Linia, ma Danny, omo Rafia, Levandowski! The new Barcelona side looks scary under Flick, dominating in ways we haven't seen since the Enrique and Pep Guardiola days. Every player has improved under the German manager, and the direct approach has led to goal after goal.
So, how is it possible that despite only one signing in the summer and losing arguably their best player from the season before in Gundan, this Baride looks so rejuvenated? It's unbelievably impressive how quickly Flick has instilled his philosophy onto the team despite injuries and lack of activity in the transfer market. Usually, managers need some time to get their instructions to the players, but the Barca players have immediately understood how to play Flick's 4231 system.
It's similar to the 433 that Barcelona has traditionally played throughout the years, but Flick likes a double pivot – two midfielders next to each other – instead of a single holding M. The play is fast, direct, and fluid. Barcelona still keeps possession in the Barcelona way, but they keep it higher up the pitch.
They try to get it out from the back a lot quicker. The way the players win the ball back so quickly reminds me of the Pep days, where they had a 6-second rule – 6 seconds to win the ball back immediately after losing possession. There's a level of athleticism and fitness to this team that we haven't seen in the past.
Rafino, under Flick, is looking like Prime Ronaldinho. He looks good down the middle when fedon was on the left, but the Brazilian is even better at left wing. Big thanks to Chavy for figuring out that he was at his best on the left.
It was obvious, especially in that Champions League game against PSG. Rafia fits Flick's system perfectly because he's not only a super good player on the ball with his dribbling and technical ability, but he's an absolute workhorse. He bleeds for the badge and runs for the entire 90 minutes.
He presses, puts in tackles. He was always an output machine for Barca, but looks even better under Flick. In 2024, for example, he had 10 goals and 13 assists in a very inconsistent Bar ASI while dealing with multiple injuries.
Omo was a signing I was hesitant about, not because of his ability – everyone already knew he was class of Liick. When you come from the Barca Academy, it's a guarantee that you will be an intelligent player with fantastic technical ability. And if you didn't watch him in the Bundesliga, then a quick watch of his performances at the Euros would have shown you his quality.
My problem with Omo was spending 60 mil on a player whose profile overlapped a lot with some of the existing midfielders of the club, plus ELO's injury history. ELO's injury history is the biggest red flag in his career. I'm pretty sure it's, like, 99% of the reason that no other top clubs have gone in for him.
He has regularly missed large chunks of the season in the last 5 years. He missed 29 games in 2024, 20 games in 2023, and 19 games in 2022. What's worse is they have always been different kinds of injuries – from knee problems to muscular issues.
So, to me, at the time, it seemed like a massive risk to break the bank for a player who was only slightly different than the likes of Pedri, Gundan, and Fairman. It looked even worse at the beginning of the season when Barcelona literally couldn't register him. In fact, even till now, they had to unregister Christensen, who was injured, just to be able to get Omo to play.
Well, little did I know the whole time. It seems that Barcel was ready to part ways with Goodok Leapor said that it was for sporting reasons that Gan was sold, but to me, that seems like a Blain lie, especially since, at the beginning of the season, he distinctly said that it was for financial reasons. I also think the Barcelona board and some of the players didn't like the way that Goodwan spoke about the club and the weak mentality of the club in post-match press conferences.
Like I said, I have no idea if that's true. It could just be that Lorta and his fat belly just wanted Goodone out of the club. What I do know, though, is that if those comments bothered you, then that's a bigger problem within the club.
Barcelona is elite, and to get back to the winning ways that they were, they have to hold other players accountable for their mistakes. They have to be more upset after losses and have that hunger to win again. I personally think financial reasons is the most likely explanation.
Now, with Gan leaving, the Omo signing makes a lot more sense. Now, there's far fewer players that can play that number 10 role. Omo is perfectly suited for it.
He can also play on the left wing, but down the middle, in those tight areas where he can combine with the likes of Pedri, Levandowski, Rafin, and Yamal – that's where ELO's best position is. It's the exact same spaces that he occupied at the Euros. You know, a lot of people came at my neck because I made it a point that signing ELO was a mismanagement of funds.
But given the information I had at the time, I was correct. And I even said at the end of the video that if ELO comes in and Barcelona wins the league or the Champions League, then I'm going to put my hand up and say that I made a mistake. But given his injury history, you have to actually pray that he can play the entire season.
If he continues playing this well and then, by February, he gets injured, it's going to look pretty bad that those funds weren't used to buy a holding midfielder. Or a left winger Flick has continued the tradition of Barcelona putting a lot of faith into their youngsters. Barca truly is child labor FC with the amount of players that they consistently produce out of the academy that goes straight into the first team.
First we had Gabi, then you have Kuari, then you have Yamal, and now you have the newest edition Mark Bernard. Sadly, Barcelona's bad luck continues and Mark Bernal is injured, but man, what a player. You can see why Barca didn't spend any money on a desperately needed holding midfielder.
They had Busquets regen being developed in La Masia. Like all La Masia kids, he's composed on the ball, has a high football IQ, and reads the game very well. His injury, by the way, has nothing to do with youngsters being overplayed.
I saw a lot of people who clearly don't watch Barcelona games trying to push that narrative. It was just a freak accident in the second game of the season. Ball and Pedri make a good double pivot, a nice balance.
Yamal is just pure class. We've become numb to how good he is. It's not normal for a 17-year-old to put in consistent master classes week in, week out.
He's always making the right decision, creating at the highest level possible, and every single game assist machine. For me, he's one of, if not the best, right winger in the world. Personally, I think other than Salah, and then even Saka is arguable, are the only two players above him in that position.
Like there's a reason this guy's the youngest player ever to be nominated for a Ballon d'Or. Unreal in the 2024 season, goes to the Euros and puts an all-time great campaign, and now again in 2025, he hasn't lost his form. Lewandowski has regained back his form under the manager he looked the best under in 2020.
He was literally the best player in the world. If the Ballon d'Or doesn't get cancelled, he wins it. Flick knew how to use Lewandowski better than any other manager he's had.
So it's not a surprise that the two of them get back together and he finds his goalscoring form. Pedri, we all know, is the very best central midfielder in the world when he's healthy. Health and fitness have literally been the only issues in his career.
Nobody doubts his ability or what he can do on the pitch. It's a direct correlation. If he stays healthy, Barcelona are going to perform better.
He is the absolute executor in the center of the park, somebody who can dictate the play from deep, but can also create chances in the attacking third. With him and Yamal, plus Pedri and Yamal, it's unbelievable. He's very much a hybrid between Xavi and Iniesta.
He's taken a little bit from each of their games and added it to his own. He's vital to Barcelona's success. He just has to stay healthy.
When it comes to the defensive end, I don't think there's a better right back on the planet than Kundai. He locked down Nico Williams, one of the best left wingers in the world, a player who's coming off the back of an incredible Euro campaign, and he made it look effortless. Kuba is fantastic.
He's young, so he makes mistakes, but he's one of the best passers in the world already. He will only get better as he matures and gets more game time. What I will remind to every single Barcelona fan is that it's a marathon, not a sprint.
More injuries are going to happen, players are going to go out of form, other teams are going to understand Flick's tactics better. Flick's real test will be how does he deal with these setbacks? How is Flick going to deal with the media, with the Barcelona board, with the fans when Barca goes through a bad run of form?
I think Barcelona fans should also be able to appreciate the work that Flick is doing while also acknowledging that Xavi laid the foundation for this. Xavi came to Barca at a time that nobody wanted to be around the club. He won La Liga, he brought in players like Lewandowski, he started experimenting with Kun right back and Rafia left wing, he gave game time to a lot of the youngsters that we are seeing as pivotal members of the team.
Guys like Kuari, Lein, Yamal. Xavi brought Barca out of some dark times. The club was in a bad position both financially and in terms of performances on the pitch, but he hit a ceiling.
So an elite manager was needed to take Barca to the next level. For now though, appreciate Flick Ball, but just remember that Xavi was vital in Barcelona's journey. With how star-studded Madrid are, we know the script every single time they've had galacticals, Barcelona has defeated them with talent of their own.
To see how Linum MA is following in the footsteps of the greatest player of all time, Messi, you have to check out this video right here.
