The secret behind Flick's verticality at FC Barcelona

In the latest episode of Offside, BarcaFutbol's official Tactical Deep Dive on YouTube, Dev and Dom start a mini-series focusing on all things Hansi Flick and his current FC Barcelona philosophy.

The first episode deals with the ever-so-popular but also wildly misunderstood verticality of his systems; is Flick's Barcelona really so vertical to begin with? If so, how is that different from Xavi's Barcelona who were equally - if not more - vertical than the current iteration of the Catalan team?

The secret lies in a couple of key differences between the two coaches' approaches to verticality: one uses it as a philosophy while the other uses it as a tool. One's verticality comes at the detriment of his players while the other's plays to their strengths.

Last season, verticality was an aspect many frowned upon; and for good reason too. But it's not exactly verticality's fault, though. That style of play - direct, quick and no-nonsense - is definitely viable for many teams out there. Think of the prime Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp or even Flick's Bayern to a certain extent; those teams were highly vertical but also highly efficient in the way they used that verticality, even if it was a (big) part of their philosophy and tactics.

In 2023/24, Barcelona fans wanted verticality gone from their club. Rightfully, if we may add. Why? Well, that verticality often ignored Blaugrana's crucial midfield dynamics and it never played to their players' strengths even though it was a prominent part of Xavi's tactics. Now, however, despite being a steady presence in Flick's philosophy as well, that same aspect is accepted and even glorified as superior to whatever many associate with the traditional Barça way of playing.

Why the sudden change of heart? Well, it's the success rate; simple numbers. This approach works, the previous one didn't. So it kind of proves our initial thesis of people not really disliking verticality as such but rather the way it was implemented. We often fear change but not all change is good. In fact, change is often needed for the club to evolve; to improve; to retain their status at the peak of the mountain.

Is Flick that change? Hopefully. But it's still early days and it's difficult to make such a definite statement not even 10 games into his La Liga stint. The foundations and the tactics, however, have been excellent so far; a breath of fresh air even, you might say. And you'd be right.

Barcelona are still vertical. Very much so. But not in the way you might think.

So join us as we discuss this intriguing aspect of the all-new Barça even further in the full video.

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