Flick: Villarreal Focuses on Attack Over Defense; FIFA Should Care About Players’ Interests

At 00:30 on September 23, the sixth round of La Liga will see Villarreal face Barcelona. Before the match, Barcelona’s head coach Flick attended a press conference.

About Ter Stegen

“Footwork skills, I think this is one of his strengths. Not only in terms of saves but also passing with his feet. This is a style of our game, we hope to organize attacks through short passes rather than long balls. Many times, the attack starts from him. He has admitted making a mistake himself, we are all human, what’s important is learning from mistakes, and I hope there will be clear guidance and execution directions when facing similar situations in the future. For me, this is a thing of the past.”

About Player Strikes

“I believe UEFA and FIFA need to care about the interests of players. For them, this is not the best situation. We all love watching football matches, but the number of matches should be reduced.”

About Criticism of the Team

“Ultimately, a match is a match, if you lose, things don’t go as smoothly. I don’t pay much attention to what happens outside. What’s important is having a clear mindset when analyzing the match. As a coach or manager, you should maintain transparency and honesty when communicating with players and analyzing the match. Regardless of winning or losing, we always stay consistent. Sometimes, of course, analyzing a victory is better. Our match wasn’t bad, we didn’t perform poorly, we are focused on tomorrow’s match.”

About Ansu Fati

“When you recover from an injury, you need to adapt. We have good communication with him and the medical team. To give him playing time, because he needs time to return to starting form. We are cautious with him, but from what I’ve seen of his recovery, he has reached another level and can provide us with significant help.”

About Transfers

“We don’t need any, I never consider these. We have a team that has already proven in the league that we can play well. Every season and every club is the same. Some weeks we may lose one, two, or three players, as a coach, you must accept this. We try to prepare well for the match. From what I’ve seen in training, this is the foundation of everything, we are on the right path.”

About Injured Players

“During the next international break, Gavi or Frankie de Jong might return. We have eight players who are currently unable to play, so we can only focus better on available players. De Jong is recovering well, and from what I’ve seen of Gavi’s condition, he is also doing well, they need time.”

About Eric

“I talked with him, he knows our situation. He likes playing center-back, but we have to consider the team. Now he might be more important as a ‘6’. Red cards happen. I see him in good shape, ready to play. Maybe he will play as a center-back or ‘6’ tomorrow.”

About Villarreal

“I think we also saw some good things in Monaco, but of course, we lost. I have positive feelings about Villarreal. They play well, defend well, and control the ball well. They are the third-highest scoring team, very focused on offense. I believe we will have many opportunities.”