TA: Frick will face greater pressure and expectations, the biggest challenge is to improve Barcelona s defensive structure

In his first season at Barcelona, Frick led the team to La Liga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup. For the German coach, the second season will face greater challenges because the outside world will have higher expectations. Theathletic wrote an article about the challenges Flick is about to face.

When he was the head coach of Barcelona, football legend Cruyff once said that the most difficult period of a coaching program is his second season at the club. The Dutch thinks this is a particularly difficult stage because the pressure and expectations faced by coaches are much greater than their debut season, while also dealing with the risks of reshaping the team, which is exactly the stage Frick is currently in.

The biggest challenge Frick is currently facing is improving Barcelona's defensive structure. Last season, they conceded 39 goals in La Liga, the fourth-small, only one more than Real Madrid, nine more than Atletico Madrid and 10 more than Bilbao. However, the situation faced by the Red and Blues will get out of control when playing against certain teams at certain moments. Barcelona conceded 7 goals in two rounds of the Champions League semi-finals. In previous games, Benfica and Dot scored 4 goals in one game respectively.

Frick's aggressive command to take the team to defend at a high level does pay off, but it will be interesting to adjust this strategy when facing stronger opponents. In addition, Inigo Martinez's departure. This central defender is a key link in Frick's tactical system, and his departure is an irreplaceable loss for Barcelona, especially under the salary cap limit. Frick was disappointed with Inigor's departure, but accepted his decision as the centre-back won the right to choose with a year left in the contract.

Under such circumstances, Barcelona can only rely on Araujo and Christensen to fill the vacancy for Inigor to leave the team. The latter was unable to play due to injury for most of last season, while Araujo's performance was criticized, which is where Frick needs to play his management talents again.

Frick has been working hard to help Araujo. People around the Uruguayan defender admitted that he was at a low point in confidence at some point last season. In 11 La Liga games, he was replaced three times at halftime or earlier. But Frick saw Araujo's physical advantage, which other defenders don't have. Last season, Araujo got a breather when he needed a break and was also supported to stay with the team for full pre-season training this summer. Araujo, 26, is expected to start in the La Liga opening game against Mallorca on Saturday, and Frick gives him a chance to revive his career.

Araujo is not the only player Frick works hard to help, and there is 18-year-old midfielder Bernal who ended the season just after entering the first team last August. Frick has been with him during his recovery, visiting him in the hospital and following his recovery progress. Frick also gave him a book written by psychologist Jordi Gil Martin entitled "Beyond the Limit".

Like all football clubs, there are some unresolved issues and key improvement points that need to be handled with caution. But Barcelona fans still have good reasons to look forward to the upcoming season, and as long as their registration issues can be resolved, the team's return to the Camp Nou will be achieved as expected.

Although the club is always full of sounds, the basic factor is simple, and it has been a long time since Barcelona looked so close to being a complete whole, thanks in large part to the coach's cautious and productive work in his debut season.