1⃣Intro Since Flick arrived, Barca’s biggest problem has been the defence. But this season, things look worse than ever. After just 3 games we're 1st in La Liga for big chances conceded (12) and 8th for xG conceded (4.2). No amount of away conditions can excuse these numbers.

For comparison, after the first 3 league games last season, we had conceded only 4 big chances and 2.41 xG. And it’s not just the numbers—you can clearly see the changes on the pitch. Last season, our pressing was sharp and difficult to beat. The issue only appeared when teams

Instead, the same weaknesses remain, and to make matters worse, we’ve now lost our pressing strength altogether. Why? Because Flick, in trying to make the team more defensively secure, changed the pressing structure and weakened it, combined with the lack of intensity from

2⃣The Pressing System To really understand what changed this season, we first need to look back at Flick’s pressing system last season as his approach is different and more aggressive and risky than the other pressing structures you usually see.

Because In a typical 4-2-3-1, the structure off the ball shifts into a 4-4-2: the CAM joins the striker to press the centre-backs, the wingers track the fullbacks, the pivots cover the deepest midfielders, the fullbacks take on the opposition wingers, and the centre-backs split

The problem with this setup is that our pivots are the ones pressing the opponent deep midfielders so If the opposition’s deep midfielders drop near the keeper or act as extra centre-backs, our pivots face a dilemma—follow them and leave a huge gap for the CAM or striker, or stay

Flick’s solution last season was to flip this idea completely. Instead of having the pivots chase deep midfielders, the wingers—Yamal and Raphinha—led the press on the centre-backs, while Lewandowski and Olmo took responsibility for marking and pressing the deep midfielders.

This left the opposition fullbacks as the free men, but that’s where Balde and Koundé came in. They were tasked with stepping up to press those fullbacks whenever the ball came their way. Meanwhile, Yamal and Raphinha worked to block direct passing lanes from the centre-backs to

When a fullback stepped forward, the centre-back on that side provided cover, and usually De Jong would also drop back to add extra security. This pressing system made Barça one of the best pressing teams in the world last season, especially through the middle, where it was

Of course, no pressing system is perfect, and the flaws showed late in games. Flick demanded his players press for the full 90 minutes, but intensity naturally dropped late in the season due to fatigue leading to the press being bypassed more often. When the press was bypassed or

This constant risk is likely the reason Flick has tried to make adjustments this season. In the first three games, the changes have been clear. Flick wants the fullbacks to stay deeper in the press, rather than stepping out aggressively. To balance this, only one winger presses

For example, when the opponent builds from the left, Lamine holds his position against their left-back, while Raphinha tucks inside to press the centre-back alongside Ferran. If the build-up is on the right, the roles switch, with Raphinha staying wide and Yamal pressing

But the problem is obvious: one fullback is always left free. If the opponent manages to switch play quickly, our press is broken instantly. This happened multiple times against Rayo, and it was, in my view, the main reason for our defensive struggles in that match.

And on top of all this, our counter-pressing has dropped sharply in intensity. Last season, when Barça lost the ball, the reaction was immediate—players closed down the ball-carrier, shut off passing lanes, and prevented transitions. This season, there’s been clear laziness.

I don’t want to single out Yamal because he isn’t the only one, but he has been the most noticeable example of failing to counter-press in several sequences across the first three games. When you combine a softer pressing structure with a visible drop in intensity, while still

3⃣ Possible Solutions So what’s the fix? Because clearly, if we want to seriously compete for titles this season, we can’t continue like this. Personally, I think Flick is addressing the wrong problem. The issue last season wasn't the pressing system itself—it was risky, yes, but

The real problem was Flick’s demand that this pressing be maintained for a full 90 minutes across an entire season. With such a tight schedule and limited squad depth, that simply isn’t realistic. Just like last year, this over-reliance on constant pressing inevitably leads to

That’s why I believe the solution is not to weaken the pressing structure, but to keep last season’s more aggressive system—while applying it in periods instead of all game long. For example, Barça could press high for the first 15 minutes, then drop into a mid-block for the next

The timings don’t need to be exact, as it should depend on the scoreline and the flow of the game, but the idea would be to press high for around 60 minutes in total, while dropping into a more conservative shape for the other 30 minutes. Importantly, during these mid-block

And in those lower-block phases, Barça must abandon the offside trap altogether. Defenders should track runs directly instead of trying to step up. Teams have already found multiple ways to beat our trap. Just in the last game, Rayo repeatedly used a common trick: leaving one

The wide player carries the ball forward until the “offside” attacker is now onside and completely unmarked, since our defenders had already abandoned him in the buildup. This is only one example, but it shows why relying on the trap for 90 minutes is far too risky. Dividing the

Another possible fix could be finding a middle ground between last season’s approach and this season’s. Instead of having both fullbacks step up to press (like last year) or both stay deep (like now), Flick could assign just one fullback—ideally Balde—as the one who steps out.

That way Raphinha can always press centrally while Yamal always stays wide. It would simplify the system make it easier to execute and provide a more balanced structure. But even this would still suffer from the same fatigue problem if we try to maintain it for 90 mins which is

Of course, all of this only addresses the systemic issues. The other side of the problem is individual effort. The lack of intensity from certain players is something only they can fix. Flick himself said that last season Barça played as a team and that must return. Everyone has

4⃣Conclusion In trying to make the system safer, Flick has ended up losing the power of his press—without actually fixing the defensive issues or making the team any more secure. I believe he should return to last season’s pressing system. The real problem wasn’t the system

Hopefully, Flick realizes this soon and implements the necessary changes. End of thread. Thanks for reading! Like and repost if you enjoyed it, and follow me for more threads like this.

@BouafifNour I think the idea of pressing for 60 minutes in total, make sense. But like you said it all depends on the score line and flow of the game But I really wanna believe yesterday performance was just one of those bad games, and we would play better

@Andre_36281 Hopefully bro, we will see after the international break, i trust Flick

@BouafifNour Nice thread as always but i want your view on our wing backs performance yesterday coz I thought Kounde’s recovery issues aren’t going to be solved by pressing. He needs to read situations so early. He looked so out of the game,could it be coz it was his first start ? It was bad

@mwanamoze I agree Kounde didn’t have a good game and looked off, but like you said, it was his first start. Plus, in this clip he’s in a 1v2 situation, not much he could really do there.

@BouafifNour Wonderful thread. Let's see the reaction from Hansi after the international break

@RichmondArmah10 I trust Hansi, he will solve this

@BouafifNour Shorts of words... you're such a genius 😍❤️ Let's see what flick have for us after the national Break

@lynmark4140 Thanks brother 🙏🙏🫶