Hansi Flick’s plan to reshape the Barcelona midfield next season

With Hansi Flick taking over the reins as the new FC Barcelona manager, there will be changes afoot at the club in the weeks to come.

The 59-year-old replaces Xavi Hernandez as the first-team head coach and will look to build a team in his own image and lead Barça back to the heights of glory they are used to.

As has already been reported, there will be several changes ushered in at the club, starting with the formation itself, with Flick set to move to his preferred 4-2-3-1 over Barça’s traditional 4-3-3.

Barcelona’s midfield for next season

Shedding light on the changes that the new manager is planning for next season, Mundo Deportivo outlines the German tactician’s idea to reshape the Barcelona midfield.

Xavi, during his time, opted for a midfield square by deploying a central midfielder as a false winger in the 4-3-3 system.

But under Flick, the Barcelona midfield will take the shape of an inverted triangle in the 4-2-3-1, with two pivots and a playmaker.

In his initial approach, Flick prefers to use two solid midfielders at the base of the midfield triangle behind Pedri, whom he prefers to have free at the most advanced corner of the triangle.

Key role for Pedri

Pedri set for a critical role in Flick’s system. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Flick sees Pedri as his most creative player and believes that the best thing would be to free him up between the lines, just behind the striker, to make the best of his final pass, one of his great virtues.

The idea would also help Pedri improve his arrival in the box so that he can have more impact in the final metres and even improve his goalscoring record, something that the Spaniard has been aiming for in recent years.

At the same time, Flick does not lose sight of Fermín Lopez as an option for this role, due to his goal-scoring ability. The chosen playmaker would be guarded by two midfielders with more powerful and positional profiles.

From the current squad, Ilkay Gundogan and Frenkie de Jong are seen as options, although Flick also considers Gavi as suitable. Meanwhile, someone like Andreas Christensen, who excelled as a pivot can also be considered.

It must not be forgotten that Barça are also looking for a new pivot midfielder to further increase their depth in the area.