went to Harvey Barnes. There's a big difference between playing the ball to Harvey Barnes versus playing it to Rafiniah. So what's happened to Gordon is what happens to every attacker once they join Barca. Their stats get inflated because the system is so much better.

You play under a better manager and you're surrounded by significantly better players. That's why Gordon looks so much better than any level that we saw from him at Newcastle or for England. I talked about this in the video that I made when he was initially signed that you can ignore the stats that he had before simply because every player including Gordon, Rashford, even Karim Admmy, everybody's stats go up when they come and play for Flick.

It's not because La Liga is a weaker league. It's because Barca are very wellrun, especially when it comes to going forward and what they do on the ball. The other thing that I've loved about Gordon is that he's transitioned so seamlessly both on and off the pitch. He looks to be getting along really well with the players. The fans love him. Everybody loves a player that works tirelessly. So, he fit right in. And he's just always pressing and he's very unselfish.

In his debut when he came off the bench, he could have easily taken that 1v one opportunity and tried to score. Instead, he passed it to Fedine Lopez and got an assist instead. And that's wonderful to see. That's the type of guys that Barcela want. Selfless players. The other Barca guys have done well, too. Rodri is still trying to get into match fitness. So, he's only been coming off the bench, but whenever he comes in, Barca looks so much more solid.

You have this wonderful holding midfielder now in front of the back line. He can cut out attacks before they turn into something dangerous. He's excellent in possession. He can push Pedri further forward. So, once Rodri gets fully match fit, he's going to be right there and he's going to elevate the team to another level, especially when it comes to the defensive side of the game and dictating the tempo. Ad has been great off the bench.

I mean, imagine you're a fullback and you had to defend Anthony Gordon for 70 80 minutes and just when you think you've gotten a break, Admy comes in. This guy has the pace, he has the power, he was super cheap, so it's okay that there are some limitations in his game. What he's there to do is to provide quality and depth when Barca eventually need to rotate. And he's also just great off the bench against tired legs to make something happen.

He can get in behind and he keeps the directness that Barca want to play with even if Gordon has to come out or Rafa has to come out. So he's excellent for the price that was paid and I think in the Champions League he'll shine even more because the games are a little bit more open. It's more about transition, more about athleticism and Admy has that. Then you have Jo Canel who's mainly been used as a rotational option and Barca fans already know his strengths and weaknesses.

He's excellent on the ball, so good at dribbling and making things happen. And then defensively, you're going to have to live with the fact that at times he's going to be a bit of a liability. But I think his versatility in the sense that he can play as a left back, he can play as a right back. He can even play further forward on the wing. It's great for Barca to have in the squad. And again, another player that bleeds for the badge.

I mean, the guy has been to the club on three different occasions now. He was willing to basically sit out a year to make his move happen. So, just that mentality is good to have in the locker room. But the beauty of this Barca team really is in their established guys. And we have to start with Rafiniah. I mean, we thought left wing Rafinha was good. False9/ striker Rafiniah, he's even better. His movement and positioning, it just looks like he's been playing striker his whole career.

He's the guy that has seen the biggest improvement under Hanzi Flick. Remember, he almost had one foot out the door before the German arrived. He had already turned his Barca career around a bit in the back end of Chavi season when he started playing him on the left wing. I think that game against PSG was really a turning point, but there's no doubt that he's hit another level ever since Hanzi Flick joined in. He had that incredible 2024 2025 season.

Genuinely a battle worthy year. The next season he wasn't as good, but mainly because he got injured. We have to keep that in mind. When he was healthy, he looked as good as he did the season before. The problem is that he missed a huge chunk of the season on multiple occasions because of injuries. Now, that's all Barca have to worry about. Can you keep this guy fit? Because you're seeing what he's doing on the pitch.

He's playing with the highest level of confidence he's ever had. He's beating players and scoring. He's getting into the box and scoring the goals that you expect from a natural number nine. Even though he's not, he's doing it. I've seen him head the ball. He's obviously incredible at pressing. When it comes to finishing and ball striking, he's the best in the team in my opinion. The way he keeps all of his shots low but powerful.

Anybody that's played football at any level will tell you how hard that is. Normally, when you go to power the ball, there's a very high likelihood that you hit it over or that you lean your body back and then it goes over. So, for him to generate so much power but keep it low and do it so consistently, I mean, I've seen his low driven shot finish for 3 years now. He did it against Bayern, he did it against Benfica, he did it against Rio Valicano.

The guy is an absolute monster and the only thing Barca have to worry about is keeping him healthy. If he played for PSG, they would just start him for like nine games and keep him healthy for the business end of the Champions League. Unfortunately, La Liga isn't the Uber Eats. So, Barca can't do that. But Flick should look at trying to rotate him and rest them, especially in games that Barca already winning by a large margin because the only concern with Rafinia is health.

He's adapted to that position. If the season goes by and teams figure out how to best neutralize him in the striker position, he can always go on the left wing. It doesn't matter where he plays. As long as he's playing under Hanzi Flick, you are going to see the absolute best version of Rafina. And then we get to Lamin. Now, in the beginning of the season, I think there was legitimate criticism around him. Now, let me explain what I mean by legitimate criticism.

You can criticize the way Yamal's body language looked in the first few games. Cuz remember, there is a spectrum when it comes to criticism. It's okay to be like, "Hey, Yamal looks off. Why does he look like he doesn't want to be there?" Versus saying, "Oh, this guy's finished at 19. He should go back to partying on boats with midgets." There's a middle line there. And with Yamal, the issue was his body language. If you're trying to make things happen and you're playing at a high level, but the goals and assists are not coming, fans understand it, especially Barca fans who tend to watch a lot of the games.

That's what happened in the second half against Athletic Club. Yamal looked great. He didn't get a goal or assist. He got a little bit unlucky cuz he created opportunities for Adi and [music] Unai Simone saved it. And then he tried some shots and Unai Simone saved it. But everybody could see that he was playing at a really good level. The problem is in the first half he was sulking. He was pouting. He just didn't look like he wanted to be there.

And that was actually a pattern going back all the way to preseason. There was a clip of all the players who won at the World Cup coming back to training after their extended break. And Yamo was in the passenger seat and he literally looked like a kid that was forced to go to school by his parents. Then Bara released some training footage on their YouTube channel and again he just looked so lethargic like he didn't want to be there like he [music] was being forced.

And I think it's perfectly fine for some Bara fans to be like, "Hey, what's going on here? Why does he look like that? Cuz it also translated over into the actual matches. Like, it's one thing for him to look that way in preseason games, but it was weird that in the first few La Liga matches, he just looked out of it. So, I think there's legitimate criticism there. I think if you're going as far as saying, "Oh, he's finished.

He's already turning into Neymar. He'd rather hang out with his girl than get goal contributions." I think that's going too far. You're trying to make jokes for clicks. That's okay. But there was reason to be a little bit concerned. Again, a little bit because we were so early in the season. Now you're seeing Yamal's body language change. He had a fantastic performance against Rio Valicano. And I'm not talking about just because he scored two wonderful goals.

I'm talking about the fact that he was dribbling more. He was running at players. He looked like he wanted to be there. When he lost the ball, he didn't throw a mini fit. He wasn't complaining. And [music] that's the key part there. It's not about the stats. It's not about how often you lose the ball. It's about your body language, your work rate, your work ethic. and Yamal, he's warming up again because this is a player who needs to be enjoying his football to get into flow state.

And when he's in flow state, there's no doubt that he's one of the best players in the world. In my opinion, at his best, he is the best player in the world. He just has to keep consistently showing it. And he did the previous season. He was La Liga player of the season. So, I understood why people were a little bit worried about him, but as the season goes by, I think we're going to continue seeing the best version of him because even when he was looking lethargic, even when he looked like he didn't want to be there, even Linia Maul at 50% was so impactful.

So, imagine what he's going to look like when he's near 100%. The next main guy is obviously Pedri. Now, again, this is another player who there was legitimate criticism around him. He didn't look that great towards the back end of his Barca campaign those first few months before the season ended. And then he didn't look that great for Spain either. I mean, he was dropped and it was the right decision by Delofuente because Fabin Ruiz was playing better and Spain played better as a whole.

But again, there is a difference between saying, "Hey, Pedri hasn't looked at his best versus saying, oh, this guy's finished. He's overrated. How was he ever compared to Bellingham in the first place?" Pedri is now once again showing that don't write him off. He's so good in the middle of the park. He gives Barca a sense of control that you can only understand by watching him play. He's now getting assists as well. He assisted Rafiniah early in the season, but again, what he does at the highest level cannot be translated into stats.

Even the passing per 90, line breaking passes per 90, none of that is going to show you the full picture of what he offers to this Barca team. And I'm hoping that as the season goes by, he continues staying healthy and fresh because I don't think it's a coincidence that Pedri consistently looks better in the first half of the season and then drops off in the second half of the season due to fatigue. In my opinion, it's fatigue.

I think he's relied on to do so many different things that eventually it catches up with him. Cuz people forget in the last few seasons, Pedri wasn't just up there in passing stats and ball carrying. He was also up there when it came to the defensive contributions. Now with Rodri and the team, hopefully he can push further forward and have less responsibility to do literally everything in the middle of the park because for Barca to get to that next level, for them to win the Champions League to be the best team in the world, they're going to need Pedri, Yamal, and Rafinia at their best.

That's the three core. I would add Joan Garcia in there too in goal. I think he's really important. But those three are the heart and soul of this Barca team. They are the best players on the squad. And you need at a minimum two out of the three to be playing at their best for Barca to be at their best. Now, of course, I highlighted those guys, but there are many other players that have been playing really good. How can we not talk about Chavia Spark?

He was in the class of 2007, but the hype around him was not as much as Bernal, Kubari, and Laminal. But Flick always believed in this guy. He gave him his debut against Newcastle in the previous season. And now he's apparently the starting left back. He looks so comfortable there, rotating in, so comfortable in possession. I would like to see how he operates as a left back against a better team because I think you can get away with it in La Liga, Barca have so much of the ball that having an extra midfielder at left back just only helps them.

But against some of the better teams like Real Madrid, against some of the better teams in the Champions League where they're going to use more pace and power on the wings, I just want to see how it works. Again, I'm not doubting him, but I would like to see if he can handle his own against the best wingers in the world. Cuz to be honest with you, he's better defensively than Jer Canelo. You actually see the drop off whenever Canelo comes in.

So it's not like Espart is bad in duels or he can't win the ball back. I just want to see how he does it in those big Champions League nights in an Eláico cuz I felt like in those games Bald when he was healthy was super impactful just because of how much pace and athleticism he had. Let's see what Chavia Spark can do because he's a very intelligent footballer. You know, the typical guy that you see come out of Barcel's child labor factory.

So, I think he'll be up to the task. I just want to see it. Then you have Palubarsi who has transferred over his great form at the World Cup to the Barca team and he's playing really good again. Now, I'll use this part to kind of highlight some of the weaknesses that I've seen and that's the back line still mainly when it comes to depth. Barca signed a lot of new players, but they didn't sign a new center back. And it seems like it was Flick's doing.

From the reports that I read, Deco offered a lot of options. Flick pretty much said no to all of them. Flick said no to Bastoni. He said no to Romero. And he's come out publicly saying that he's happy with the defenders that he has. Now again, Kubarci, Jarro Martine, Christensen, they are good center backs. But the question is, can these guys play 40, 50 games a season? Christensen, who's made of glass, I have big question marks over.

And then even Jared Martine, Kubari, how often can this duo play without needing a rest? Cuz remember, Barcel are trying to compete on all fronts. And as the season goes by and you play in that highline even more, players are going to get fatigued. So even if you think Jerard Martine is some world class center back, he's still going to need some rest. So I thought that they would go out and get a left footed center back, maybe they're going to do that in the January transfer window because this team needs it.

The other issue is the same thing that it's always been, which is the high line, the aggressive pressing. You see, in the beginning of the season, Barca tend to actually defend pretty well simply because players have the most amount of energy. But as the season goes by, the press loses its intensity. It's just natural. It's not career mode. These players are going to have wear and tear on their bodies. When the press falls, the highline gets exposed even more.

So the question is, can Barca figure it out as the season progresses? Cuz we've already seen early in the season that goal against Rio Valicano. That's a copyp pace goal that I've seen in the past 3 years, specifically in games against Ryano, which is they get on the wing, they cut it back, somebody bangs it in. So hopefully Barca can do their best to neutralize those opportunities. Rodri especially should help a lot with that.

The rest of the Barca guys are also balling out. Fedine Lopez looks as good as he did the season before. Just such a good attacking midfielder. So much intensity, work rate, and of course, he's excellent at finishing the ball. And again, finishing and ball striking are very different. I tweeted out that only Rafinia and Fedine Lopez can finish on this team because I watched a bunch of guys miss a bunch of chances. And then Yamal scored that banger against Ra Valicano.

But that's ball striking. Finishing is how efficient you are in the box. How often are you able to convert chances? And I feel like Fem Lopez and Rafinia are on another level when it comes to consistently putting the ball in the back of the net from inside the box. Yamal has a nice goal catalog, but even he seems to miss a lot the closer he gets to go. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. He's better at shooting from outside the box than he is shooting from the six-y box.

Daniel Mo has looked good. Bernal, it's nice to see him play fully fit. I think he'll benefit tremendously too from having Rodri behind him because I don't really think Benal is a number six. I think he's more of an aid. The further you get him forward, the more you're going to see him get goals and assists and that's something that is definitely in his locker. Eric Garcia does a good job at right back. Jules Kundai still a bit of an iffy guy.

It's not too late for him to transition into fashion. A little bit of a hot and cold player. He'll ping a nice long ball in one play but then get exposed in the other. And Joan Garcia is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Now, it's still early in the season, but things do look promising for this Barca team. And if you're a neutral, they're the best team to watch. I mean, I was watching the Barcelona Rio Valakana game, then I changed over at halftime to the Arsenal Aston Villa game, and I wanted to claw my eyes out.

This team is so entertaining to watch. Let's see if it can translate into silverware again. Now, there's a lot of new Barca youngsters that I didn't talk about in this video who are really good. And the reason I didn't do that is because I have a separate video where I talk about all three of them.