Hansi Flick hints at change to Barcelona's tactics ahead of pre-season

New Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has confirmed he wants to see a slightly different style of play from his side than fans have been used to in recent years.

Barcelona are famous for their intricate passing approach to games - often dubbed the 'Barca DNA' - but former manager Xavi found himself facing criticism for the team's failures to make their possession count last season.

With Flick now in the Camp Nou dugout, the pragmatic German has confessed he plans to introduce a more direct style of play.

"Here the tradition is to play with passing, but I also want them to go straight to the goal," he told Barca ONE. "They should focus a bit more on scoring. I don't think my style has any major changes.

"I'm looking for the same thing, to press high up, and to play in the opponent's midfield. But, at the end of the day, you have to win. Everything is about winning games and at Barca you have to play well."

Pressing will be key to Flick's approach but the new manager confessed he is prepared to shift away from his preferred style if the team need something different during a specific match.

"All I can say is that we want to be an active team," he continued. "We have to be active with and without the ball. It's up to us to make it that way.

"We can make the opponent go in the direction we want and win the ball back as quickly as possible. I like my teams to press the opponent at the right moment, and sometimes higher up. And with the ball, all players have to have as much freedom as possible. That's how I see it from a technical point of view.

"We have our philosophy and we have our style. We know how we want to play, but every match is a challenge. During the course of a match, there can be changes. Always looking for the best for the team.

"We can decide to move a midfielder forward or move him to another position. But the change can also come in the way we press. These are small details that we can implement depending on what the opponent offers us. The changes will be applied depending on the match and the rival. We will always be open to modifying these small details."

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