Ander Cotorro: “Flick has given Barça a proper defensive structure”

Ander Cotorro is one of Spain’s most prominent football analysts and commentators. A regular in the ‘Jijantes universe’, he knows Barça very well from a tactical perspective and he’s also an expert in Athletic Club’s current tactics, being Basque himself. Cotorro conceded recently an interview with Flashscore where he analyses Flick’s Barça

Ander believes Flick has given Barcelona “a structure from which to defend, because last year my feeling was that Barça with Xavi defended a bit on impulse and always man to man, and now the team has a proper structure and the players know more how to position themselves at all times thanks to that”.

Cotorro also believes that Barça is now a lot more active, “with Xavi the players where positioned in their zones and, in a way, they were waiting for the ball and to make things happen thanks to their talent, whereas now there’s a lot more movement, there’s always someone running, always attacking the back of the defenders, particularly in both flanks, and players on the inside move a lot more, like Raphinha, and that helps them make the most of their abilities”, as he continues, “there is always someone open and someone running, and then the team works well putting pressure on the rival, being an uncomfortable team to play, I think all that makes them a very complete team, very uncomfortable and very fun to watch.”

Probably, what the Jijantes regular stresses out the most is the fact that the players believe in the manager’s idea now, “this is more about group management, but Xavi managed to get the team fully on board in his first year, winning La Liga, but I didn’t get the same impression last year, and what Flick has achieved in that regard is that everyone feels recognized and represented in what he proposes and thanks to that they are more determined when it comes to putting it into practice during matches.”